Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2018
From ACM News
Dutch Police Fight Crime by Cracking PGP Phones
Forensic hacking puts criminals behind bars.
From ACM News
Inside China's Dystopian Dreams: A.I., Shame and Lots of Cameras
In the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, a police officer wearing facial recognition glasses spotted a heroin smuggler at a train station.
From ACM News
Mathematicians Tame Turbulence in Flattened Fluids
Turbulence, the splintering of smooth streams of fluid into chaotic vortices, doesn't just make for bumpy plane rides. It also throws a wrench into the very mathematics used to describe atmospheres, oceans and plumbing.
From ACM TechNews
Implanting Diamonds With Flaws to Provide Key Technology for Quantum Communications
Researchers have successfully stored and transmitted quantum bits using a diamond in which two carbon atoms had been replaced with one silicon atom.
From ACM TechNews
HHS Is sing Data to Fight Opioid Abuse, Fraud, and Just About Everything Else
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General is using refined data analytics to combat medical fraud, waste, and abuse.
From ACM TechNews
4G Is Vulnerable to Same Types of Attacks as 3G, Researchers Say
A new report has found the 4G wireless telecommunications protocol is susceptible to the same types of remote exploitation as 3G.
From ACM TechNews
SpaceX Is Flying an Artificially Intelligent Robot Named CIMON to the International Space Station
An artificially intelligent robot was launched to the International Space Station last week to assist with scientific experiments.
From ACM TechNews
A Refined Magnetic Sense
An international team has demonstrated that algorithms and hardware developed for quantum computation can be applied to quantum-enhanced sensing of magnetic fields.
From ACM TechNews
Simulations Break Down Potential Impact of a Major Quake by Building Location, Size
Two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories are using supercomputers to simulate the impact of a large-magnitude earthquake with unprecedented precision.
From ACM News
Don't Just Lecture Robots; Make Them Learn
The robot apocalypse is nigh. Boston Dynamics' robots are doing backflips and opening doors for their friends. Oh, and these 7-foot-long robot arms can lift 500 pounds each, which means they could theoretically crush, like, …
From ACM News
New Optimization Algorithm Exponentially Speeds Computation
A new algorithm could dramatically slash the time it can take computers to recommend movies or route taxis.
From ACM News
A Game-Changing AI Tool for Tracking Animal Movements
In a video, a rodent reaches out and grabs a morsel of food, while small, colored dots highlight the positions of its knuckles.
From ACM TechNews
Chinese Scientists Set New Quantum Entanglement Record
Researchers in China have set a world record for entanglement of 18 quantum bits, keeping China ahead in the international competition to create a functioning quantum computer.
From ACM TechNews
Personalized 'Deep Learning' Equips Robots for Autism Therapy
A personalized deep learning network is designed to help robots gauge the effect of autism therapy on children, using data that is unique to each patient.
From ACM TechNews
It's Time for a Chemistry Lesson. Put on Your Virtual Reality Goggles.
U.K. researchers have created a virtual reality environment that allows biochemists studying a molecule to perform tasks nearly 10 times faster than on a screen-based simulation.
From ACM TechNews
'You Cannot Be Serious': IBM Taps Emotions for Wimbledon Highlights
IBM's Watson artificial intelligence platform is analyzing players' emotions at the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
From ACM Careers
Silicon Valley's Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge
When you step off the train here and walk into the city square outside the railway station, you will not see the spires of King's College Chapel or the turrets atop the Trinity Great Court.
From ACM News
RoboFly On the Wall?
The future of insect-sized remote-controlled aerial robots will be electromechanical, rather than cyborg.
From ACM News
Judea Pearl Codes Languages to Challenge Paradigms of Computer Science
Judea Pearl, recipient of the ACM A.M. Turing Award for 2011, built his career by challenging conventions in the field of artificial intelligence.
From ACM News
Datasets by Microsoft Research now Available in the Cloud
The goal is to provide a simple platform to Microsoft researchers and collaborators to share datasets and related research technologies and tools.
From ACM TechNews
Computational Method Puts Finer Point on Multispecies Genomic Comparisons
A new computational model enables more detailed comparative analysis of genome function across species.
From ACM TechNews
Autonomous Trucks for Logistics Centers
The Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems in Germany is collaborating with industry to develop autonomous truck technologies in logistics centers.
From ACM TechNews
Georgia Department of Education Announces New Funds for Middle School Computer Coding Courses
Georgia's Department of Education has announced $500,000 in grants to middle schools for implementing computer coding programs.
From ACM News
Speaking in Code: How to Program by Voice
Debilitating hand pain is always bad news, but Harold Pimentel's was especially unwelcome.
From ACM News
Give Me That AI Rock and Roll
Artificial Intelligence helps novices create new music.
From ACM News
It's Time for a Chemistry Lesson. Put on Your Virtual Reality Goggles.
There was a time when biochemists had a lot in common with sculptors.
From ACM News
In Search of New Rules to Protect Other Worlds From Earth's Cooties
NASA has to start protecting planets better. The international treaty governing space—there is one—and the laws and regulations that follow it date back to the Cold War.
From ACM TechNews
Big Data Analytics for Dummies
A big-data analytics platform developed under the EU-funded Trustworthy Model-Aware Analytics Data Platform project should automatically manage all major challenges related to on-demand data preparation.
From ACM TechNews
Ford Video Shows in Painful Detail a 'Phantom Traffic Jam'
A recent study by Vanderbilt University and Ford Motor researchers showed that adaptive cruise control systems can stop "phantom traffic jams" by incrementally adjusting the speed of all cars.
From ACM TechNews
Machine Taught Itself to Solve Rubik's Cube Without Human Help, C Irvine Researchers Say
A computer has taught itself to solve a Rubik's Cube puzzle without human aid, according to University of California, Irvine researchers.