Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2011
From ACM News
Jupiter-Bound Space Probe Captures Earth And Moon
On its way to the biggest planet in the solar system—Jupiter, NASA's Juno spacecraft took time to capture its home planet and its natural satellite—the moon.
From ACM News
Milky Way Galaxy Re-Created
How long does it take to simulate the Milky Way? The answer is about nine months, if you're using a powerful supercomputer.
From ACM TechNews
Prof Explores Dynamics of Online Networking
University of Texas at Dallas professor Cuihua Shen has led a study of SourceForge, the Internet's largest open source community, using social network analysis to test social drivers that shape collaboration dynamics among users…
From ACM TechNews
The First Fully Stretchable Oled
University of California, Los Angeles researchers have developed the first fully stretchable organic light-emitting diode.
From ACM TechNews
Hanging Can Be Life Threatening
Although testing and static code analysis are used to detect and remove bugs in a system during development, problems can still occur once a software system is in place and is being used in a real-world application.
From ACM TechNews
Turning Data Into Democratic Action: Social Apps Lab at Citris
Current projects at the University of California Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society's Social Apps Lab include eradicating dengue fever, reducing asthma, and engaging citizens in local urban…
From ACM TechNews
Dumping Friends on Facebook Helps Make You Secure
Arizona State University researcher Pritam Gundecha has developed a method for determining which Facebook friends are most likely to leak private information.
From ACM News
Online Review Too Good To Be True? Sometimes It Is
Online reviews are many, but it's often difficult to tell the real ones from the fakes. To help sort the genuinely delighted customers from profit-driven praise, researchers at Cornell University have developed software that…
From ACM News
Csi: Tech to Automatically Identify the Bad Guy
Researchers hope a new system could automatically scan the hours of CCTV footage police have to comb through to identify suspects without invading privacy.
From ACM Opinion
Technology Is Our Friend... Except When It Isn't
The technology in question starts with "gigapixel" photography. Gigapixel photos are giant panoramas that themselves consist of hundreds of component mega-pixel digital shots.
From ACM TechNews
Image Searches 'poisoned' By Cybercriminals
More than 113 million Internet users were redirected to malicious pages due to search engine poisoning in May 2011, according to Trend Micro.
From ACM TechNews
Increasing Fuel Efficiency With a Smartphone
Researchers at MIT and Princeton University have developed SignalGuru, a system that uses a network of smartphones mounted on a car dashboard to collect information about traffic signals and to tell drivers when slowing down…
From ACM News
The 10 Commandments of Steve
More than anything else, Jobs's genius is in managing the creative process. Here's his playbook.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Teaches English as Second Language
Pasadena City College professor Ron Chang Lee has developed interactive robots that help students learn English as a second language.
From ACM TechNews
Football Analysis Leads to Advance in Artificial Intelligence
Oregon State University researchers have developed an AI-based tool that combines computer vision, machine learning, and automated planning to create a system that could improve a variety of fields.
From ACM TechNews
t Researchers Develop Algorithm to Improve Remote Electrocardiography
An algorithm developed by a team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has the potential to make an electrocardiogram more effective.
From ACM News
Replicating Human Errors to Test Network Security
University of Southern California researchers have developed a system for testing the security of computer networks by making computers simulate the type of human errors that leave networks vulnerable.
From ACM News
Stanley Kubrick Envisioned the Ipad in '2001,' Says Samsung
Sometimes life really does imitate art. In the battle to compete with Apple's iPad, Samsung has channeled the spirit of Stanley Kubrick, the director of "2001: A Space Odyssey."
From ACM News
Sleeping Around Gave Early Humans Immune Boost from Neanderthals, Denisovans
The ancestry of modern humans has gotten much more interesting in recent years.
From ACM News
Chinese Cyberwar Video Goes Missing
Now you see it, now you don’t. A Chinese documentary that showed off the military’s ability to conduct a cyberattack against a U.S.-based site appears to have been removed from the Web site of state-run TV.
From ACM TechNews
Google Highlights Trouble in Detecting Web-Based Malware
It is now more difficult to identify malicious Web sites and attacks as antivirus software is proving to be an ineffective defense against new threats, according to a Google study.
From ACM TechNews
Argonne Nanoscientists Invent Better Etching Technique
Argonne National Laboratory researchers have developed an improved etching method that involves shooting beams of electrons at computer chips, which could lead to new advanced technologies.
From ACM TechNews
Nsf Launches Sustainability Research Networks Competition
The U.S. National Science Foundation recently announced a competition for Sustainability Research Networks as part of the organization's broader focus on Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability.
From ACM TechNews
Simple Security For Wireless
A new wireless security scheme from MIT protects against man-in-the-middle attacks does not require password protection or some additional communications mechanism.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers: Target Cancer Cell Metabolism
Tel Aviv University professor Eytan Ruppin and colleagues have developed the first computerized genome-scale model of cancer cell metabolism.
From ACM TechNews
Linux Foundation Releases Specification to Ease Licensing Headaches
The Linux Foundation and FOSSBazaar have released the Software Package Data Exchange, a data exchange specification that tracks license information in a standardized way, allowing it to travel across the software supply chain…
From ACM News
Seeing the Future of the Office Internet
Inside the headquarters of networking giant Cisco in San Jose, California, lies a technology showcase where executives can test out advanced technologies like high-definition videoconferencing, a digital avatar named Halie…
From ACM News
Jobs's Departure as Ceo Puts Product Vision in Hands of Ive
Steve Jobs's departure as chief executive officer this week leaves Apple Inc. without the full- time attention of its technology visionary, putting pressure on head product designer Jonathan Ive to fill that gap.
From ACM News
Attention to Detail, Noted in 313 Patents
When people in the technology industry speak of Steven P. Jobs’s knack for design, they often have Apple’s iconic products in mind: the early all-in-one Macintosh computers, the first iMacs with their brightly colored and…
From ACM News
'smart' Cctv Could Track Rioters
Researchers at Kingston University have created a system that uses artificial intelligence to recognise specific types of behaviour, such as someone holding a gun.