Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2019
From ACM TechNews
AI Technology Improves Critical Crack Detection
A new artificial intelligence system can detect unidentified or underidentified structural damage in major infrastructure such as nuclear reactors, skyscrapers, bridges, and dams.
From ACM TechNews
Africa Technology Hub Rises in Congested Lagos Neighborhood
The Yaba neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, is a growing technology hub hosting more than 60 startups, digital laboratories, and the Yaba College of Technology.
From ACM News
Chip Startup ses Light to Turbocharge AI
Luminous Computing has developed an optical microchip that runs AI models much faster than other semiconductors while using less power.
From ACM News
The Chatbots are Coming!
Advances in chatbots are changing the way we interact with computing devices.
From ACM TechNews
Swinburne Researchers Train Robots to Relieve Chronic Pain
A new collaborative robot system can treat back, neck, and head pain caused by soft tissue injury, automatically.
From ACM TechNews
Creating an AI can be 5x Worse for the Planet than a Car
The training of a single artificial intelligence program can require as much as 284 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or about five times the lifetime emissions of an average car.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft Wants More Security Researchers to Hack Into Its Cloud
Microsoft is encouraging security researchers to try hacking its flagship Azure cloud-computing service, so the company can find and correct vulnerabilities.
From ACM TechNews
About Faces: Geometric Style of Portrait Artwork
Researchers have developed a technique to automatically analyze portrait artwork, factoring in fine-grained detail, accuracy, and individual artistic style.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Virus Has Thrown Philadelphia's Court System Into Chaos
A computer virus has crippled Philadelphia's online court system for more than three weeks, raising issues about how cities can respond when essential services are cut off.
From ACM TechNews
Python Predicted to Overtake C and Java in Next 4 Years
Tiobe analysts believe Python probably will become the most popular programming language in the world within three or four years.
From ACM News
Your Cadillac Can Now Drive Itself More Places
The automaker has expanded the range of Super Cruise to include trickier divided highways in the U.S. and Canada.
From ACM News
Tech Skills Shortages are Increasing Every Year, and Large Corporates are Worst Affected
Every year, the IT skills shortage worsens, warns Harvey Nash CEO Albert Ellis, with the fields of big data, security and AI most acutely affected.
From ACM TechNews
Image-Recognition Technology May Not Be as Secure as We Think
Evidence is growing that image recognition technology may be more susceptible to deception than previously assumed.
From ACM TechNews
Students Build App That Empowers Teachers in Remote Corners of the World
Students have developed an Android app built specifically for teachers in developing countries that may have limited or no Internet access.
From ACM TechNews
How China's Smart-City Tech Focuses on Its Own Citizens
Deloitte and other sources say China is home to about half the approximately 1,000 smart cities currently under development worldwide.
From ACM News
How Tech Needs to Change for Coders with Disabilities
Programmers with disabilities continue to face serious accessibility issues.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Attack Mimics ser's Keystrokes, Evades Detection
Researchers have identified a malware technique designed to evade detection via individualized keystroke characteristics.
From ACM TechNews
Supercomputing Dynamic Earthquake Rupture Models
Researchers have developed physics-based dynamic rupture models that can simulate complex earthquake ruptures using supercomputers.
From ACM TechNews
Hacking Diabetes: People Break Into Insulin Pumps as an Alternative to Delayed Innovations
As some people invest in the latest advancements to help them cope with diabetes, others are hacking into insulin pumps to give them the ability to adjust themselves.
From ACM TechNews
Driverless Congestion
A simulation of Zurich, Switzerland, demonstrated that driverless taxis would not replace personal transportation in cities, as long as private autonomous vehicles also are available.
From ACM TechNews
The Day Computers Can Break All Encryption Is Coming
With quantum computing advancements threatening to expose all encrypted data, technology companies and security agencies are pursuing projects to preserve information safety.
From ACM TechNews
A Single Punctuation Mark Has Been Skewing Our Entire System of Scientific Ranking
A study has determined that academic papers with hyphens in their titles are counted less frequently in citation-tallying datasets.
From ACM News
In Memoriam: Raymond E. 'Ray' Miller 1928-2019
Miller was a Fellow of ACM, the IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board.
From ACM TechNews
Black Hole Mystery Solved With Most Detailed Simulation Ever
An international team of researchers used a supercomputer and custom-written code to generate the "most detailed" black hole simulation yet.
From ACM TechNews
Why Should We Care About Technology Ethics? The pdated ACM Code of Ethics
Ethical responsibility is especially critical to artificial intelligence developers, said Catherine Flick of the ACM Committee on Professional Ethics.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Baristas are Latest Front in South Korea Automation Push
A wide range of South Korean businesses is increasingly incorporating robots and other automation technologies.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft Quietly Deletes Largest Public Face-Recognition Dataset
Microsoft has deleted its MS Celeb dataset from the Internet.
From ACM TechNews
Amazon nveils Hybrid Drone for Deliveries
Amazon has unveiled a drone that combines aspects of helicopters and airplanes, capable of vertical takeoffs and horizontal flight.
From ACM News
AI Mavericks Want to Build A Better Brain for Industrial Robots
Some big-names in AI and robotics are teaming up to develop a robot operating system that will aim to address the shortcomings of today's smartest machines.
From ACM News
6 nexpected Places Hackers Can Find Your Information
Sharing facts like your birthday or your parents' names can open you up to identity theft.