Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2020
From ACM TechNews
How Machines Are Changing the Way Companies Talk
Economics and machine learning researchers have found artificial intelligence is making companies change how they communicate.
From ACM TechNews
First-Ever Quantum Chess Tournament Won by Amazon Researcher
Amazon researcher Aleksander Kubica won the world's first quantum chess tournament during the virtual Practical Quantum Computing (Q2B) conference.
From ACM TechNews
A Quick Look Under the Skin
Researchers have developed self-learning algorithms that can help analyze medical image data.
From ACM TechNews
Tech Platforms Vowed to Address Racial Equity: How Have They Fared?
Facebook and other major technology platforms pledged to improve their diversity and antiracism efforts this year in response to racial unrest in the U.S. How have they fared?
From ACM TechNews
Battery-Free IoT: These Tiny Printable Computers Harvest Energy From Radio Waves
The Wiliot Internet of Things tag is a printable chip that harvests energy from ambient radio waves, so it requires no battery.
From ACM News
2020 Put Us On the Edge of a Processor Revolution
Upscaled looks back at a big year for CPUs.
From ACM News
Another Arrest, and Jail Time, Due to a Bad Facial Recognition Match
A New Jersey man was accused of shoplifting and trying to hit an officer with a car. He is the third known Black man to be wrongfully arrested based on face recognition.
From ACM News
Tech's Biggest Winners in 2020
This year wasn't all bad.
From ACM TechNews
MIT Discovery Offers Promise for Nonsilicon Computer Transistors
Researchers have discovered the alloy InGaAs could potentially lead to smaller, more energy-efficient nonsilicon transistors.
From ACM TechNews
Digital Transformation Is Lopsided, Even Within the Same Organization
A Harvard Business Review study of organizations found "a growing divide between teams with ready access to automation and AI tools and teams without."
From ACM TechNews
Apple, Google to Stop X-Mode From Collecting Location Data From Users' Phones
Apple and Google said they will bar data broker X-Mode Social from culling location information from mobile devices running their operating systems.
From ACM News
Adding AI to Education
Some fear artificial intelligence could replace teachers, but it has a long way to go.
From ACM News
A Rare Pandemic Silver Lining: Mental Health Start-Ups
Using teletherapy, metrics, and matching algorithms, entrepreneurs are focusing on addressing aspects of the mental health care system that they view as broken.
From ACM News
Obituary: Edmund M. Clarke, CMU Professor who Won Computer Science’s Nobel Prize Equivalent
Clarke was best known for his work in model checking, an automated method for detecting design errors in computer hardware and software.
From ACM TechNews
A Better Kind of Cybersecurity Strategy
Researchers contend Russia's use of North Korean IP addresses for a 2018 cyberattack underscored the need for a new cybersecurity strategy involving selective retaliation.
From ACM TechNews
Getting the Right Grip: Designing Soft, Sensitive Robotic Fingers
A three-dimensionally printed soft robotic finger features a built-in sensor with adjustable stiffness that could pave the way for more dexterous robotic handling.
From ACM TechNews
VR Battlefield Technology Designed to Train Military Leaders
Purdue University innovators generated a virtual reality model of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France, using battlefield simulations designed to train future military leaders.
From ACM TechNews
How We Can Be Manipulated Into Sharing Private Information Online
Researchers found online users are more likely to expose private information based on the structuring of website forms.
From ACM TechNews
CIOs Expect Tech Investments to Climb in 2021
A survey of 45 information technology executives found that many expect tech investment will grow next year, crediting the Covid-19 pandemic for justifying more investment.
From ACM TechNews
DeepMind's AI Masters Games Without Even Being Taught the Rules
The MuZero artificial intelligence developed by Alphabet subsidiary DeepMind can master games without learning their rules beforehand.
From ACM News
The Secret History of the First Microprocessor, the F-14, and Me
In a weird way, I've known Ray Holt all my life, but I never knew what he had accomplished—or how his inventions wove their way into my own family.
From ACM News
Our Digital Lives Drive a Brick-and-Mortar Boom in Datacenters
Developers and investors see more opportunities in commercial real estate as businesses and consumers gobble up more data.
From ACM TechNews
Students Find Creating Covid-19 Tracing App for School Was Easy. Navigating Fault Lines of the Teenage Pull to Socializing Was More Treacherous.
Two Marin County, CA, high school students built apps to help local schools contain the spread of Covid-19, hoping to encourage in-person attendance while maintaining pandemic safety.
From ACM TechNews
Does the Shoe Fit? Try It On with Augmented Reality
Retailers are increasingly reliant on augmented reality technology to help consumers try on products, hoping to virtually recreate the real-world shopping experience during the pandemic.
From ACM TechNews
Farmers Get Their Own Security Advice as Cyberattacks Increase
The U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center has published guidance for farmers to help guard against cyberattacks.
From ACM TechNews
Underwater Robot Designed to keep Tabs on Fish Farms
Researchers at Norway's SINTEF institute are designing an underwater robot to autonomously inspect fish farms.
From ACM TechNews
AI, Drones, 4K Cameras: New Tech Boosts Security Systems in Japan
Shortages of security personnel in Japan have prompted adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence, drones, and 4K video cameras.
From ACM News
A Touch of Reality
The field of haptics—the use of technology to simulate touch, feeling, and motion—is finally hitting its stride.
From ACM TechNews
Kazakhstan Spies on Citizens' HTTPS Traffic; Browser-Makers Fight Back
Google, Mozilla, Apple, and Microsoft are partnering to stop Kazakhstan's government from decrypting and reading HTTPS-encrypted traffic between citizens and overseas social media sites.
From ACM TechNews
Social Work Faculty Uses AI to Fight Substance Abuse in Youth Experiencing Homelessness
The University of Pittsburgh recently received an $8-million+ National Institutes of Health grant to develop brain-computer interfaces.