Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2011
From ACM TechNews
National Academies Call For Science Education Makeover
A new U.S. National Research Council report calls for reforming science teaching nationwide from kindergarten to high school, saying that current high school graduates are often unable to think critically about science or pursue…
From ACM TechNews
Cloud Security Awaits Encryption Breakthroughs
The wider use of public clouds depends on further developments in encryption technology, said participants during a recent panel at the Brookings Institution.
From ACM TechNews
Daytona Project Will Help Researchers Crunch Data
Microsoft's Project Daytona, which will run a broad spectrum of machine-learning algorithms on the Windows Azure application hosting system, will benefit researchers seeking large-scale data computation and analysis capabilities…
From ACM TechNews
A Mobile Guide For Buses and Trains
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems are developing SMART-WAY, a smartphone application that will enable public transportation users to better navigate their way around a city.
From ACM TechNews
Forget Passwords and Let the Browser Remember
The Mozilla Foundation recently released BrowserID, an experimental tool designed to change the way users identify themselves online by storing identity information inside the browser and not allowing companies to handle it.
From ACM News
Robots se Kinect to nderstand Our World
Picture the scene, a few years from now. "Robot, fetch me that pillow over there," you say to your ever-willing butlerbot. "Certainly sir," it replies. "What's a pillow?"
From ACM News
Stanford
What better way to combine your nerdy loves of computer programming and Star Wars than with a robot that can actually battle with a light saber?
From ACM News
Ibm Ceo Candidate Talks About His Rise
Rodney C. Adkins oversees 50,000 employees and is responsible for $18 billion in revenue as senior vice president and group executive for systems and technology at IBM, one of the world's largest and most durable technology…
From ACM TechNews
Telex Promises Path Around State-Sponsored Net Censorship
Researchers at the universities of Waterloo and Michigan have developed Telex, a system that enables Internet service providers to provide ways around network censorship.
From ACM TechNews
Photonic Neuron May Compute a Billion Times Faster Than Brain Circuits
Princeton University researchers and Lockheed Martin are developing fiber-optic-based computational devices that work 1 billion times faster than human neurons.
From ACM TechNews
Imaging Technology Throws New Light on Ancient Artefacts
Researchers at the universities of Southampton and Oxford have modifed Hewlett-Packard Research Laboratories' Reflectance Transformation Imaging system to make it possible to study the intricate details of historical artifacts…
From ACM TechNews
Using Light to Send Data Across the Room
Visible light communication continues to attract academic and commercial interest because light-based technology is practical, economical, and would provide an alternative to wireless communications networks that use radio spectrum…
From ACM Opinion
The Internet of Things (infographic)
When we think of being connected to the Internet, our minds immediately shift to our computers, phones, and most recently tablets. This week at Cisco live, I shared that in 2008, the number of devices connected to the Internet…
From ACM TechNews
Machines to Compare Notes Online?
Autonomous machines, networks, and robots should publish their own suggestions for upgrading the technology on the Internet, says the University of Southampton's Sandor Veres.
From ACM News
When Astronomy Met Computer Science
Digital sky surveys and real-time telescopic observations are unleashing an unprecedented flood of information. Astronomers have recently created new tools to sift through all that data, which could contain answers to some…
From ACM News
Nasa Dawn Spacecraft Returns Close-Up Image of Asteroid Vesta
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned the first close-up image after beginning its orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta. On Friday, July 15, Dawn became the first probe to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt…
From ACM News
Microsoft Opens Garage to Spark Innovation
It's typical for Microsoft to show off its latest wares at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference, if only to amp up partners' enthusiasm for hawking the software giant's goods. Some of the biggest gasps from the partisan…
From ACM News
Google Looks For the Next Google
Google thinks it can be young and crazy again. And it is betting $200 million that it is right.
From ACM News
Why Brains Get Creeped Out By Androids
We've all found ourselves in the uncanny valley before. It's that uneasy feeling you get when viewing a realistic humanoid or CGI person that’s so close to looking human that it seems almost spooky.
From ACM News
DARPA Searches For Life
There’s a hidden clock that underlies every process of every living thing—from when our cells start dividing to how quickly we age. Researchers at Darpa, the Pentagon’s extreme science agency, believes they can find it, using…
From ACM TechNews
How to Grow Wires and Tiny Plates
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a method for controlling the shapes of submicroprocessors that makes it possible to build entire electronic devices using a liquid-based process.
From ACM TechNews
Replacing Lost Abilities With a Robot
Researchers at Georgia Tech and Willow Garage have developed a special user interface that enables a mute and partially paralyzed stroke victim to control a robot, called PR2, that can perform daily tasks such as scratching an…
From ACM TechNews
US to Let Everyday Drivers Test Advanced Wireless Auto Safety Technology
The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to launch a program over the next few months to test new wireless auto safety systems in the real world.
From ACM TechNews
U.s. Hails Progress With Russia on Cybersecurity
The United States and Russia are collaborating to lower the chances of a cybersecurity incident that could potentially harm relations between the two nations, according to White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt. …
From ACM TechNews
Old Dominion U. Professor Is Trying to Save Internet History
Researchers at Old Dominion University and Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed Memento, browser-based software that can find a Web site as it appeared on a specific date in the past.
From ACM Opinion
Ted's Chris Anderson: The Man Who Made Youtube Clever
With his TED Talks series, the former magazine mogul Chris Anderson has racked up 500 million web video views for speeches by academics and technological experts. But that, he says, is only the start of an educational revolution…
From ACM News
sing Light to Send Data Across the Room
After Wi-Fi, will there be… Li-Fi?
From ACM News
Who Needs Humans?
Amid all the job losses of the Great Recession, there is one category of worker that the economic disruption has been good for: nonhumans.
From ACM News
Replacing Lost Abilities with a Robot
Henry Evans recently shaved himself for the first time since a stroke left him mute and partly paralyzed 10 years ago. His achievement came thanks to researchers in robotics, not medicine, and it demonstrates the huge potential…
From ACM News
Mi-Lsamp Boosts Minority STEM Enrollment
MI-LSAMP has managed to increase the number of STEM degrees awarded to minority students by nearly 50% over the last five years. In addition, it has increased overall enrollment in STEM curriculum.