Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2015
From ACM News
Visualizing the Complex, Invisible Web of Wireless Signals that Surround S
As we wander through buildings and streets, restaurants and universities, countless signals are buzzing around our heads, so silent and invisible we forget they are there.
From ACM News
Who Drew This? A Computer… or Van Gogh?
German researchers have created a machine-learning algorithm that can take a photograph and make it look like a drawing by Vincent van Gogh or Pablo Picasso.
From ACM News
European Publishers Play Lobbying Role Against Google
In private sessions this summer, giant publishers and media companies from Germany, France and elsewhere have met with European officials about proposals to regulate Europe's digital economy.
From ACM TechNews
Why the World's Top Computing Experts Are Worrying About Your Data
Many of the world's top computer science experts met last week to determine how the widespread collection of data about consumers can be prevented from causing harm.
From ACM TechNews
ber Project May Improve Autonomous Cars' Vision
Uber is collaborating with the University of Arizona on a mapping and safety project for self-driving cars.
From ACM TechNews
Our Number's p: Machines Will Do Maths We'll Never nderstand
Some mathematicians think the field of mathematics is approaching a limit that cannot yield further breakthroughs without computerized assistance.
From ACM TechNews
Computers Can Predict Schizophrenia Based on How a Person Talks
A new algorithmic analysis technique can identify the disjointed patterns of speech considered a hallmark of schizophrenia.
From ACM TechNews
Estimate: Human Brain 30 Times Faster Than Best Supercomputers
Two Ph.D. students are seeking to determine how soon artificial intelligence might exceed the capabilities of the human brain.
From ACM TechNews
Research Aims For Bitcoin Science to Catch p With Growth in sage
Bitcoin was quickly adopted by people before any serious analysis of the technology was done, says University of Maryland, College Park professor Jonathan Katz.
From ACM TechNews
Pursuing Electronics That Bend, Pentagon Advances Partnership With Tech Firms
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has announced a Pentagon project to develop flexible electronic devices with Silicon Valley companies and scientists.
From ACM Careers
Dartmouth Football's Brilliant Dummies
Wearing a green Dartmouth College jersey, the newest player on the school's football team readies for action during a preseason practice.
From ACM News
Nasa's New Horizons Team Selects Potential Kuiper Belt Flyby Target
This remote KBO was one of two identified as potential destinations and the one recommended to NASA by the New Horizons team. Although NASA has selected 2014 MU69 as the target, as part of its normal review process the agency…
From ACM News
Quantum 'spookiness' Passes Toughest Test Yet
It's a bad day both for Albert Einstein and for hackers.
From ACM TechNews
STEM Fields Dominate Ranking of College Majors
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics degree holders were among the top earners in a new ranking of bachelor-level majors by PayScale.
From ACM TechNews
Tool Makes It Easier to Evade Online Censors
A new tool could offer a way around censorship technologies enabled by repressive governments.
From ACM TechNews
Super-Intelligent Machines Spawned By Ai? Execs Aren't Worried
Technology experts at an artificial intelligence-themed event were dismissive of scenarios in which super-intelligent machines eventually surpass human intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
Electrical Circuit Made of Gel Can Repair Itself
University of Texas at Austin professor Guihua Yu and colleagues have used a new gel with a unique combination of properties to fabricate a self-healing electrical circuit.
From ACM TechNews
The Growing Need For More Women Cybersleuths
The recent rash of online hacks highlights a mounting need for cybersecurity professionals, including women.
From ACM News
.s. Court Rules For Government Over Nsa Metadata Collection Program
A U.S. appeals court on Friday threw out a judge's ruling that would have blocked the National Security Agency from collecting phone metadata under a controversial program that has since been amended by Congress.
From ACM News
Interstellar Seeds Could Create Oases of Life
We only have one example of a planet with life: Earth. But within the next generation, it should become possible to detect signs of life on planets orbiting distant stars.
From ACM News
Tool Makes It Easier to Evade Online Censors
After the huge chemical explosion in Tianjin, China, this month, two cleanup efforts began.
From ACM News
Challenges of the Brave New Data World
Can Big Data coexist with Privacy?
From ACM TechNews
Tech Nightmares That Keep Turing Award Winners p at Night
Three ACM A.M. Turing Award winning-scientists discuss technology trends they find very troubling.
From ACM News
Nine Real Nasa Technologies in 'the Martian'
Mars has held a central place in human imagination and culture for millennia.
From ACM TechNews
New Javascript-Based Language Brings the Speed
Oslo, Norway-based developer Sindre Aarsaether sees tags and selectors as a key differentiator for Imba, a speedy JavaScript-based language for the Web.
From ACM News
The Fingerprints of Sea Level Rise
When you fill a sink, the water rises at the same rate to the same height in every corner. That's not the way it works with our rising seas.
From ACM TechNews
Iit-Bombay Team Creates Program to Detect Drunk Text Message Writers
A new program can detect if someone is drunk by reading their text messages.
From ACM TechNews
Washu Computer Scientist Considers Competition's Effect on Social Welfare
Sanmay Das has received a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to use novel methods to model the dynamics of competing platforms in defined sectors.
From ACM TechNews
avs Learn to Fly Solo
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Robust Robotics Group want to teach unmanned aerial vehicles and other robots to think for themselves.
From ACM News
Warming Seas and Melting Ice Sheets
Sea level rise is a natural consequence of the warming of our planet.