Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2016
From ACM News
Hacker-Proof Code Confirmed
Computer scientists can prove certain programs to be error-free with the same certainty that mathematicians prove theorems.
From ACM News
Send Secret Messages Hidden in the Dna of Bacterial Spores
Humble bacterial spores are taking us closer to an age of DNA information storage, thanks to new ways of protecting archived data from corruption as well as from hackers.
From ACM TechNews
Nokia's Terabit Fiber Internet Breakthrough Points to Even Faster Internet Speeds
Researchers have developed a data-tranmission technique that will have the capacity to provide speeds 1,000 times faster than Google Fiber.
From ACM News
Nasa Scientists Find 'impossible' Cloud on Titan--Again
The puzzling appearance of an ice cloud seemingly out of thin air has prompted NASA scientists to suggest that a different process than previously thought—possibly similar to one seen over Earth's poles—could be forming clouds…
From ACM News
Lasers Create Tiny, Flexible Power Sources
Researchers are developing more flexible power sources for wearable technologies, in new and different shapes.
From ACM News
Tech Giants Team p to Fix Typography's Biggest Problem
Fonts have a serious image problem.
From ACM News
In Memoriam: Boris Trakhtenbrot, 1921-2016
The mathematician discovered and proved the Gap Theorem, as well as what is now called Trakhtenbrot's Theorem.
From ACM News
In Backing Autonomous Cars, .s. Tells Automakers to Figure It Out
The Obama administration's approach to hands-free driving is remarkably hands-off.
From ACM TechNews
A Tight Squeeze For Electrons--Quantum Effects Observed in 'one-Dimensional' Wires
Researchers observed quantum effects in electrons by squeezing them into one-dimensional "quantum wires" and monitoring the interactions.
From ACM TechNews
Federal Officials Plan Aggressive Approach to Driverless Cars
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Monday announced plans to aggressively influence the launch of driverless car technology.
From ACM TechNews
An Autonomous Fleet For Amsterdam
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has partnered with the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions to test a fleet of autonomous boats.
From ACM TechNews
The Cryptographic Key That Secures the Web Is Being Changed For the First Time
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers next month will make the first-ever revision of the Root Zone Signing Key.
From ACM TechNews
Inside Google's Internet Justice League and Its AI-Powered War on Trolls
Online forums and social media platforms are havens for trolls and bullies who launch campaigns of harassment can lead to the self-censorship of the people they target.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Eye Gaming as Tool For Boosting Computer Science Skills, Diversity in Middle Schools
Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Florida plan to use a custom-designed videogame to improve educational outcomes in middle schools.
From ACM News
Geneticists Attempt to Heal Rifts with Aboriginal Communities
In 1938, anthropologists Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell set off on an 18-month, 29,000-kilometre expedition to survey Australia's indigenous groups.
From ACM News
Quantum Teleportation Was Just Achieved Over More Than 7 Km of City Fibre
Quantum teleportation just moved out of the lab and into the real world, with two independent teams of scientists successfully sending quantum information across several kilometres of optical fibre networks in Calgary, Canada…
From ACM News
How Random Is Your Randomness, and Why Does It Matter?
Randomness is vital for computer security, making possible secure encryption that allows people to communicate secretly even if an adversary sees all coded messages.
From ACM News
Confused About Those Emergency Cellphone Alerts? Here's How They Work.
Many New York-area commuters on Monday were interrupted by this alert on their cellphones: "WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen."
From ACM TechNews
Google's Go Language Ventures Into Machine Learning
There is a growing interest in having Go toolkits that take advantage of the language's conveniences.
From ACM TechNews
Loyola Faculty Win $280k Grant From National Science Foundation to Supercharge Research Computing Power Available on Campus
Four Loyola University Maryland faculty members have received more than $280,000 to build the university's first high-performance computing cluster.
From ACM TechNews
Ornl Helps Develop Hybrid Computational Strategy For Efficient Sequencing of Massive Genome Datasets
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers say they have developed a novel hybrid computational strategy to efficiently discover genetic variants.
From ACM News
Remote Repairs, Healthy Crops, Police Surveillance: The Future of Drones, Ar, and Vr
The future, according to the world's largest vendor of networking gear, is all part of the Internet of Things.
From ACM News
Hubble Telescope Snaps Best-Ever Views of a Comet's Disintegration
Building-size chunks of rock were photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in January as they broke free from a disintegrating comet zooming around the sun.
From ACM News
Artificial Intelligence Software Is Booming. But Why Now?
This is the year artificial intelligence came into its own for mainstream businesses, at least as a marketing feature.
From ACM News
Obama's Science Advisors: Much Forensic Work Has No Scientific Foundation
Last year, the US Department of Justice released a report that involved some painful self-examination.
From ACM News
How the Fbi Could Have Hacked the San Bernardino Shooter's Iphone
More than six months have passed since the FBI first ordered Apple to help the agency bypass the encryption on the iPhone 5c of Rizwan Syed Farook, an ISIS supporter who with his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino before…
From ACM News
Wireless Alerts Sound For Nyc Bombing Suspect
New Yorkers' morning commute was interrupted this morning by a chorus of emergency alerts, part of a manhunt for bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami.
From ACM TechNews
Hardware Hack Defeats Iphone Passcode Security
University of Cambridge professor Sergei Skorobogatov has cloned iPhone memory chips, giving him an unlimited number of attempts to guess the passcode.
From ACM TechNews
Saving Lives By Letting Cars Talk to Each Other
Wireless connectivity offers to improve safety as semi-autonomous and fully autonomous cars mature and proliferate.
From ACM TechNews
Complex Materials Can Self-Organize Into Circuits, May Form Basis For Multifunction Chips
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory say they have discovered unique behaviors of nanoscale materials that could advance microprocessor technology.