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 Opinion
What It's Like to Get a National-Security Letter
In the summer of 2011, while he was fighting an indictment for alleged computer crimes, Aaron Swartz, an information activist, read Kafka’s "The Trial" and commented on it at his Web site.
From ACM TechNews
'shields to Maximum, Mr. Scott'
Researchers are working with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop ballistic limit curves.
From ACM News
Indiana niversity Launches Data Capacitor Ii
Indiana University's new five-petabyte Data Capacitor "will accommodate our storage requirements for a while."
From ACM TechNews
Computer Models Figure Out Sickle Cell Crisis
Researchers have used computing models to show how different types of red blood cells interact to cause sickle cell crisis.
From ACM TechNews
Nus Team Creates Realistic Robot Carp, First Robot Fish With Autonomous 3D Movement in Asia
A robot fish is ready to be programmed for specific functions, such as exploring the nooks and corners of wreckage for underwater archeology.
From ACM News
New ATM Designs Imitate Online and Mobile Banking
Before heading to lunch, Kirsten Keary-Taylor, 29, uses an iPhone app to request $20 from a nearby ATM. Passing the cash machine on her way out, she scans it with her phone to retrieve the bill.
From ACM News
Manage Your Smart Home with a Single Gesture
Our homes will get a lot smarter in the coming years, allowing us to use a smartphone to manage an integrated system of appliances and other electronics from any room—a kind of universal remote control for the "Internet of things…
From ACM News
Investors Buy Into Software-Defined Networks, Will Customers Follow?
As Superstorm Sandy bore down on the East coast last year, companies with data centers in its path needed another location fast. But moving computer servers is tricky, and usually planned over days or weeks.
From ACM News
Encryption Has Foiled Wiretaps For First Time Ever, Feds Say
For the first time, encryption is thwarting government surveillance efforts through court-approved wiretaps, U.S. officials said Friday.
From ACM News
Nasa Decommissions Its Galaxy Hunter Spacecraft
NASA has turned off its Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) after a decade of operations in which the venerable space telescope used its ultraviolet vision to study hundreds of millions of galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic…
From ACM TechNews
The Tao of Facebook: 'Social Graph' Takes New Path
Facebook has developed a system called The Association of Objects (TAO) that facilitates the balance between data stored in MySQL and more frequently accessed data stored in Memcached.
From ACM News
A Cutting-Edge Second Look at the Battle of Gettysburg
The technological limits of surveillance during the American Civil War dictated that commanders often decided where to deploy their troops based largely on what they could see.
From ACM TechNews
Mathematicians Think Like Machines For Perfect Proofs
A team of mathematicians has devised a new mathematical framework that forces people to think more like machines to check perfect proofs in collaboration with computers.
From ACM TechNews
Detroit, Embracing New Auto Technologies, Seeks App Builders
The increasing use of computer technologies in automobiles has turned Detroit into a growing center for information technology employment.
From ACM TechNews
MIT Researchers Can See Through Walls Using 'wi-Vi'
Wi-Vi is a new system under development that uses wireless Wi-Fi technology to track moving objects through walls.
From ACM TechNews
Siri’s Creators Demonstrate an Assistant That Takes the Initiative
SRI International has created a predictive assistant called Bright that reduces cognitive overload by providing specific information at the right time.
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Intellience in Mental Healthcare
The mental healthcare field is seeking to use artificial intelligent agents to provide training, consultation, and treatment services.
From ACM TechNews
Google Creates Developers Cloud Playground For Code Testing
Google has created a Cloud Playground environment in which developers can quickly try out new ideas.
From ACM News
Bitcoin Draws Attention of California Regulators
Even the state of California can't quite figure out what the bitcoin Internet currency phenomenon is all about—or whether it's legal in California.
From Communications of the ACM
All the Items Fit to Print
3-D printing has come of age. It promises to revolutionize a wide range of industries and profoundly change the way people buy and consume.
From Communications of the ACM
Keeping Computers Cool From the Inside
New techniques could cut the power required to avoid overheating.
From Communications of the ACM
Backing Creativity
Hacker spaces are spreading around the world, though some government funding is raising questions.