Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2014
From ACM News
Nasa Announces Mars 2020 Rover Payload to Explore the Red Planet as Never Before
The next rover NASA will send to Mars in 2020 will carry seven carefully selected instruments to conduct unprecedented science and exploration technology investigations on the Red Planet.
From ACM Opinion
Why Many Programmers Don't Bother Joining the ACM
Earlier this month Vint Cerf, co-creator of the TCP/IP protocol and current Google vice president, openly asked professional programmers for feedback regarding the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a professional organization…
From ACM Opinion
The Nsa's Cyber-King Goes Corporate
Keith Alexander, the recently retired director of the National Security Agency, left many in Washington slack-jawed when it was reported that he might charge companies up to $1 million a month to help them protect their computer…
From ACM News
Robot 'learns to Keep Going with Broken Leg'
Engineers have taken a step towards having machines that can operate when damaged by developing a robot that can teach itself to walk, even with a broken leg.
From ACM TechNews
Ibm, At&t Build Technology to Move Data Fast in Disaster
Prototype technology can quickly move large amounts of critical data and software to another location in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
From ACM TechNews
Cheering Robots Replace Real Fans at Korean Baseball
The Hanwha Eagles Korean baseball team has equipped its stadium with robots that fans who are unable to attend the games can control over the Internet.
From ACM TechNews
pgrade Your Brain: Liquid Hard Drive Implants Could Increase Intellect
Researchers have found that digital information can be stored on colloidal clusters because they can switch between two states when placed in a liquid.
From ACM TechNews
Tele-Robotics Puts Robot Power at Your Fingertips
Cyber-dogs could help address one of the more pressing challenges of our time, according to scientists at the recent Smart America Expo.
From ACM News
Specialists Gather in Praise of Logic
The Vienna Summer of Logic combined a number of conferences into a scientific and cultural mega-event.
From ACM Opinion
The Weird Reasons Why People Make p False Identities on the Internet
Sockpuppetry—using false identities for deception—is centuries old, but the advent of the web has made creating sockpuppets, and falling for their tricks, easier than ever before.
From ACM News
How Spy Agencies Keep Their 'toys' from Law Enforcement
A little over a decade ago, federal prosecutors used keystroke logging software to steal the encryption password of an alleged New Jersey mobster, Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., so they could get evidence from his computer to be used at…
From ACM TechNews
Vint Cerf, Father of the Internet, Looks Forward--and Back
Former ACM president Vint Cerf recently discussed the ways technology, the Internet, and he himself have changed over the decades.
From ACM TechNews
Lcd Hacking Trick Could Make Virtual Reality More Real
Virtual reality systems could gain a new dimension of realism from a prototype headset that can quadruple the pixel density of a liquid crystal display panel.
From ACM TechNews
The CIA Fears the Internet of Things
A deputy director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency said that organization is concerned about the unintended security implications of the Internet of Things.
From ACM TechNews
Electronic Nose Could Aid in Rescue Missions
A new artificial intelligence-based device enables multiple robotic platforms to follow the path of certain odors.
From ACM TechNews
Hitchhiking Robot Embarks on Cross-Country Trek From Halifax to Victoria
Social-media-savvy robot Hitchbot is hitchhiking its way from Halifax to Victoria.
From ACM TechNews
If You Want to Be Rich and Powerful, Majoring in STEM Is a Good Place to Start
Early education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics builds some of the key competencies necessary for success.
From ACM News
Gaia: 'go' For Science
Following extensive in-orbit commissioning and several unexpected challenges, ESA's billion-star surveyor, Gaia, is now ready to begin its science mission.
From ACM News
The Remarkable Story of the nderwater Internet
In October of 1971, in the midst of the Cold War, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Halibut entered heavily guarded Russian waters in the Sea of Okhotsk.
From ACM News
Meet the Online Tracking Device That Is Virtually Impossible to Block
A new, extremely persistent type of online tracking is shadowing visitors to thousands of top websites, from WhiteHouse.gov to YouPorn.com.
From ACM TechNews
Changes Afoot as DARPA Challenge Robots Prep For pgrade
Researchers are preparing developing autonomous humanoid robots for the finals of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's robotics challenge.
From ACM TechNews
Study Shows Role of Media in Sharing Life Events
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers recently studied what happens when people share news via new media. T
From ACM TechNews
Prototype Display Lets You Say Goodbye to Reading Glasses
New display technology uses algorithms to alter an image based on a person's actual vision prescription.
From ACM News
Nasa Long-Lived Mars Opportunity Rover Sets Off-World Driving Record
NASA's Opportunity Mars rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004, now holds the off-Earth roving distance record after accruing 25 miles (40 kilometers) of driving.
From ACM News
Russia Offers $110,000 to Crack Tor Anonymous Network
Russia has offered 3.9m roubles ($110,000; £65,000) in a contest seeking a way to crack the identities of users of the Tor network.
From ACM News
Behind the Smoking Guns: Inside Nypd's 21st Century Arsenal
In the early morning hours of last Sept. 25, a stocky young man bolted the Bora Bora Lounge in Highbridge, the Bronx, with a gun in his hand and squeezed off seven shots.
From ACM Opinion
How to Invent a Person Online
On April 8, 2013, I received an envelope in the mail from a nonexistent return address in Toledo, Ohio.
From ACM TechNews
Wireless Home Automation Systems Reveal More Than You Would Think About ser Behavior
Saarland University researchers have found modern smart home wireless automation systems can pose a security risk.
From ACM TechNews
Transistor Successor Set to Bring on 'the Machine' Age Soon
Researchers are working to develop memristors, a response to the diminishing return of the transistor technology used in today's computer chips.
From ACM TechNews
K Computer Runs Largest Ever Ensemble Simulation of Global Weather
Researchers have successfully run 10,240 parallel simulations of global weather on the 10-petaflops K computer--the largest number ever executed.