Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2010
From ACM News
Everyday Robot Helpers Could Be Affordable in a Decade Or Less
Cornell University Assistant Professor of Computer Science Ashutosh Saxena envisions that "in five to 10 years, people will buy an assistive robot that will be cheaper or about the same cost as a car."
From ACM News
Robotic Arm's Big Flaw: Patients Say It's 'too Easy'
One touch directs a robotic arm to grab objects in a new computer program designed to give people in wheelchairs more independence. University of Central Florida researchers found that many participants in a pilot study didn't…
From ACM News
Cyberwar Chief Calls For Secure Computer Network
Gen. Keith B. Alexander, commander of the U.S. military's cyberwarfare operations, is advocating the creation of a separate, secure computer network to protect civilian government agencies and critical industries against attacks…
From ACM News
Seeing the Internet As an 'information Weapon'
The United States and other world powers have agreed to arms control measures in recent years that limit the deployment and use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as tanks and other artillery pieces. So why…
From ACM News
Internet Said to Speed Development For Poor Nations
Internet technology drives economic growth and enables poor countries to develop at a faster pace than rich nations did, Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and other business leaders said on…
From ACM News
Eu Backs Universal Apps Project
A new European research project aimed at developing technology that will allow applications to be delivered across a wide range of connected environments including mobile devices, PCs, web-enabled TVs and in-car units.
From ACM TechNews
Future Online Password Could Be a Map
AT&T researcher Bill Cheswick believes maps could serve as passwords for computer users. Cheswick says computer users could memorize a spot on a satellite photo, and the longitude and latitude would serve as the access code. …
From ACM TechNews
New Pi Record Exploits Yahoo's Computers
Yahoo researcher Tsz-Wo Sze developed software that made a record-breaking calculation of the digits of pi using the company's computers. Sze's program represents pi in binary notation, and calculated to the two quadrillionth…
From ACM News
Lipscomb Cluster Performance Tops 40 Teraflops
The University of Kentucky's new high-performance computer was measured at speeds of over 40 teraflops during benchmark testing.
From ACM News
Mobile Chips Battle For Processing Power
Inside your smartphone, a battle is raging. As tiny chips with big ambitions fight for processing power, is there anything the phones of the future will not be able to do?
From ACM News
Hydrogen-Powered, Solar-Inspired Nano-Battery
University of Illinois at Chicago materials engineer Eduard Karpov received a three-year, $217,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to develop a new battery made of nanomaterials and powered by the catalytic oxidation…
From ACM News
'citizen Scientists' Could Help in Response to Environmental Disasters
Jules White, with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, seeks to create a massive data collection system that would rely on information captured by "citizen scientists" who would collect photographic evidence from the site…
From ACM News
Turning Thoughts into Words
A new approach allows more information to be extracted from the brain.
From ACM News
Facebook Hopes Virtual Credits Make Real Dollars
For all its success, Google is often criticized for being a one-trick pony. After 12 years, the Internet search company is still struggling to find a significant new revenue source to supplement its lucrative text advertising…
From ACM News
Quantum Data Converted to Telecom Wavelengths
Using optically dense, ultra-cold clouds of rubidium atoms, researchers at Georgia Tech have made advances in three key elements needed for quantum information systems.
From ACM TechNews
Clever Cars to Mean Safer Driving
On-board computers and sensors in cars are helping to augment a person's driving skill and that trend will only continue as technologies such as collision-detection systems and radar become more commonplace.
From ACM TechNews
New Research Improves Ability to Detect Malware in Cloud-Computing Systems
North Carolina State University researchers have developed HyperSentry, software that offers enhanced security for cloud computing systems.
From ACM News
Artificial Intelligence Goes Mobile
Some of technology's biggest companies are developing AI-related hardware, software, and components to run on smartphones and tablets. Might a wireless device rebalance your investment portfolio?
From ACM TechNews
Europe Calls For Global Internet Treaty
The Council of Europe has proposed a global Internet Treaty designed to protect the Internet from political interference. The treaty operates on 12 Principles of Internet Governance, including openness and interoperability and…
From ACM TechNews
Lightweight True Random Number Generators a Step Closer
Researchers at Queen's University Belfast's Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology say they have developed the most lightweight true random number generators to date.
From ACM TechNews
How Safe Is Your Swipe?
Tel Aviv University researchers have developed a method of extracting information from chip technology by combining modern cryptology methods with constraint programming, which could lead to important new advances in computer…
From ACM TechNews
Less Is More in the Fight Against Terrorism
Suffolk University's Philip Vos Fellman used tools for analyzing complex systems to study terrorist networks. Vos Fellman says his computer models offer clues on ways to undertake long-term operational and strategic planning…
From ACM TechNews
Eu Project Aims to Build Computers That Can Learn From S
The EU-funded COGNITO project is building a computer system that can observe people, learn how they do things, and help them carry out tasks. The research team's algorithms will be incorporated into on-body cameras that monitor…
From ACM TechNews
Dancing Robot Swan Triggers Emotions
Researchers at Sweden's Malardalen University have created a robot in the form of a swan that can dance to the music of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
From ACM News
Code That Tracks sers' Browsing Prompts Lawsuits
Sandra Person Burns used to love browsing and shopping online. Until she realized she was being tracked by software on her computer that she thought she had erased.
From ACM News
Extending the Law of War to Cyberspace
It may come as a surprise to some war victims, but there actually is a body of international law that establishes when and how nations can legally engage in armed conflict.
From ACM News
Parting the Waters: Computer Modeling Applies Physics to Red Sea Escape Route
New research shows the extent to which such sustained winds can dramatically lower water levels. The research suggests that such a "wind setdown" event could have led to a parting of waters similar to the description in the biblical…
From ACM News
What's the Right Path for Indoor Satnav?
Tracking down one of the last few parking spots in the cramped confines of a dimly lit multi-storey car park is not among life's pleasures. German car maker BMW thinks it has the answer: an indoor positioning system (IPS)…
From ACM News
Pentagon Bomb Squad Backs Super Snipers, Mini-Bots, Secret Spy Tech
"Devil Pup" robots. Super sniper scopes. Secret signals intelligence sensors. Flying spies to find buried threats. Campaigns to influence the media behind the scenes. Those are just a few of the tools the Pentagon has turned…
From ICT Results
Island Dreams to Become Virtual Reality
A European research project will update three-dimensional versions of Mediterranean islands automatically with current information from a range of public and private databases. The project may shake up the tourist trade sector…