Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2015
From ACM TechNews
Deep Learning Machine Teaches Itself Chess in 72 Hours, Plays at International Master Level
Imperial College London's Matthew Lai has developed a new artificial intelligence machine which he says can play chess at a master level.
From ACM TechNews
With 'brandeis' Project, DARPA Seeks to Advance Privacy Technology
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's new "Brandeis" program seeks to shield individual privacy instead of infringing on it.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Propose App That Detects Emotions Based on Walking Style
Researchers at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are developing a methodology to identify a person's emotional state based on the way they walk.
From ACM TechNews
Can Software Suffer? Death and Pain in Digital Brains
The ability to digitally simulate physical systems such as the brain to avoid the ethical dilemmas of experimentation on living subjects creates new dilemmas.
From ACM TechNews
Learning Spoken Language
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a machine-learning system that can learn to distinguish spoken words.
From ACM News
Nasa's Lro Discovers Earth's Pull Is 'massaging' Our Moon
In August, 2010, researchers using images from LRO's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) reported the discovery of 14 cliffs known as "lobate scarps" on the moon's surface, in addition to about 70 previously known from the limited high…
From ACM News
Mars Panorama from Curiosity Shows Petrified Sand Dunes
Some of the dark sandstone in an area being explored by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows texture and inclined bedding structures characteristic of deposits that formed as sand dunes, then were cemented into rock.
From ACM Opinion
The False Science of Cryonics
I woke up on Saturday to a heartbreaking front-page article in the New York Times about a terminally ill young woman who chooses to freeze her brain.
From ACM TechNews
Tech Experts Predict What 2025 Will Look Like
A World Economic Forum report contains predictions about what impacts technology will have on the world by 2025.
From ACM TechNews
This Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Robot Arm Lets You Actually Feel What It Touches
At a conference in July, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency presented a robot arm that can be controlled by a human brain, and two months later DARPA says the technology now can enable the wearer to actually feel…
From ACM TechNews
First Demonstration of Photonic Intelligence
Researchers at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Japan have developed a photon gun and a single photon detector that uses the laws of physics to make decisions, instead of complex algorithms…
From ACM TechNews
One Step Towards Faster Organic Electronics
Organic electronics are inexpensive, flexible, and lightweight, but their weakness is speed. However, researchers at Linköping University in Sweden say they have developed new polymers that conduct better.
From ACM News
How the Nfl—not the Nsa—is Impacting Data Gathering Well Beyond the Gridiron
As guards were going so far as to check inside NFL fans' wallets as part of routine security measures before a recent preseason game at Levi's Stadium, a different form of surveillance was taking place on the inside of the San…
From ACM News
This Helmet Will Make F-35 Pilots Missile-Slinging Cyborgs
Much rightful snark and scorn has been thrown at the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, the multi-multi-multi-billion dollar jet meant to be the mainstay of allied air superiority for the next half-century.
From ACM News
First Detailed Public Map of .s. Internet Backbone Could Make It Stronger
It may not look like much at first glance, but a map created by University of Wisconsin computer science professor Paul Barford and about a dozen colleagues took around four years to produce.
From ACM TechNews
Xerox Parc's New Chip Will Self Destruct in 10 Seconds
Engineers at Xerox PARC have developed a chip that can self-destruct upon command, making it potentially suitable for high-security applications.
From ACM TechNews
Student Conducts Significant Computer Research
Allegheny College computer science major Cody Kinneer has published a pair of papers about his research into methods of evaluating software performance. He developed a tool that evaluates the performance limitations of database…
From ACM TechNews
AI Computer Program Transforms Typed Text Into Handwriting
A new computer program developed by the University of Toronto's Alex Graves applies his work on recurrent neural networks to convert typed text into organic-like handwriting.
From ACM TechNews
Project Combines Modeling and Machine Learning
The University of Michigan has received a $2.42 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation for ConFlux, a new computing resource that will enable supercomputer simulations to interface with large datasets while running…
From ACM TechNews
New Photonic Chips Could Transform How Online Data Is Sent and Stored
The European Union-funded IRIS project has developed new photonic silicon chips offering higher bandwidth, and data center operators will be key potential end users.
From ACM News
New Pluto Images from Nasa's New Horizons: It's Complicated
New close-up images of Pluto from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reveal a bewildering variety of surface features that have scientists reeling because of their range and complexity.
From ACM News
The Tiniest Lego: A Tale of Nanoscale Motors, Rotors, Switches and Pumps
The robot moves slowly along its track, pausing regularly to reach out an arm that carefully scoops up a component.
From ACM Careers
The Oil-Rich City Betting on Drones
Over the PA system a voice tells us not to be alarmed. What we are about to see is just a demonstration, courtesy of the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of the Interior.
From ACM TechNews
Vint Cerf Wants Your Help Re-Imagining the Internet
Google chief Internet evangelist and former ACM president Vint Cerf is starting a new project to solicit ideas from the public about how to improve the Internet.
From ACM TechNews
Get Ready to Live in a Trillion-Device World
University of California, Berkeley professor Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli predicts the world will be completely suffused with tiny sensors within 10 years.
From ACM TechNews
New Wearable Technology Can Sense Appliance se, Help Track Carbon Footprint
University of Washington researchers have developed wearable technology that can sense what devices and vehicles the user interacts with throughout the day.
From ACM TechNews
Fortifying Computer Chips For Space Travel
Computer chips used in spaceships need to be robust to withstand excessive radiation from high-energy sources such as the sun or cosmic rays.
From ACM TechNews
Elephant or Teapot? Why Occlusion Is the Next Great Frontier For Image Recognition
Scientists at Facebook AI Research say it is time for the image recognition field to turn to its next great challenge: occlusion.
From ACM News
Apple and Other Tech Companies Tangle With U.s. Over Data Access
In an investigation involving guns and drugs, the Justice Department obtained a court order this summer demanding that Apple turn over, in real time, text messages between suspects using iPhones.
From ACM News
How International Monitors Spot Nukes and Other Rumblings
The ultimate nightmare for critics of the Iran nuclear deal being debated in Congress is that somehow, despite the agreement and all its built-in safeguards, Iran will still manage to design and build a nuclear weapon, escaping…