Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2022
From ACM TechNews
Your Next Wooden Chair Could Arrive Flat, Then Dry into a 3D Shape
Researchers have developed a process in which flat wooden shapes produced by three-dimensional printers can be programmed to transform into complex shapes.
From ACM TechNews
China's Aviation Regulator Sets Goals for Drone Industry
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has released a proposed roadmap for developing its civilian drone industry.
From ACM TechNews
Education Ministry to Nurture 1 Million Skilled Workers for Digital Industry
South Korea's Ministry of Education said it will train 1 million skilled workers for the digital industry by 2026.
From ACM TechNews
Oracle Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Tracking 5 Billion People
A class-action lawsuit against U.S. multinational technology company Oracle claims it tracks and collects personal information on billions of people.
From ACM TechNews
Wearable Sensor Detects Even More Compounds in Human Sweat
A new wearable sensor can detect amino acids and certain vitamins in small amounts of human sweat.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Turn Toward AI for Unraveling Cell Biology
Researchers used artificial intelligence to correlate cellular cytoskeleton structure with the position of nuclei.
From ACM TechNews
Watch NIST's 'Atomic Television' Live and in Color
Scientists have enhanced an atom-based radio receiver to detect and display live color TV and videogames.
From ACM News
No-Code AI: Platforms and Tools
In the 1990s, tools like Macromedia Dreamweaver made Web development accessible to all. Today, no-code tools aim to do the same for artificial intelligence.
From ACM News
Rare Earths Processor Buys Rights to Mine in Greenland
One of the world's few rare earths processors outside China has bought exploration rights to mine in Greenland.
From ACM News
It's Alive! It's With the Band! A Computer Soloist Holds Its Own
Voyager, a computer program, played with Ensemble Signal in the U.S. premiere of a George Lewis piece that was a highlight of this year's concert calendar.
From ACM News
Sloppy Use of Machine Learning Is Causing a 'Reproducibility Crisis' in Science
AI hype has researchers in fields from medicine to sociology rushing to use techniques they don't always understand—causing a wave of spurious results.
From ACM News
Sloppy Software Patches Are a 'Disturbing Trend'
The Zero Day Initiative has found a concerning uptick in security updates that fail to fix vulnerabilities.
From ACM TechNews
TikTok Browser Can Track Users' Keystrokes
A privacy researcherfound the TikTok video application's Web browser can track users' keystrokes.
From ACM TechNews
A Neuromorphic Chip for AI on the Edge
An international team of researchers created the NeuRRAM neuromorphic chip to compute directly in memory.
From ACM TechNews
Your Smartphone Could Recognize You by How You Hold It
Researchers trained an artificial intelligence-powered algorithm to identify individuals based their hand vibrations when holding a smartphone.
From ACM News
Meta Lets Algorithm Pick 60 Employees to Fire
The staff had no warning and noone to appeal to; all video calls were anonymized.
From ACM News
The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score
Across industries and incomes, more employees are being tracked, recorded and ranked. What is gained, companies say, is efficiency and accountability. What is lost?
From ACM News
Engineers Fabricate a Chip-Free, Wireless Electronic 'Skin'
MIT engineers have devised a wearable sensor that communicates wirelessly without requiring onboard chips or batteries.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Computers Might Not Offer Extreme Speed Boost for Chemistry
New research suggests the required computing power could diminish quantum computing's exponential speed advantage.
From ACM TechNews
Flaw in VA's Medical Records Platform May Put Patients at Risk
Security researcher Zachary Minneker discovered a flaw in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' VistA records platform and determined that hackers easily can defeat its 1990s-era encryption system.
From ACM TechNews
Sound Waves Let Researchers Build Stuff with the Force
LeviPrint system can assemble elongated objects into large structures without physical contact.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Annealing Can Beat Classical Computing in Limited Cases
Quantum annealing computers can run algorithms faster than classical computers in certain instances, but typically not when time is limited.
From ACM TechNews
Gaming for Science: How Video Games Are Making Research Fun
Video games paired with citizen science are increasingly being used by researchers to make data collection and analysis fun and rewarding.
From ACM TechNews
Thinking Like a Cyber-Attacker to Protect User Data
Researchers exploit computer processor's on-chip interconnect to launch side-channel attacks.
From ACM TechNews
AI Model Recommends Personalized Fonts to Improve Reading, Accessibility
Model matches reader characteristics, such as font familiarity and age, with specific font characteristics, such as heavier weight.
From ACM TechNews
World's Largest Mechanical Robot Suit
Prosthesis is the world's largest four-legged exoskeleton, described as 'a cross between an excavator, a dune buggy, and a dinosaur.'
From ACM TechNews
Bartending Robot Can Make Small Talk
Drink-mixing machine uses machine learning algorithms to interact with customers.
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Neuron Swaps Dopamine with Rat Brain Cells Like a Real One
Could be incorporated into future human-machine interfaces.
From ACM TechNews
Thousands of GitHub Repositories Hacked to Include Malware
Software developer Stephen Lacy identified a malicious URL in the code of an open source project on GitHub that he found through a Google search.
From ACM TechNews
VR Headsets Reduced to Size of Regular Glasses
Scientists from Stanford University and Nvidia create thinner, lighter virtual reality headgear than commercially available devices.