Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2012
From ACM News
Wimpy Cores Are Coming to Facebook. But Which Cores?
Facebook has made waves by detailing its plans to use what an executive calls "cell-phone chips"—or "wimpy cores"—in its future data centers.
From ACM News
In Modern Scandal, an Email Is Forever
When ousted Barclays CEO Bob Diamond says he felt "physically ill" reading emails of his traders crowing over interest rate manipulation, he is almost certainly telling the truth.
From ACM TechNews
Green500 Turns Blue
The 20 most energy efficient supercomputers the most recent Green500 rankings are all IBM Blue Gene/Q systems. Each of the top 20 systems delivered more than 2,000 megaflops/watt, which is twice as efficient as the average for…
From ACM TechNews
Graphene Transistor Method Could Enable Fast Devices
University of California, Los Angeles researchers have developed a scalable method for fabricating self-aligned graphene transistors that could lead to high-speed carbon electronics.
From ACM TechNews
Solid-State Terahertz Devices Could Scan for Cancer
Cornell University researchers have developed a method of generating terahertz signals on an inexpensive silicon chip. The method uses mainstream CMOS technology, generating power levels high enough for some medical applications…
From ACM Opinion
Future Planetary Rovers May Make Their Own Decisions
It's a hot summer day, and your eyes spot an ice cream cart up ahead. Without even really thinking, you start walking that direction. Planetary scientists would like to give robots that kind of visual recognition—not for getting…
From ACM News
The Drone Zone
Holloman Air Force Base, at the eastern edge of New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range, 200 miles south of Albuquerque, was once famous for the daredevil maneuvers of those who trained there.
From ACM News
.s. rged to Recruit Master Hackers to Wage Cyber War on Al-Qaida
Instead of prosecuting elite computer hackers, the U.S. government should recruit them to launch cyber-attacks against Islamist terrorists and other foes, according to a leading military thinker and government adviser.
From ACM News
Google Remakes Online Empire With 'Colossus'
More than a decade ago, Google built a new foundation for its search engine.
From ACM TechNews
Driver Cellphone Blocking Technology Could Save Lives
Anna University of Technology researchers have designed a system that can detect whether a driver is using a cellphone while a vehicle is in motion. The system can block the phone signals while allowing other passengers to use…
From ACM TechNews
The Measured Man
Computer scientist Larry Smarr envisions the development of "a distributed planetary computer of enormous power," one that comprises 1 billion processors and that can generate a working computational simulation of each person's…
From ACM TechNews
A Phone That Knows Where You're Going
Researchers have developed an algorithm that follows a person's mobility patterns and also analyzes the patterns of people in the user's social network. In a study, the system was an average of less than 20 meters off when predicting…
From ACM TechNews
White House Official Calls For Broad Regulations on Internet Use
White House Office of Science and Technology deputy chief technology officer Daniel Weitzner is calling for a broad and flexible regulatory framework for Internet use, leaving the specifics of implementation to the individual…
From ACM TechNews
'most Realistic' Robot Legs Developed
University of Arizona researchers say they have developed the most biologically accurate robotic legs by replicating the central pattern generator, a neuronal network in the lumbar region of the spinal cord that produces and…
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Digitize Aids Quilt to Make It a Research Tool
In 2010 the University of Southern California's Anne Balsamo launched an effort to digitize the AIDS Quilt in an attempt to make the memorial more accessible via photos. The digital version enables people to find names and blocks…
From ACM News
Simulated Space 'terror' Offers Nasa an Online Following
The video is called "Seven Minutes of Terror," and describes, with the suspense and cinematography of a movie preview, what will happen next month when a one-ton spacecraft launched in November smacks into Mars.
From ACM News
When Does An App Need Fda's Blessing?
Bernard Farrell obsesses over every bite he eats, every minute of exercise he gets, and everything that stresses him out. And, more than anything else, Farrell obsesses over his blood sugar.
From ACM News
Cybercriminals Sniff Out Vulnerable Firms
With cybercriminals a greater threat to small businesses than ever before, more entrepreneurs like Lloyd Keilson are left asking themselves who is to blame for hacking attacks that drain their business accounts.
From ACM News
Big Data and the Changing Economics of Privacy
There was a time when only people with money to hire a detective could dig into someone’s life. Now, dozens of companies have sprung up that will prowl into a person’s past for as little as $2.
From ACM News
Pentagon Digs In on Cyberwar Front
The U.S. military is accelerating its cyberwarfare training programs in an aggressive expansion of its preparations for conflict on an emerging battlefield.
From ACM News
A Northwest Pipeline to Silicon Valley
Some budding entrepreneurs and computer whizzes based here in the Pacific Northwest are starting to turn heads down in Silicon Valley.
From ACM TechNews
Northwestern Researchers Create 'rubber-Band Electronics'
Northwestern University researchers have developed a design that enables electronics to bend and stretch more than 200 percent of their original size using a combination of a porous polymer and liquid metal.
From ACM News
Computer Watches Humans Play Connect Four, Then Beats Them
A computer scientist has published a paper detailing how systems can successfully win at boardgames after watching two minute-long videos of humans playing.
From ACM TechNews
Developing Situational Awareness
Carnegie Mellon University's Ed Stoner says the ability to monitor large networks and analyze bulk data collections from various sources is crucial to allowing network and security analysts effectively defend networks from new…
From ACM News
How Software-Defined Radio Could Revolutionize Wireless
In 1976, two shaggy-haired college dropouts founded a company called Apple to manufacture personal computers. The company's prospects looked so poor that the third co-founderrelinquished his 10 percent stake in the company for…
From ACM TechNews
Spotting Suicidal Tendencies on Social Networks
University of Tokyo researchers are using Mixi, an online social network with more than 25 million users, to study people who have regular thoughts about suicide.
From ACM News
U.s. Spy Agencies Say Won't Read Americans' Email For Cybersecurity
The head of the U.S. spy agency that eavesdrops on electronic communications overseas sought on Monday to reassure Americans that the National Security Agency would not read their personal email if a new cybersecurity law was…
From ACM News
Drone Hijacking? That
On the evening of June 19, a group of researchers from the University of Texas successfully hijacked a civilian drone at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico during a test organized by the Department of Homeland Security…
From ACM News
The Robot of the Future That's About to Explore the Deep Past of Mars
I want to tell you about a special place on the surface of Mars. Back in the solar system's early days, a large object slammed into the red planet, leaving behind a hundred-mile crater—a dent large enough to withstand three billion…
From ACM News
Smart Headlights See through Rain and Snow
A prototype headlight system can detect raindrops or snow streaks and "dis-illuminate" them, thereby increasing visibility on the road ahead.