Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2018
From ACM TechNews
Team's E-Whiskers May Be a Touchstone for Future of Electronic Skin
A new variety of electronic sensor made from shape-memory polymers was modeled after whiskers.
From ACM TechNews
Faster Analysis of Medical Images
A new machine learning algorithm can register brain scans and other three-dimensional images about 1,000 times faster than previously possible using novel learning methods.
From ACM News
Software Without Coding
"Citizen Developers" can create new applications via low-code development.
From ACM News
The Quest to Make Super-cold Quantum Blobs in Space
On a frigid day last January in northern Sweden, a German-led team of physicists loaded a curious machine onto an unmanned rocket.
From ACM News
Japan's Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Creeps p on the Ryugu Asteroid
Here's the mission for Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft in a nutshell: Fly to a carbon-rich asteroid between the orbits of Earth and Mars, study it for a year and a half and then bring back some pieces for additional study on Earth…
From ACM TechNews
4 Tweets Can Reveal the Identity of an Anonymous Troll
Four geotagged posts are sufficient to identify an anonymous account from a telephone company's database of customers.
From ACM TechNews
Autonomous Vehicles: U of T Researchers Make Advances With New Algorithm
Researchers working with Uber developed an algorithm combining object detection, tracking over time, and prediction to improve maneuver planning by driverless vehicles.
From ACM TechNews
Targeting the Engine Room of the Cancer Cell
Researchers have created a computational framework to match individual tumors with drugs or drug combinations most likely to destroy them.
From ACM TechNews
How Deep Learning Is Making Computers Better at Guessing Your Passwords
A machine learning technique can make computers up to 24% better at guessing passwords.
From ACM TechNews
Producing Sensors With an Inkjet Printer
Researchers in Germany collaborated on a system that can three-dimensionally print microelectrode arrays directly onto soft substrates.
From ACM TechNews
New Data Could Help Siri, Alexa Know When They're Being Unhelpful
A new dataset is designed to train artificial intelligence systems to recognize when they lack sufficient information to answer questions accurately.
From ACM News
The Supreme Court Takes On the Police Use of Cellphone Records
The Supreme Court has handed down what may be the most important privacy case of the digital era, ruling on Friday that the government cannot force cellphone service providers to hand over their users' locations over significant…
From ACM News
Why a 40-Year-Old SCOTS Ruling Against Software Patents Still Matters Today
Forty years ago this week, in the case of Parker v. Flook, the US Supreme Court came close to banning software patents.
From ACM News
Pain Is Weird. Making Bionic Arms Feel Pain Is Even Weirder
Pain is an indispensable tool for survival.
From ACM TechNews
'E-Dermis' Brings Sense of Touch, Pain to Prosthetic Hands
A team of engineers has created an electronic skin that, when layered on top of prosthetic hands, provides a real sense of touch through the fingertips.
From ACM TechNews
Flying DRAGON Robot Transforms Itself to Squeeze Through Gaps
A new modular flying robot powered by ducted fans can change shape while in flight.
From ACM TechNews
Realistic Avatars for the Virtual Zoo
An international team created an algorithm for generating lifelike three-dimensional avatars of four-legged animals solely from photos.
From ACM TechNews
MIT Engineers Build Smart Power Outlet
A new smart power outlet can analyze electrical current usage from single or multiple outlets.
From ACM TechNews
DNA Barcodes That Reliably Work: A Game-Changer for Biomedical Research
A new method invented by University of Texas at Austin researchers can correct the errors that creep into DNA barcodes.
From ACM News
Finally, a Problem That Only Quantum Computers Will Ever Be Able to Solve
Early on in the study of quantum computers, computer scientists posed a question whose answer, they knew, would reveal something deep about the power of these futuristic machines.
From ACM News
How to Control Robots with Brainwaves and Hand Gestures
Getting robots to do things isn't easy: Usually, scientists have to either explicitly program them or get them to understand how humans communicate via language.
From ACM News
Martian Dust Storm Grows Global; Curiosity Captures Photos of Thickening Haze
A storm of tiny dust particles has engulfed much of Mars over the last two weeks and prompted NASA's Opportunity rover to suspend science operations.
From ACM News
Smart Thermometers Improve Flu Forecasting
Connecting electronic thermometers to smartphones permits the capture of instant, anonymized fever readings as leading indicators of influenza outbreaks.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft Opens Access to Sensor Data on the HoloLens With 'Research Mode' Update
Microsoft has added a research mode to its HoloLens mixed-reality smartglasses so researchers and developers can access a broader spectrum of sensor-captured data.
From ACM TechNews
SDSC Comet and Machine Learning Simulates H2O With 'nprecedented Accuracy'
Researchers used machine learning techniques and a supercomputer to develop the most accurate models to date for simulations of water.
From ACM TechNews
Game-Changing Finding Pushes 3D Printing to the Molecular Limit
Research at the University of Nottingham in the U.K. validates the ability to three-dimensionally print advanced materials with molecules that can switch states.
From ACM TechNews
Everything Big Data Claims to Know About You Could Be Wrong
A new study suggests big-data analysis may yield inaccurate representations about people.
From ACM News
The Science Behind the World Cup Ball
Each World Cup, the sportswear giant Adidas designs an official ball to be used in the tournament.
From ACM TechNews
AgBOT That Slaps Watermelons to Determine Ripeness Wins Top Prize
A team from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University received first prize in the third annual 2018 agBOT Challenge in Indiana.
From ACM TechNews
Deepfake Videos Are Getting Impossibly Good
Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence-based system that uses input video to create photorealistic reanimations of portrait videos.