Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2018
From ACM News
Attack on Commonly sed Voting Machine Could Tip an Election, Researchers Find
A malicious hacker could alter the outcome of a U.S. presidential election by taking advantage of numerous flaws in one model of vote-tabulating machine used in 26 states, cybersecurity experts warned in a report presented Thursday…
From ACM News
Inside Facebook's Massive Center Storing Your Personal Information
In a vast, dark room, the lights glow a steady green, blue, yellow. I'm not inside the Matrix, but it's not far off.
From ACM News
Hidden Kingdoms of the Ancient Maya Revealed in a 3-D Laser Map
Hidden pyramids and massive fortresses in the jungle. Farms and canals scattered across swamplands.
From ACM News
The Crisis of Election Security
As the midterms approach, America's electronic voting systems are more vulnerable than ever. Why isn't anyone trying to fix them?
From ACM News
China's Leaders Are Softening Their Stance on AI
China might be at loggerheads with the United States over trade, but it is calling for a friendlier approach to the development of artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
Voting Machine sed in Half of .S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds
Election machines used in more than half of U.S. states contain a decade-old flaw that makes them vulnerable to a cyberattack.
From ACM TechNews
Virtual Singapore Project Could Be Testbed for Planners—and Plotters
The Virtual Singapore project will offer state agencies and, eventually, the public access to a three-dimensional model of the city.
From ACM TechNews
Software Finds the Best Way to Stick a Mars Landing
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed software that could inform the selection of landing sites for scientific expeditions to Mars.
From ACM TechNews
How to Win Friends: It's Not Which Groups You Join, but How Many
Two researchers at Rice University have determined the cultivation of online friendships is mainly influenced by how many groups and organizations a person joins.
From ACM TechNews
Stupid AI: How Humans Can Stop Machines From Falling for Visual Tricks
Research from Johns Hopkins University suggests new ways to prevent artificial intelligence from being visually deceived.
From ACM News
60 Years of DARPA's Favorite Toys
This year, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) turned 60. To celebrate, DARPA held a conference in Washington, D.C. One of the highlights was an exhibit hall full of both current DARPA programs as well …
From ACM News
Mobile Websites Can Tap Into Your Phone's Sensors Without Asking
When apps want to access data from your smartphone's motion or light sensors, they often make that capability clear.
From ACM TechNews
Silicon Valley Finally Pushes for Data Privacy Laws at Senate Hearing
At a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, technology industry representatives argued in favor of implementing federal data privacy laws.
From ACM TechNews
Chip Ramps p Artificial Intelligence Systems' Performance
Princeton University researchers working with Analog Devices have fabricated an accelerator chip that enhances the performance and efficiency of neural networks.
From ACM TechNews
States Are Adopting More Computer Science Policies. Are High Schools Keeping p?
U.S. states are increasingly implementing computer science policies, but individual high schools are struggling with actual instruction, according to the nonprofit Code.org.
From ACM News
How Software Enabled the Thai Cave Rescue
Software-defined radios allowed the rescuers to communicate, when simple radio technology could not.
From ACM Careers
Is a New Russian Meddling Tactic Hiding in Plain Sight?
To an untrained eye, USAReally might look like any other fledgling news organization vying for attention in a crowded media landscape.
From ACM News
NASA Is Taking a New Look at Searching for Life Beyond Earth
Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the universe.
From ACM News
How Apple Makes the AI Chip Powering the iPhone's Fancy Tricks
A few years ago—the company won't say exactly when—some engineers at Apple began to think the iPhone's camera could be made smarter using newly powerful machine learning algorithms known as neural networks.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Develop Invisibly Thin Spray-On Antennas
Drexel University researchers have developed a method for creating invisibly thin antennas.
From ACM TechNews
Do You Know Cobol? If So, There Might Be a Job for You
The Common Business-Oriented Language (Cobol) remains the most prevalent programming language in the financial services industry worldwide.
From ACM TechNews
Smartphone, M.D.
Researchers have developed an application and laboratory kit that enable smartphones to identify bacteria from patients within 60 minutes.
From ACM TechNews
Engineers Add Sense of Touch to Prosthetic Hand
Johns Hopkins University researchers have engineered an "electronic skin" that can incorporate a sense of touch into a prosthetic hand.
From ACM TechNews
Electric Grid Protection Through Low-Cost Sensors, Machine Learning
Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a cost-effective method for detecting power-grid attacks on the fly.
From ACM TechNews
White House Issues Quantum Computing Strategy and Hosts Public-Private Summit
Federal officials and industry leaders on Monday convened at a White House summit to brainstorm new quantum information science projects.
From ACM News
Opportunity Emerges in a Dusty Picture
NASA still hasn't heard from the Opportunity rover, but at least we can see it again.
From ACM News
A New Way to Capture the Brain's Electrical Symphony
Biophysicist Adam Cohen was strolling around San Francisco, California, in 2010, when a telephone call caught him by surprise. "We have a signal," said the caller.
From ACM TechNews
Brown Researchers Teach Computers to See Optical Illusions
Brown University researchers have developed a neural network model that can be deceived by optical illusions.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists se Light to Control Nanobots
Researchers have discovered a physical phenomenon in how semiconductor nanoparticles interact with light when under the influence of an electric field.
From ACM News
Financial Services Firms Battle Cyberthreats
The growing number of cybercrimes, combined with a shortage of cybersecurity professionals, means the financial services sector faces higher security costs, greater risk.