Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2010
From ACM TechNews
Robot Pills
Pill-sized robotic capsules are under development for screening, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures.
From ACM TechNews
Are Female It Graduates Still nderrepresented?
The U.K.'s Higher Education Statistics Agency reports that the number of women studying computer science has fallen over the past five years, from 24 percent to 19 percent of students.
From ACM TechNews
Can't Place That Face?
Tel Aviv University researcher Galit Yovel is combing cognitive psychology with brain imaging and electrophysiology to study how the brain processes information about faces.
From ACM TechNews
H-1b Visa sage Declines Sharply Due to Economy, Bureaucracy
The United States' struggling economy is a major reason why almost 40,000 H-1B visa application slots are currently unused, in addition to 9,000 slots in the Masters Exemption program, a significant drop in applications from…
From ACM TechNews
nraveling the Matrix
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Gilbert Strang has developed a way to split certain types of matrices into simpler ones, which could help produce better video and audio data processing software or create smaller…
From ACM News
Wireless Technology Hits the Road
The recently approved IEEE 802.11p wireless communication standard for vehicles could improve traffic safety by supporting the delivery of information that helps drivers avoid collisions or take evasive action.
From ACM News
Team-Working Robots Huddle Together to Boost Comms
When you are in hostile territory, it pays to stick together—especially if you are a robot. Falling into line will be easier with an innovative communication system that combines the clout of robots' individual radio antennas…
From ACM News
Silk Moves from Textiles to Technology
Synonymous with beauty, silk is a masterpiece of nature with amazing mechanical properties that support its use in a growing number of high-tech applications ranging from medical devices to electronics.
From ACM News
New Focus For Digital Photography
Software that gives users more control of a camera could revolutionize photography.
From ACM News
The Agnostic Cartographer
How Google’s open-ended maps are embroiling the company in some of the world’s touchiest geopolitical disputes.
From ACM News
.s. Military Cyberwar: What's Off-Limits?
The United States should decide on rules for attacking other nations' networks in advance of an actual cyberwar, which could include an international agreement not to disable banks and electrical grids, the former head of the…
From ACM News
Ornl, Allinea Prep Debugging Tool For Petascale Supercomputers
A collaboration between ORNL and software toolmaker Allinea Software has produced a formidable weapon in the fight against software application bugs.
From ACM News
To Pack a Stadium, Provide Video Better Than Tv
How do you keep football fans as regular visitors to stadiums when the television coverage of every play is so good?
From ACM News
Customizing Science Instruction With Digital Libraries
Middle and high school teachers participating in the Curriculum Customization Service program use animations, images and interactive media to help engage Denver, CO, students in science.
From ACM TechNews
Commerce Seeks Industry Comment on Ways to Bolster Cybersecurity
The U.S. Commerce Department's Internet Policy Task Force is seeking comments from the private sector and academia about the cybersecurity challenges they face as well as the possible strategies that could be used to promote…
From ACM TechNews
It Industry Working Toward Energy Efficiency, Report Finds
The information technology industry is on track to achieve the Climate Savers Computing Initiative's goal of reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by 54 million metric tons by June 2011.
From ACM News
White House Proposal Would Ease Fbi Access to Records of Internet Activity
The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence…
From ACM TechNews
Research Project to Investigate Cloud Computing Technologies
Aston University researchers are investigating the possibilities of next-generation cloud computing technologies for large scale and complex information technology systems.
From ACM News
Researcher Demonstrates Atm 'jackpotting' at Black Hat Conference
In a city filled with slot machines spilling jackpots, it was a "jackpotted" ATM machine that got the most attention Wednesday at the Black Hat security conference, when researcher Barnaby Jack demonstrated two suave hacks against…
From ACM News
Data World Record Falls as Computer Scientists Break Terabyte Sort Barrier
Computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego broke "the terabyte barrier"—and a world record—when they sorted more than one terabyte of data in just 60 seconds.
From ACM News
Satellite Quantum-Communication Circles Closer
Communications protected by quantum encryption systems offer unconditional security—if you know which way is up. A new quantum protocol is the first that promises to work independently of orientation, which will prove vital if…
From ACM News
New Book Explores Democracy in the Digital Age
A new book by a University of Illinois at Chicago communication scholar explores how online media has influenced political culture, redefined contemporary society's understanding of public and private, and shaped civic engagement…
From ACM News
The Hunt For the Wikileaks Whistle-Blower
Attorney General Eric Holder's new probe into Wikileaks's posting of 91,000 war documents will likely find that tracing the path of the documents back through the Internet is next to impossible. But watermarks—if they were embedded…
From ACM News
Google, CIA Invest in 'future' of Web Monitoring
The investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the web in real time—and says it uses that information to predict the future.
From ACM TechNews
Group Devises New Method For Securing Location-Sensitive Data
UCLA computer scientists have shown that cryptography based solely on physical location is possible by using quantum mechanics. The method enables users to encrypt data at a secure location without pre-sharing any cryptographic…
From ACM TechNews
Intel Makes Advance in Silicon-Based Lasers
New technology from Intel could lead to the development of computers that use light beams to move data. Intel says it has built a prototype communications device with four silicon-based lasers that each send data at 12.5 billion…
From ACM TechNews
Programming, Development Skills in Demand
Java/J2EE is the programming and development skill in most demand with more than 14,000 open job positions nationally, according to a July report from IT job board Dice.
From ACM TechNews
Italy to China in Driverless Vehicles
University of Parma researchers recently embarked on an 8,000-mile, three-month road trip from Italy to China to test the limits of driverless vehicles.
From ACM TechNews
Who Gives a Tweet? Nuanced Feedback For Microbloggers
The University of Southampton's Paul Andre is collaborating with researchers from MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology on a website—Who Gives A Tweet (WGATweet.com)—that will offer Twitter users a free analysis of their…
From ACM TechNews
Machine Science
Manually tracking all the published science relevant to a scientist's research is an impossible task, but it is predicted that computers capable of generating many helpful hypotheses with little human input will emerge within…