Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2015
From ACM News
Crumb of Mouse Brain Reconstructed in Full Detail
Six years might seem like a long time to spend piecing together the structure of a scrap of tissue vastly smaller than a bead of sweat.
From ACM News
For Sympathetic Ear, More Chinese Turn to Smartphone Program
She is known as Xiaoice, and millions of young Chinese pick up their smartphones every day to exchange messages with her, drawn to her knowing sense of humor and listening skills.
From ACM TechNews
Turing Award-Winner Stonebraker on the Future of Taming Big Data
2014 ACM A.M. Turing Award recipient Michael Stonebraker says the future of big data usage hinges on several factors.
From ACM TechNews
Smart Mirror Monitors Your Face For Telltale Signs of Disease
A new mirror can assess the health of someone looking into it by analyzing facial expressions, fatty tissue, and how flush or pale the person is.
From ACM TechNews
Scientist Working to Make Computers Human
A researcher is working with neuroscientists to better understand how the brain searches its store of knowledge while reading a text document.
From ACM TechNews
Spintronic Devices Possible Without Magnetic Material
Argonne National Laboratory researcher Stephen Wu has found it may be possible to generate spin current from insulators without a magnetic material.
From ACM TechNews
Shoring p Tor
Researchers have demonstrated a vulnerability in Tor's design.
From ACM Opinion
Obama Orders Effort to Build First Exascale Computer
The United States is now committed to building an exascale computer, some 30 times more powerful than today’s top machine.
From ACM News
Search For Alien Life Ignites Battle Over Giant Telescope
There is a gaping hole in the latest effort to reinvigorate the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), one so big it could hold an estimated 357 million boxes of cornflakes.
From ACM News
Science on the Surface of a Comet
Complex molecules that could be key building blocks of life, the daily rise and fall of temperature, and an assessment of the surface properties and internal structure of the comet are just some of the highlights of the first…
From ACM News
Fraud, Corruption Infect Poland’s Computer Science Community
Academics face legal proceedings for allegedly extorting research grants.
From ACM News
Obama's New Executive Order Says the .s. Must Build an Exascale Supercomputer
President Obama has established a new initiative across multiple government agencies that will focus entirely on creating the fastest supercomputers ever devised.
From ACM News
Hacked Molecular Machine Could Pump Out Custom Proteins
By hijacking the cellular machinery that makes proteins, bioengineers have developed a tool that could allow them to better understand protein synthesis, explore how antibiotics work and convert cells into custom chemical factories…
From ACM News
Facial Recognition Tool 'works in Darkness'
Two scientists at a German university have developed a tool which recognises a person's face in complete darkness.
From ACM News
Intel and Micron nveil 3d Xpoint, a Brand New Memory Technology
Intel and Micron have unveiled what appears to be the holy grail of memory.
From ACM TechNews
Making the New Silicon
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say they have developed gallium nitride transistors to power electronic circuits.
From ACM TechNews
CLA Researchers Create Smartphone-Based Device That Reads Medical Diagnostic Tests Quickly and Accurately
University of California, Los Angeles researchers say they have developed a mobile phone-based device that can read enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay plates.
From ACM TechNews
Superfast Fluorescence Sets New Speed Record
Duke University researchers say they have developed an ultrafast plasmonic device that could form the basis of optical computing.
From ACM TechNews
In Data Science, the R Language Is Swallowing Python
Within the burgeoning big data realm, the R programming language will likely merge with Python, a developer-friendly generalist data language.
From ACM News
Beam Me Up? Teleporting Is Real, Even If Trekkie Transport Isn't
"I have a hard time saying this with a straight face, but I will: You can teleport a single atom from one place to another," says Chris Monroe, a biophysicist at the University of Maryland.
From ACM News
Neanderthals Had Outsize Effect on Human Biology
Our ancestors were not a picky bunch.
From ACM TechNews
Consortium Including MIT Awarded $110m National Grant to Promote Photonics Manufacturing
The American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics will work to advance U.S. capabilities in integrated photonic technology.
From ACM TechNews
Did These Researchers Just Create an Autistic Computer Program?
Baylor College of Medicine researchers claim to have modeled a theorized cause of autism in an artificial neural network.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists in Greece Design Cryptographic E-Voting Platform
Researchers in Greece say they have designed the world's first encrypted electronic voting system in which voters can confirm their votes go to the intended candidate.
From ACM TechNews
China Pushes to Rewrite Rules of Global Internet
China's government aims to redraft the rules of the global Internet so it can regulate the Internet on its own terms.
From ACM TechNews
India Loves Moocs
Massively open online courses have taken off in a big way in India, where they are meeting a need for education, particularly technical education.
From ACM TechNews
China Building One of the World's Fastest Astronomical Computers to Power Giant, Alien-Seeking Telescope
China's new Sky Eye 1 supercomputer is expected to be the fastest astronomical supercomputer in the world, topping Japan's Aterui.
From ACM News
Hackers Can Disable a Sniper Rifle—Or Change Its Target
Put a computer on a sniper rifle, and it can turn the most amateur shooter into a world-class marksman.
From ACM Careers
As Tech Booms, Workers Turn to Coding For Career Change
After Paul Minton graduated from college, he worked as a waiter, but always felt he should do more.
From ACM Careers
In Silicon Valley, Coders Are Making More Room For Curators
It's been almost a decade since the debut of the Netflix Prize, a $1 million bounty for the person or group that could best improve the company’s movie suggestion algorithm.