Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2020
From ACM TechNews
Who Shares the Most Fake News?
University of Colorado, Boulder researchers determined that Facebook promulgates more fake news than Twitter, which is most likely to be spread by liberal-conservative extremists.
From ACM TechNews
Waymo, Uber Propose AI Techniques to Improve Self-Driving Systems
Researchers at Waymo and Uber have unveiled new technologies that aim to make their self-driving systems safer and more reliable.
From ACM TechNews
New Techniques Improve Quantum Communication, Entangle Phonons
Scientists have demonstrated a new quantum communication method.
From ACM News
Are Companies More Productive in a Pandemic?
Many claim their employees are hyper efficient while working from home. But there are social and emotional costs to ambition in isolation.
From ACM News
Reddit, Acting Against Hate Speech, Bans 'The_Donald' Subreddit
The influential pro-Trump community broke the rules on harassment and targeting, said Reddit, which also banned other groups.
From ACM News
Stopping the Exploiters
An angry public demands an end to phishing sites exploiting Covid-19.
From ACM TechNews
Body of Knowledge
Some medical schools are turning to virtual reality to enable students to learn from cadaver dissection.
From ACM TechNews
Academic Achievement Isn't Why There Are More Men Than Women Majoring in Physics, Engineering, Computer Science
New York University researchers found that higher academic achievement among men is not the underlying reason for more men than women majoring in science fields.
From ACM TechNews
Drone-Deployed Sterile Mosquitoes Could Check Spread of Insect-Borne Illnesses
An international team of researchers created a technique to more quickly control mosquito populations and reduce insect-borne disease.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Entanglement Demonstrated on Tiny CubeSat in Orbit
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have demonstrated quantum entanglement on a mini-satellite orbiting earth.
From ACM TechNews
CSAIL Robot Disinfects Greater Boston Food Bank
A group of researchers designed a robotic system that disinfects surfaces and neutralizes aerosolized forms of Covid-19.
From ACM TechNews
Netgear Moves to Plug Vulnerability in Routers After Researchers Find Zero-Day
Netgear said it is close to releasing a patch for a software vulnerability that could enable hackers to remotely exploit home Internet routers to access devices running on those networks.
From ACM News
Microsoft is Closing its Physical Retail Stores
After 11 years, Microsoft is throwing in the towel on its physical retail stores and is refocusing its retail sales efforts around its online/digital store.
From ACM TechNews
California City Bans Predictive Policing in U.S. First
Santa Cruz, CA, has become the first U.S. city to ban predictive policing.
From ACM TechNews
Countries Agree on Regulations for Automated Driving
The United Nations announced that 53 countries have agreed on common automated driving regulations.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Grow Optical Chips in Petri Dish
The new chips are made from gallium phosphide.
From ACM TechNews
RIT Researchers Create Easy-to-Use Math-Aware Search Interface
Rochester Institute of Technology researchers have developed an online search interface that allows anyone to easily create, edit, or look up complex mathematical formulas.
From ACM News
Michael Hawley, Programmer, Professor and Pianist, Dies at 58
A man of manifold interests, his achievements ranged from developing ideas behind the so-called Internet of Things to publishing the world's biggest book.
From ACM News
Blocking Facial Recognition
Facial recognition technology faces opposition from technology industry giants, and from the grass roots.
From ACM TechNews
Newcastle United Turns to Wearable Technology for Safe Premier League Return
Soccer clubs are turning to technology as the English Premier League looks to restart while complying with numerous health and safety protocols.
From ACM TechNews
Before These Astronauts Take Starliner to Space, They're Training in VR
Crew members for the Boeing CST-100 Starliner are training for pre-launch, docking, and landing using a new virtual reality system.
From ACM TechNews
'SlothBot in the Garden' Demonstrates Hyper-Efficient Conservation Robot
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) engineers have built a robot designed to help conserve endangered species.
From ACM TechNews
Study Reveals Extent of Hate Speech on Reddit in Right-Leaning Forums
A new study found that more comment moderation is necessary to curtail racist and white supremacist content on Reddit.
From ACM News
Amazon Launches Cloud Service to Help Non-coders Build Apps
Amazon already leads the cloud infrastructure market, and now it's expanding its cloud product lineup with a tool for people who don't code.
From ACM News
Google Will Delete Your Data by Default—in 18 Months
From ACM News
Windows 10 Critical Process Failure: Microsoft Admits June Updates are Triggering Reboots
Forced reboots are affecting some machines running Windows 10 version 1809 and above.
From ACM TechNews
AI Researchers Condemn Predictive Crime Software, Citing Racial Bias, Flawed Methods
A coalition of more than 1,000 researchers, academics, and experts in artificial intelligence condemned soon-to-be-published research claims of predictive crime software.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Develop Tool to Protect Children's Online Privacy
A new tool can determine whether mobile applications for children comply with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
From ACM TechNews
Uber, Lyft Pricing Algorithms Charge More in Non-White Areas
George Washington University researchers found apparent racial bias in pricing algorithms used by ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.
From ACM TechNews
This Dangerous Keylogger Could Change the Entire Malware Space
Cofense Intelligence, a developer of “intelligent phishing defense solutions,” is raising concerns about a new keylogger because of how quickly the malware is updated.