acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

News


bg-corner

An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


MIT's 'Smart Surface' Could Improve Your Wi-Fi Signal Tenfold
From ACM TechNews

MIT's 'Smart Surface' Could Improve Your Wi-Fi Signal Tenfold

Researchers have designed a prototype "smart surface" that can concentrate wireless radio signals to maximize reception. 

Pinterest Bans Misinformation About Voting, Census
From ACM TechNews

Pinterest Bans Misinformation About Voting, Census

The Pinterest platform has banned the posting of misleading information related to voting or the census.

The Secret History of Facial Recognition
From ACM News

The Secret History of Facial Recognition

Sixty years ago, a sharecropper's son invented a technology to identify faces. Then the record of his role all but vanished.

Virtual Assistants Provide Disappointing Advice When Asked for First Aid, Emergency Information: Study
From ACM TechNews

Virtual Assistants Provide Disappointing Advice When Asked for First Aid, Emergency Information: Study

Researchers have found the major virtual assistants do not live up to their potential in terms of providing users with reliable, relevant information on medical...

Digital Twins Give Urban Planners Virtual Edge
From ACM TechNews

Digital Twins Give Urban Planners Virtual Edge

Digital twins give urban planners, policymakers, resource managers, asset owners, and citizens more dynamic tools and information about their smart cities.

DC Water Taps AI for Sewer Line Assessments
From ACM TechNews

DC Water Taps AI for Sewer Line Assessments

A new algorithm helps Washington, D.C., sewer pipe technicians obtain a more-accurate picture of what is happening in the network of pipes running beneath the city...

IBM's Debating AI Just Got a Lot Closer to Being a Useful Tool
From ACM TechNews

IBM's Debating AI Just Got a Lot Closer to Being a Useful Tool

IBM upgraded the neural networks of its Project Debater system to improve the quality of evidence the argument-mining system uncovers.

Man Diagnosed with Wuhan Coronavirus Is Being Treated Largely by a Robot
From ACM TechNews

Man Diagnosed with Wuhan Coronavirus Is Being Treated Largely by a Robot

The first person diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus in the U.S. is being treated with the help of a robot at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, WA...

Facebook Speeds Up AI Training by Culling the Weak
From ACM TechNews

Facebook Speeds Up AI Training by Culling the Weak

Facebook engineers have accelerated the training of artificial intelligence (AI) agents by eliminating laggards. 

Foiling IoT Hackers
From ACM News

Foiling IoT Hackers

Cybersecurity specialists are working to head off hackers trying to use the Internet of Things as their gateway into smart homes.

Scientists Unraveling Chinese Coronavirus with Unprecedented Speed, Openness
From ACM TechNews

Scientists Unraveling Chinese Coronavirus with Unprecedented Speed, Openness

Chinese scientists freely released the genetic sequence of a coronavirus 10 days after the first reported case, to help researchers worldwide better understand...

Using AI to Enrich Digital Maps
From ACM TechNews

Using AI to Enrich Digital Maps

A new artificial intelligence model uses satellite imagery to tag road features in digital maps.

Clock is Ticking on Tackling Threat to Power Grid
From ACM TechNews

Clock is Ticking on Tackling Threat to Power Grid

Washington State University researchers have evaluated the threat presented by Internet-linked devices connected to the U.S. electric power grid.

Seattle-Area Election Puts Mobile Voting to a Test
From ACM TechNews

Seattle-Area Election Puts Mobile Voting to a Test

A local election in the Seattle area is serving as a test of a mobile-voting system.

Waymo Self-Driving Minivans Take to More U.S. Roads
From ACM TechNews

Waymo Self-Driving Minivans Take to More U.S. Roads

Alphabet's Waymo self-driving car project is expanding testing of its autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans and long-haul trucks to roads in Texas and New Mexico...

Tracking Shoppers
From Communications of the ACM

Tracking Shoppers

Retailers of all stripes are using technology to follow consumers through their brick-and-mortar stores in order to develop detailed profiles of their shopping...

Dark Web's Doppelgängers Aim to Dupe Antifraud Systems
From Communications of the ACM

Dark Web's Doppelgängers Aim to Dupe Antifraud Systems

Digital doppelgängers that fool online payment fraud detection systems are a threat to your bank balance.

Learning to Trust Quantum Computers
From Communications of the ACM

Learning to Trust Quantum Computers

They need to show us they can solve the biggest problems.

U.S. to Ground Civilian Drone Program on Concerns Over China Tech
From ACM TechNews

U.S. to Ground Civilian Drone Program on Concerns Over China Tech

The U.S. Department of the Interior reportedly plans to permanently ground a civilian drone fleet, because the approximately 1,000 drones are partly sourced from...

Study Finds AI Viable Tool to Detect Changes in Patients' Mental Health
From ACM TechNews

Study Finds AI Viable Tool to Detect Changes in Patients' Mental Health

A study found machine learning artificial intelligence is as accurate as physicians in detecting changes in clinical states from patients' speech.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account