Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2020
From ACM TechNews
Our Itch to Share Helps Spread Covid-19 Misinformation
A new study has found that when people consume news on social media, their penchant to share that news undermines their ability to assess its accuracy.
From ACM TechNews
Japan Is Figuring Out How to Deliver Goods Untouched by Humans
Japanese companies are developing next-generation logistics technology to deliver goods untouched by humans, driven by worker shortages and the Covid-19 pandemic.
From ACM TechNews
Phishing Attacks: This Sophisticated Group Has Been Operating Undiscovered for at Least a Year
Cybersecurity researchers found a new phishing group targeting large companies worldwide, which may have been operating undiscovered for over a year.
From ACM News
3D Printing Takes Shape During the Pandemic
Three-dimensional printing is transforming medicine during the coronavirus pandemic.
From ACM News
The Long-Lost Computation Dissertation of Unix Pioneer Dennis Ritchie
The Computer History Museum has found a copy of Dennis Ritchie's final dissertation, a peek at the earliest days of computer science.
From ACM News
Meet the Secret Algorithm That's Keeping Students Out of College
The International Baccalaureate program canceled its high-stakes exam because of Covid-19. The formula it used to "predict" scores puzzles students and teachers.
From ACM TechNews
Virtual Try-Ons Replacing Fitting Rooms During the Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred consumers to substitute fitting rooms with augmented reality using their smartphones and computers.
From ACM TechNews
Filter Protects Against Deepfake Photos, Videos
Computer scientists at Boston University have created an algorithm that prevents deepfakes by adding an imperceptible filter to videos and photos before they are uploaded to the Internet.
From ACM TechNews
Home Router Warning: They're Riddled With Known Flaws and Run Ancient, Unpatched Linux
Researchers studied 127 home routers from seven brands and found that 46 had not had a security update in the past year.
From ACM TechNews
Tyson Turns to Robot Butchers, Spurred by Coronavirus Outbreaks
Engineers and scientists at meatpacking company Tyson Foods are developing an automated deboning system to process meats in order to avoid spreading infectious diseases like Covid-19.
From ACM TechNews
AI Enables Efficiencies in Quantum Information Processing
Researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory and Tulane University integrated machine learning with quantum information science.
From ACM TechNews
Google Fixes Smartwatch Security Problem
Google corrected a security vulnerability in its Wear OS smartwatches that could have allowed attackers to crash applications, render the app or the watch unresponsive, or cause continuous reboots.
From ACM TechNews
ACM U.S. Technology Policy Committee Urges Supreme Court to Narrowly Interpret Computer Fraud Act
ACM's U.S. Technology Policy Committee Thursday filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the court to narrowly interpret the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Discover How to Pinpoint a Malicious Drone Operator
Researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have learned to identify the location of a potentially malicious aerial drone operator operating near airports or other protected airspace.
From ACM TechNews
Study: Only 18% of Data Science Students Are Learning AI Ethics
Only 15% of university instructors and professors surveyed are teaching artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, and just 18% of students say they are learning about the issue.
From ACM TechNews
Bio-Ink for 3-D Printing Inside the Body
Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a bio-ink that can be three-dimensionally printed at human body temperature, and solidified using visible light.
From ACM News
NSF Reveals First Details on Foreign-Influence Investigations
The U.S. National Science Foundation has taken action in 16-to-20 individual cases, most involving "very well-known academics," in which foreign ties were not properly reported.
From ACM TechNews
AI's Carbon Footprint Problem
A new tool measures the hidden cost of machine learning.
From ACM TechNews
National Security Agency Warns That VPNs Could Be Vulnerable to Cyberattacks
A cybersecurity advisory issued by the National Security Agency's Cybersecurity Directorate warns that virtual private networks may be vulnerable to cyberattacks.
From ACM TechNews
Recyclers Turn to Robots After Waste Import Bans
Waste import bans have prompted many companies to use robotic technologies to enhance their processing capabilities.
From ACM News
Now You See It, Now You Don’t
The potential of augmented reality art.
From ACM News
A Plan to Make Police Data Open Source Started on Reddit
The Police Data Accessibility Project aims to request, download, clean, and standardize public records that right now are overly difficult to find.
From ACM News
Harvard and M.I.T. Sue to Stop Trump Visa Rules for Foreign Students
Universities opposed a policy that would require students to take at least one in-person class or be denied permission to study in the U.S.
From ACM TechNews
How AI Helps Historians Solve Ancient Puzzles
Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are helping historians restore or recreate archaeological artifacts from photos of fragments.
From ACM TechNews
Home Security Camera Wi-Fi Signals Can be Hacked to Tell When People Are Home
Scientists in the U.K. and China have demonstrated exploits of Internet-connected security camera uploads that allows hackers to learn whether homes are occupied or not.
From ACM TechNews
What's Contributing to the Striking Gender Gap in the AI Field?
A new study quantified predictors of whether women will choose careers in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
System Combines Smartphone Videos to Create 4D Visualizations
Carnegie Mellon University researchers combined iPhone videos shot "in the wild" by separate cameras to produce four-dimensional visualizations.
From ACM TechNews
Uncovered: 1,000 Phrases That Incorrectly Trigger Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant
Researchers have identified more than 1,000 word sequences that incorrectly trigger voice assistants like Alexa, Google Home, and Siri.
From ACM TechNews
Coordinating Complex Behaviors Between Hundreds of Robots
Duke University researchers have proposed a new approach for coordinating complex tasks between hundreds of robots while satisfying logic-based rules.
From ACM News
Study Shows Consumer Excitement For Drones, Self-Driving Vehicles Has Grown Amid Pandemic
Study finds 26% of consumers now view autonomous delivery technologies more favorably