Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2017
From ACM TechNews
China Building World's Biggest Quantum Research Facility
China plans to building the world's largest quantum research facility, according to researchers and authorities involved in the initiative.
From ACM TechNews
Pacemaker Recall Exposes National Need For Research and Education in Embedded Security
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's first major recall of pacemakers due to a cybersecurity risk highlights a national need for research and education on embedded security.
From ACM News
Lotfi Zadeh, Father of Mathematical 'fuzzy Logic,' Dies at 96
Zadeh's theories of "fuzzy logic" rippled across academia and industry.
From ACM News
Operational Limits Played Key Role in Tesla Crash on Autopilot: Ntsb
The chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday "operational limitations" in the Tesla Model S played a "major role" in a May 2016 crash that killed a driver using the vehicle's semi-autonomous…
From ACM News
Cassini Makes Its 'goodbye Kiss' Flyby of Titan
NASA's Cassini spacecraft is headed toward its Sept. 15 plunge into Saturn, following a final, distant flyby of the planet's giant moon Titan.
From ACM News
Will Quantum Computers Surpass Encryption?
The fundamentally different paradigm of quantum computation will require fundamentally different security.
From ACM News
The Astonishing Engineering Behind America's Latest, Greatest Supercomputer
When the Summit supercomputer opens for business next year, it will be the United States' most powerful supercomputer, and perhaps the most powerful in the world.
From ACM News
As Amazon Pushes Forward With Robots, Workers Find New Roles
Nissa Scott started working at the cavernous Amazon warehouse in southern New Jersey late last year, stacking plastic bins the size of small ottomans.
From ACM News
In the Future, Warehouse Robots Will Learn on Their Own
The robot was perched over a bin filled with random objects, from a box of instant oatmeal to a small toy shark.
From ACM News
Geneticists Pan Paper that Claims to Predict a Person's Face from Their Dna
A storm of criticism has rained down on a paper by genome-sequencing pioneer Craig Venter that claims to predict people's physical traits from their DNA.
From ACM News
Planet 9 Is Not a Stolen Exoplanet, So What Is It?
Scientists believe there may be a huge planet sitting at the far reaches of the solar system. Since new evidence of Planet 9's existence emerged a few years ago, experts have been weighing in on how it might have ended up in …
From ACM TechNews
New Software Can Detect When People Text and Drive
New algorithms can accurately determine when drivers are texting or engaged in other distracting activities.
From ACM TechNews
New App Could Transform Music Teaching in Schools
Syncphonia is a new application that enables a music teacher to deconstruct a piece of music into its component parts, so each player's part is displayed individually.
From ACM TechNews
Online Gaming Yields First Results For Alzheimer's Research
Stall Catchers is an online computer game in which players use to analyze movies of blood flow to the brain as part of Alzheimer's disease research.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Engineers Find a se For the Hashtag at the Nanoscale
Researchers are building next-generation quantum-engineered devices based on quasiparticles called Majorana fermions.
From ACM TechNews
When Strangers Can Control Our Lights
Researchers have discovered security problems in smart lighting systems developed by GE, IKEA, Phillips, and Osram.
From ACM News
Meet Marie Desjardins, 2017 Educator Abie Award Winner
An interview with University of Maryland educator Marie desJardins, this year's A. Richard Newton Educator ABIE Award winner.
From ACM News
For Superpowers, Artificial Intelligence Fuels New Global Arms Race
For many Russian students, the academic year started last Friday with tips on planetary domination from President Vladimir Putin.
From ACM News
The Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence the Election
Sometimes an international offensive begins with a few shots that draw little notice.
From ACM News
After Cassini: Pondering the Saturn Mission's Legacy
As the Cassini spacecraft nears the end of a long journey rich with scientific and technical accomplishments, it is already having a powerful influence on future exploration.
From ACM TechNews
Siri and Alexa Can Be Turned Against You By ltrasound Whispers
Researchers have developed a method to hijack intelligent voice assistant using sounds above the range of human hearing.
From ACM TechNews
Pupilscreen Aims to Allow Parents, Coaches, Medics to Detect Concussion, Brain Injuries With a Smartphone
The PupilScreen smartphone application can objectively detect concussions and other traumatic brain injuries.
From ACM TechNews
High-Frequency Chip Makes Fastest Internet Speeds Look Slow
A new high-frequency electronic chip has the potential to transmit tens of gigabits of data every second, much faster than today's fastest Internet connections.
From ACM TechNews
A New Mobile Application Helps Scientists Map the Sound Environment
NoiseCapture is an application that unites specialists in environmental acoustics and geographic information.
From ACM TechNews
Choose Better Passwords With the Help of Science
A team of researchers has been conducting experiments into improving password security.
From ACM Opinion
Mark Sagar Made a Baby in His Lab. Now It Plays the Piano
People get up to weird things in New Zealand.
From ACM News
Our Weather-Prediction Models Keep Getting Better, and Hurricane Irma Is the Proof
By Wednesday of last week, even as Tropical Storm Harvey continued to rain devastation on the Gulf Coast, a new storm, Irma, was taking shape in the eastern Atlantic.
From ACM News
Massive Genetic Study Shows How Humans Are Evolving
A huge genetic study that sought to pinpoint how the human genome is evolving suggests that natural selection is getting rid of harmful genetic mutations that shorten people's lives.
From ACM Careers
In a High-Tech World, Car Designers Still Rely on Clay
Car designers have every kind of software and virtual reality tool. But when they want to make sure a car's curves look just right, they rely on one of the world's oldest materials: clay.
From ACM TechNews
Radiation Analysis Software Makes Emergency Responders' Jobs Quicker, Easier
InterSpec is a program for mobile and traditional computing devices designed to analye gamma radiation data at the scene of a disaster.