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
Novel Transmitter Protects Wireless Data From Hackers
A new transmitter can hack-proof wireless data by frequency hopping each individual 1 or 0 bit of a data packet, every microsecond.
From ACM TechNews
ISTE's pdated Computer Science Standards Will Reflect a 'New Era' of the Discipline
The International Society for Technology and Education is developing new computer science education standards.
From ACM TechNews
New Algorithm Fuses Quality, Quantity in Satellite Imagery
University of Illinois researchers have developed an algorithm that combines high-resolution and high-frequency satellite data into one integrated product.
From ACM TechNews
Robots Learn by Checking in on Team Members
Engineers have enabled teamwork between unmanned aerial vehicles.
From ACM News
Massive Martian Dust Storm Endangers NASA Rover
An enormous dust storm is blanketing much of Mars, blocking the sunlight that NASA's 15-year-old Opportunity rover needs to survive.
From ACM News
In Newark, Police Cameras, and the Internet, Watch You
The camera perched above the bus stop sends back a continuous feed from the corner of 16th Avenue and South 18th Street in Newark's West Ward.
From ACM News
Cosmic Ray Showers Crash Supercomputers. Here's What to Do About It
The Cray-1 supercomputer, the world's fastest back in the 1970s, does not look like a supercomputer.
From ACM TechNews
London's Roadmap to Becoming the World's Smartest City
London, U.K., mayor Sadiq Khan has released details of his plan to make his city the world's smartest.
From ACM TechNews
Boys' Interest in STEM Is Decreasing, New Study Says
Only 24% of boys are interested in a career in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM), compared to 36% in 2017, according to a recent survey.
From ACM TechNews
Squashing Cyberbullying: New Approach Is Fast, Accurate
University of Colorado, Boulder researchers have developed a cyberbullying identification technique that blends multiple computing tools.
From ACM TechNews
Watch Real Football Matches in Miniature Played on Your Desk
Researchers have taught a machine learning neural network algorithm to render two-dimensional video clips posted on YouTube as three-dimensional images.
From ACM TechNews
Medical Imaging AI Software Is Vulnerable to Covert Attacks
Deep learning neural network systems for analyzing medical images can be exploited by cyberattackers in ways that humans cannot detect, according to a new study.
From ACM News
The niverse Is Not a Simulation, but We Can Now Simulate It
In the early 2000s, a small community of coder-cosmologists set out to simulate the 14-billion-year history of the universe on a supercomputer.
From ACM News
AI Could Get 100 Times More Energy-Efficient with IBM's New Artificial Synapses
Neural networks are the crown jewel of the AI boom. They gorge on data and do things like transcribe speech or describe images with near-perfect accuracy (see "10 breakthrough technologies 2013: Deep learning").
From ACM News
ZTE's Near-Collapse May Be China's Sputnik Moment
Once derided as a technology backwater and copycat, China is justifiably proud of its technology boom.
From ACM News
Opportunity Hunkers Down During Dust Storm
NASA engineers received a transmission from Opportunity on Sunday morning, a positive sign despite the worsening dust storm.
From ACM TechNews
Memristors Key to Nano-Scale Analog/Digital Adaptive Hardware
The University of Southampton in the U.K. is advancing memristors and charge-based processing to make analog and digital technologies adaptable in the nanoscale era.
From ACM TechNews
New Machine Learning Approach Could Accelerate Bioengineering
A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed a predictive machine learning method to speed the design of biofuel-generating microbes.
From ACM News
Exploring Cyber Resilience for Electricity
Challenges face the use of microgrids, but they hold the potential for increased grid security.
From ACM Opinion
To Build the Best Bots, NASA Happily Looks to Others Here on Earth
From ACM TechNews
This Yale Technology Could Fix Blockchain's Security Issues
Yale University researchers have developed a new blockchain security system.
From ACM TechNews
Keeping Data Fresh for Wireless Networks
A new algorithm developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers can refresh data within a simple wireless communication system.
From ACM TechNews
Firefighting Robot Snake Flies on Jets of Water
Researchers in Japan have developed a firefighting snake-like robot with the body of a fire hose.
From ACM TechNews
Forecasting the Evolution of Cancer
Researchers have created a computer model that predicts how tumors will develop.
From ACM TechNews
China's Schools Are Quietly sing AI to Mark Students' Essays ... but Do the Robots Make the Grade?
A quarter of schools in China are testing a device that uses artificial intelligence to grade students' essays.
From ACM TechNews
Digital Economy Promotion Agency Eyes Coding Thailand Sea Change
Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency is seeking to encourage the cultivation of computational thinking skills among young Thais.
From ACM News
Move Over, China: .S. Is Again Home to World's Speediest Supercomputer
The United States just won bragging rights in the race to build the world's speediest supercomputer.
From ACM News
The -2 Spy Plane Is Still Flying Combat Missions 60 Years After Its Debut
Six decades after the U-2 flew its first mission, the military is trying to harness artificial-intelligence technology to enhance the venerable spy plane's combat reconnaissance capabilities.
From ACM News
Why Emergency Braking Systems Sometimes Hit Parked Cars and Lane Dividers
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday provided new details about a March crash in Mountain View, California, that claimed the life of engineer Walter Huang.
From ACM TechNews
The Importance of Teaching Robots to Hug
A study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany detailed researchers' exploration of robots capable of hugging humans for emotional support.