Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2013
From ACM News
What Is Graphene? Here's What You Need to Know About a Material that Could Be the Next Silicon
Graphene, an emerging material that could change the way electronic components are made and help computing performance continue to grow, is everywhere in the research world these days.
From ACM News
How the .s. Forces Net Firms to Cooperate on Surveillance
By wielding a potent legal threat, the U.S. government is often able to force Internet companies to aid its surveillance demands.
From ACM News
Curiosity Mars Rover Passes Kilometer of Driving
The latest drive by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover brought the total distance that the rover has driven on Mars to more than 1 kilometer (about 0.62 mile).
From ACM TechNews
New Model to Improve Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication for 'Intelligent Transportation'
A newly developed model improves the clarity of vehicle-to-vehicle transmissions needed to make intelligent transportation a reality.
From ACM TechNews
'virtual Lolita' Aims to Trap Chatroom Pedophiles
Negobot, a "virtual Lolita" robot, poses as a 14-year-old girl and tries to identify pedophiles in online chatrooms.
From ACM TechNews
Daydreaming Simulated By Computer Model
A new virtual model of the human brain daydreams like people do.
From ACM TechNews
TV White Space Pilot Targets Connectivity Gaps at U.S. University
West Virginia University recently announced plans to use vacant broadcast TV channels for wireless broadband services with its TV white space test network.
From ACM TechNews
Zombies Offer Fresh Insight Into Crowd Behaviour
A new computer game simulates a zombie invasion, in order to gather data on crowd behavior and the impact of stress on decision-making.
From ACM Opinion
The End of Digital Tyranny: Why the Future of Computing Is Analog
Our world is ruled by 1s and 0s.
From ACM News
Writing Programs Using Ordinary Language
In a pair of recent papers, researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have demonstrated that, for a few specific tasks, it's possible to write computer programs using ordinary language rather…
From ACM Opinion
Hugh Herr and the Liberating Age of Bionics
"It's extraordinary that we live in this day and age with all our wonderful modern technology, and still we have shoes that give us blisters," says Hugh Herr, with more than a little incredulity and perhaps even fresh anger at…
From ACM TechNews
Id Got You, Under the Skin: Automated Thermal Face Recognition Based on Minutiae Extraction
A thermal-imaging scan for instantaneous face recognition could be the next advance in biometrics.
From ACM TechNews
Miracle Material Graphene Could Deliver Internet One Hundred Times Faster
Researchers have demonstrated incredibly short optical response rates using graphene, which could lead to much faster Internet speeds.
From ACM TechNews
Ntu Invention Transforms Plain Surfaces Into Low-Cost Touchscreens
Researchers have developed a low-cost system that could turn a whiteboard, glass window, or a wooden tabletop into a responsive, touch-sensitive surface.
From ACM TechNews
Make Way for State and Local Cyber-Ranges
The U.S. government has wanted a nationwide network of unclassified cyberexercise facilities for years, and now that idea is coming to state and local governments.
From ACM News
Crm For Cities
New mobile apps improve citizen-government communications.
From ACM News
Attention, Shoppers: Store Is Tracking Your Cell
Like dozens of other brick-and-mortar retailers,Nordstrom wanted to learn more about its customers—how many came through the doors, how many were repeat visitors—the kind of information that e-commerce sites like Amazon have…
From ACM News
Fact or Fiction: Encryption Prevents Digital Eavesdropping
Since the dawn of the Web and ubiquitous free e-mail services over the past two decades, the need to secure personal information online has been evident but often ignored.
From ACM News
Here Come the Arabic, Russian, and Chinese Net Addresses
ICANN, the organization in charge of a major overhaul of Internet addresses, said it has signed agreements that will bring Chinese, Russian, and Arabic domain names to the Net.
From ACM News
Canadian Team Claims $250,000 Prize For Human-Powered Helicopter
The Canadian AeroVelo team has done what many thought impossible.
From ACM TechNews
Predicting Earthquakes and Saving Lives--With Smartphones
A new app called CrowdShake provides early earthquake warnings by converting a smartphone's accelerometer into a seismometer.
From ACM TechNews
A Mind-Blowing Dome Made By 6,500 Computer-Guided Silkworms
Researchers have used 6,500 live silkworms to create a three-dimensional printed dome, utilizing a hybrid fabrication method called CNSilk.
From ACM TechNews
Experts Create 3D Map of Richard III's Grave
Researchers are using two scanning techniques to create a detailed three-dimensional digital visualization of King Richard III's grave.
From ACM TechNews
Silicon Oxide Memories Transcend a Hurdle
Researchers have developed a one-kilobit rewritable silicon oxide device with diodes that eliminate data-corrupting crosstalk.
From ACM TechNews
Alert! Study Finds Internet Users Heed Browser Warnings
Security warnings displayed by Web browsers are much more effective at deterring risky Internet behavior than was previously believed, a recent study found.
From ACM TechNews
Breakthrough Could Lead to 'artificial Skin' That Senses Touch, Humidity, and Temperature
A newly developed flexible sensor out of tiny gold particles could be used to create electronic skin.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Mom Would Beat Robot Butler in Popularity Contest
Researchers have found that people express more positive feelings toward a robot that takes care of them than toward a robot that needs care.
From ACM Opinion
Censoring the News Before It Happens
Every day in China, hundreds of messages are sent from government offices to website editors around the country that say things like, "Report on the new provincial budget tomorrow, but do not feature it on the front page, make…
From ACM News
Computational Photography: The Snap Is Only the Start
Imagine a camera that allows you to see through a crowd to get a clear view of someone who would otherwise be obscured, a smartphone that matches big-budget lenses for image quality, or a photograph that lets you change your…
From ACM News
Researchers Find Bug Bounty Programs Pay Economic Rewards
Bug bounty programs can be as much as 100 times more cost-effective for finding security vulnerabilities than hiring full-time security researchers to do the same thing.