Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2014
From ACM TechNews
Drone Lighting: Autonomous Vehicles Could Automatically Assume the Right Positions for Photographic Lighting
A team of researchers is developing algorithms to let photographers use camera-mounted controls to guide drone-mounted lights into just the right position.
From ACM TechNews
First Major Redesign of Rasberry Pi Unveiled
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has released the first major redesign of Raspberry Pi, its credit card-sized computer. The new model is known as B+.
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Implementing Fix to Prevent Snowden-Like Security Breach
A year after Edward Snowden's digital heist, the NSA's chief technology officer says steps have been taken to stop future incidents. But he says there's no way for the NSA to be entirely secure.
From ACM TechNews
'nano-Pixels' Promise Thin, Flexible High-Res Displays
Researchers say they have developed a phase change material that could eventually lead to low-energy, thin, flexible displays.
From ACM TechNews
A Speech Synthesizer Direct to the Brain
A San Francisco neurosurgeon says he is working toward building a wireless brain-machine interface that could translate brain signals directly into audible speech.
From ACM TechNews
'Telekinetic' App Controls Google Glass With Your Mind
A "telekinetic" app has been launched to enable Google Glass users to control the device using only their thoughts.
From ACM Opinion
Harnessing the Speed of Light
The fields of data communication, fabrication, and ultrasound imaging share a common challenge when it comes to improving speed and efficiency: light's diffraction limit. Nicholas Fang thinks his group at MIT might have found…
From ACM News
Israeli Rocket Defense System Is Failing at Crucial Task, Expert Analysts Say
From ACM TechNews
IBM Spending $3 Billion to Rethink Decades-Old Computer Design
IBM plans to spend $3 billion over the next five years to research and develop new fundamental computing technologies, focusing specifically on the possibilities of using graphene and carbon nanotubes as replacements for silicon…
From ACM TechNews
Most With College STEM Degrees Go to Work in Other Fields, Survey Finds
Students who graduate with a bachelor's degree in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are more likely than other graduates to be employed, but also are unlikely to have a job in a STEM field, according to a new…
From ACM TechNews
Bell Labs Transmits Data at 10 Gbits/second Over Copper Lines
Researchers at Bell Labs have developed a technology that enables them to transmit data over traditional copper telephone lines at a record speed of 10 Gbits/second, using two pairs of 30-meter-long standard phone cables.
From ACM Opinion
How Not to Build a Brain
Building a brain sounds like a worthy goal, one that makes it seem as though the future is within reach.
From ACM TechNews
Own Your Own Data
MIT researchers have developed openPDS (personal data store), a prototype system that stores data from digital devices in a single location specified by the user.
From ACM TechNews
Academics Get Personal Over Big Data
Princeton University computer science professors Arvind Narayanan and Edward Felten have published a rebuttal to a June paper which concluded de-identification tools did a sufficient job of ensuring data privacy.
From ACM News
Disco-Era Spacecraft Not Dead, Just Out of Gas
A citizen science effort to revive a middle-aged spacecraft has come to a close after the probe's rockets failed to fire.
From ACM Opinion
Early-niverse Explorer Looks For Answers
On March 17, a panel of four astrophysicists held a press conference at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., to announce that they had discovered features in the cosmic microwave background (CMB)…
From ACM News
MIT Finger Device Reads to the Blind in Real Time
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing an audio reading device to be worn on the index finger of people whose vision is impaired, giving them affordable and immediate access to printed words.
From ACM Careers
How Google Map Hackers Can Destroy a Business at Will
Washington DC-area residents with a hankering for lion meat lost a valuable source of the (yes, legal) delicacy last year when a restaurant called the Serbian Crown closed its doors after nearly 40 years in the same location.
From ACM Careers
Restoring Active Memory Program Poised to Launch
DARPA has selected two universities to initially lead the agency's Restoring Active Memory program, which aims to develop and test wireless, implantable "neuroprosthetics" that can help servicemembers, veterans, and others overcome…
From ACM News
Microsoft CEO readies big shakeup, drops devices and services focus
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sent an email to all employees today outlining the company’s ambitions for the new financial year.
From ACM News
Scientists Create a New Type of Ultra-High-Res Flexible Display
We are surrounded by imperfect screens.
From ACM Opinion
Forget Turing, the Lovelace Test Has a Better Shot at Spotting AI
When a chatbot called Eugene Goostman passed Alan Turing's famous measure of machine intelligence in June by posing as a Ukrainian teenager with questionable language skills, the world went nuts for about an hour before realizing…
From ACM TechNews
Heads Up, World Cup Teams: The Robots are Coming
The RoboCup international robot soccer tournament aims to create a robot soccer team that can defeat the human World Cup champions by 2050.
From ACM TechNews
Traffic Lights: There's a Better Way
A new means of computing the optimal timings for city stoplights can significantly reduce drivers' average travel times.
From ACM TechNews
Google Shares Research Findings With Scientific World
Google is sharing some its most influential research papers to expand discussions and observations on topics being studied around world.
From ACM TechNews
Speeding Up Data Storage By a Thousand Times With 'spin Current'
Newly developed technology allows the spin of electrons to be used to boost the speed of data storage.
From ACM News
A Speech Synthesizer Direct to the Brain
Could a person who is paralyzed and unable to speak, like physicist Stephen Hawking, use a brain implant to carry on a conversation?
From ACM News
Intel, Qualcomm and Others Compete For 'internet of Things' Standard
If the stakes are big enough, companies will compete even for something that is supposed to be free to all comers.
From ACM Careers
Nypd's Facebook Page Shares Its Triumphs
The New York Police Department's Facebook page has taken on a role that was once largely limited to the city's press corps: publishing news articles.
From ACM TechNews
When a Computer Ages You
Researchers are hoping to harness facial-recognition and age-progression technology to estimate people's life spans and future health based on a photograph.