Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2013
From ACM Careers
35 Innovators Under 35
For our 13th annual celebration of people who are driving the next generation of technological breakthroughs, we're presenting the stories in a new way.
From ACM News
Quantum Paradox Seen in Diamond
A quantum effect named after an ancient Greek puzzle has been observed in diamond, paving the way for the use of diamond crystals in quantum computer chips.
From ACM News
A Quantum Leap for the Government in Mining Twitter Feeds
Last August, around fifty government employees and private contractors gathered at a Defense Department development laboratory in Crystal City, Virginia.
From ACM Opinion
Life After Siri: Nuance's phill Climb To Being Your Digital Assistant
In the gleaming Silicon Valley branch office of speech-recognition firm Nuance Communications, a small room has been made to look like a homey den.
From ACM TechNews
Printed Graphene Transistors Promise a Flexible Electronic Future
Flexible electronic circuits could one day utilize graphene radio-frequency electronics with sufficient speed to generate, receive, and process telecommunication signals.
From ACM TechNews
Sdsc Launches 'sherlock' to Solve Complex National Challenges
The San Diego Supercomputer Center is offering Sherlock technology to provide healthcare and government IT services to U.S. government agencies and universities.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Can Read Letters Directly From the Brain
A mathematical model has allowed scientists to analyze magnetic resonance imaging scans of the human brain and reconstruct thoughts more accurately than ever before.
From ACM TechNews
Purdue Researchers Working on Missile-Defense Software
Researchers are developing software to help explore what-if scenarios involving future missile advances in adversarial nations and U.S. defensive capabilities.
From ACM Careers
Carmakers Look to Video Games For New Routes to Market
The spoiler popped up automatically when the speedometer of the new Audi RS7 Sportback moved past 130 kilometers an hour on Charles Bridge in central Prague, creating just enough downforce to ensure the tires gripped the road…
From ACM News
Preparing a Parallel Programming Workforce
As many parallel programmers are aging and retiring, the skill set is increasingly in demand.
From ACM News
NASA Spacecraft Reactivated to Hunt for Asteroids
A NASA spacecraft that discovered and characterized tens of thousands of asteroids throughout the solar system before being placed in hibernation will return to service for three more years starting in September, assisting the…
From ACM News
Profile: Juan Wachs
Surgeons could use his hand-gesture system to control robots.
From ACM News
Apple Patents 3d Gesture i For Ios Based on Proximity Sensor Input
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday published an Apple patent for a method of generating and manipulating a 3D object on a computing device, with the process controlled by special gestures made above a touchscreen's…
From ACM News
How Pay-Per-Gaze Advertising Could Work With Google Glass
Google wants to see what you see. And then, of course, make money from those images.
From ACM Opinion
Google Maps Trained S to Follow Directions. Now Its Former Developer Wants S to Explore.
It's not evident from the way his hair flops casually down and across, nor from his equally relaxed demeanor, but John Hanke is one of Google's most important idea men.
From ACM Opinion
dacity Ceo Says Mooc 'magic Formula' Emerging
After weathering a round of negative publicity, Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun believes vindication is at hand.
From ACM TechNews
Facial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance
The U.S. government's development of a facial recognition surveillance system to identify individuals in crowds is moving ahead.
From ACM TechNews
10 Hottest It Jobs: Developers, Developers, Developers
Software developers are overall the most desirable information technology (IT) hires companies are seeking, with mobile developers especially sought-after.
From ACM TechNews
U.s. Schools Need More STEM Training, Better Broadband
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently reaffirmed the Obama administration's call for faster broadband connections in schools.
From ACM TechNews
Competition: Computer Science Teams Determine the Perfect Baby Name
Computer scientists are applying knowledge engineering methods to the task of helping parents-to-be choose the right name for their child.
From ACM TechNews
A Personalized Robot Companion for Older People
A customizable robot companion to assist elderly people could become available to consumers within two to three years.
From ACM TechNews
How Footprint Recognition Software May Help Zoology
WildTrack has developed image-processing software that the detects physical characteristics of animal footprints that are hard for an untrained eye to recognize.
From ACM News
How to Save the Troubled Graphene Transistor
The writing is on the wall for the silicon chip.
From ACM News
Hard to Crack: The Government's Encryption Conundrum
Imagine that you want to tell someone a secret.
From ACM News
When You Can't Tell Web Suffixes Without a Scorecard
On the Web, there's no place like .home.
From ACM TechNews
Intel Proposes New Standard to Light Up Data Transfers
Intel's proposed new optical interconnect, MXC, could be a key step in standardizing optical technology and bringing it to servers faster.
From ACM TechNews
A Cost-Effective Solution to Monitoring and Diagnosing Sleeping Disorders
A new software instantly identifies sleep anomalies by comparing the user's movements to their normal sleeping and waking patterns.
From ACM TechNews
Nrel Releases Free, Open-Source Energy Analysis Tool
Energy DataBus is a new open source app for tracking, storing, and analyzing energy-related data for optimizing energy use and spotting leaks.
From ACM News
Nsa's Surveillance Program Could Dig Deep
The U.S. National Security Agency has shrouded its collection of Americans’ personal information in secrecy, which makes it difficult to judge whether that data is helping to combat terrorism.
From ACM Careers
Master's Degree Is New Frontier of Study Online
Next January, the Georgia Institute of Technology plans to offer a master’s degree in computer science through massive open online courses for a fraction of the on-campus cost, a first for an elite institution.