Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2020
From ACM TechNews
Facebook's TransCoder AI Converts Code From One Programming Language Into Another
Facebook says its TransCoder can convert code from one high-level programming language into another.
From ACM TechNews
Billions of Smart Home Devices Open to Attack
A newly discovered vulnerability in the Universal Plug and Play networking protocol could expose billions of smart home devices to cyberattack.
From ACM News
Access Denied: Faulty Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters
Computer algorithms that scan everything from terror watch lists to eviction records spit out flawed tenant screening reports. And almost nobody is watching.
From ACM News
Microsoft Bans Police Face Recognition Sales as Big Tech Reacts to Protests
The announcement came a day after rival Amazon.com declared it was pausing police use of its "Rekognition" service for a year.
From ACM TechNews
Younger People, Users of Niche Social Media Platforms More Likely to Share Covid-19 Disinformation
More than half of respondents to the study who shared disinformation were 39 or younger.
From ACM TechNews
Pandemic to Jumpstart Spending on Data Tools at Manufacturers
Chief information officers predict manufacturers will spend more on data management and analytics tools following the coronavirus pandemic.
From ACM TechNews
U.S. Voting Data from Millions of People is Being Traded on the Dark Web
Researchers have found that data on millions of U.S. voters is being illegally traded on parts of the Internet not searchable using normal means.
From ACM TechNews
The Extraordinary Sample-Gathering System of NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will launch the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission on July 17.
From ACM News
AI vs. AI
Financial institutions use AI to create "synthetic identities" for customers; hackers use 'bad' AI to fool the 'good' AI.
From ACM News
Untold History of AI: Algorithmic Bias Was Born in the 1980s
A medical school thought a computer program would make the admissions process fairer—but it did just the opposite.
From ACM News
For a Day, Scientists Pause Science to Confront Racism
Scholars said they would not hold classes or lectures on Wednesday, and leading journals and scientific associations said they would not announce most breakthroughs.
From ACM News
Amazon Pauses Police Use of Its Facial Recognition Software
The company said it hoped the moratorium "might give Congress enough time to put in place appropriate rules" for the technology.
From ACM TechNews
Engineers Put Tens of Thousands of Artificial Brain Synapses on a Single Chip
Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers have designed a 'brain on a chip' composed of tens of thousands of memristors.
From ACM TechNews
With an Internet of Animals, Scientists Aim to Track, Save Wildlife
Sensors and other equipment aboard the International Space Station will be used to monitor wildlife, revolutionizing animal tracking.
From ACM TechNews
NYU Report Calls On Social Media Titans to Stop Outsourcing Content Moderation
A New York University report urges social media companies to stop outsourcing the moderation of their content.
From ACM TechNews
Stanford Lab Envisions Delivery Drones That Save Energy by Taking the Bus
Stanford University researchers have developed a methodology that allows delivery drones to take the bus.
From ACM TechNews
People with Damaged Knees, Hips Could Be Treated with 3D-Printed Artificial Cartilage
University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) scientists three-dimensionally (3D)-printed artificial cartilage.
From ACM News
A U.S. Secret Weapon in A.I.: Chinese Talent
New research shows scientists educated in China help American firms and schools dominate the cutting-edge field. Now industry leaders worry that worsening political tensions will blunt that edge.
From ACM News
Manned Fighter to Face Autonomous Drone Next Year in Movie-Like Showdown
The planned test is part of a project to develop an artificial intelligence-driven drone that could change the face of air combat.
From ACM News
Don’t Kid Yourself: Online Lectures Are Here to Stay
The economic forces are too powerful for virtual instruction to go away after the pandemic. The important question is who will benefit financially, a Cornell economist says.
From ACM TechNews
Hello and Welcome: Robot Waiters to the Rescue Amid Virus
Some restaurants in the Netherlands preparing to reopen in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic are planning to use robot waiters.
From ACM TechNews
Evidence Suggests The U.S. Loses Hundreds of Billions to Cybercrime
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology estimates 2016 losses due to cybercrime exceeded $160 billion.
From ACM TechNews
Training Agents to Walk with Purpose
A new classification algorithm for relational data is more accurate and orders of magnitude more efficient than previous methods.
From ACM News
Evolutionary Algorithm Spawns ‘Living Robots’ from Frog Cells
When an evolutionary algorithm generates a successful robot design, the next step is usually to manufacture a physical robot from metals or plastics. Now, researchers are using living cells.
From ACM News
IBM Will No Longer Offer, Develop, or Research Facial Recognition Technology
IBM's CEO says we should reevaluate selling the technology to law enforcement.
From ACM News
Self-driving Cars Could only Prevent a Third of U.S. Crashes: Study
Traffic experts say nine in 10 crashes result from human error, and more than 36,000 people died in U.S. car crashes last year.
From ACM News
NYU Report Calls on Social Media Titans to Stop Outsourcing Content Moderation
The report says big social media companies need to use more of their own employees to make calls about which posts and photos should be removed.
From ACM TechNews
A Robot Walks Into a Bar, Helps Make a Cocktail
Robo-bartenders are part of South Korea's cafe and bar scene as the country moves toward "distancing in daily life" amid the coronavirus pandemic.
From ACM TechNews
Penn State Researchers Evaluate 2020 Census Data Privacy Changes
The U.S. Census Bureau has proposed using differential privacy as a new method to protect the identities of individuals when publishing public data.
From ACM TechNews
The Epic Battle Against Coronavirus Misinformation and Conspiracy Theories
Scientists worldwide are scrambling to track and counter the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic.