Communications of the ACM
An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Raspberry Pi-Powered Ventilator to Be Tested in Colombia
A robotics engineer with no prior experience developed and posted online plans for a ventilator made from a Raspberry Pi computer and easy-to-source parts.
From ACM TechNews
Study Finds Quarter of Climate Change Tweets From Bots
Brown University researchers found 25% of 6.5-million Twitter posts about climate change were likely produced by bots, giving the impression of widespread climate...
From ACM TechNews
Apple, Google, Amazon Decide to 'Play Nice' Over Smart Home Tech
Apple, Google, and Amazon are partnering to improve smart home technology.
From ACM TechNews
Police to Use Facial Recognition Drones to Help Find the Missing
Police Scotland has launched a new aerial drone system to help search for missing people.
From ACM TechNews
Google's Smart-City Plans 'Tech for Tech's Sake'
An independent panel criticized a smart-city development planned by Google's Sidewalk Labs unit on Toronto's waterfront, citing innovations as being more about...
From ACM TechNews
The Robo Racing Cars Accelerating Driverless Tech
The Roborace motorsport competition is a testbed for autonomous vehicle technology, as international teams pit driverless electric racing cars against each other...
From ACM TechNews
Facial Recognition: School ID Checks Lead to GDPR Fine
The Swedish Data Protection Authority fined the municipality of Skelleftea for using facial recognition to track students in violation of the European Union's General...
From ACM TechNews
Google Reveals Fistful of Flaws in Apple's iMessage App
Google researchers have disclosed six vulnerabilities in Apple's iMessage app that could make devices using it exploitable.
From ACM TechNews
Australia to Police Tech Giants' Algorithms
Australian regulators intend to launch the first office committed to policing algorithms used by technology giants like Facebook and Google, to better understand...
From ACM TechNews
A Simple Online System That Could End Plastic Pollution
Bounties Network collected tons of garbage from Manila Bay as part of a pilot project that pays a small network of people in digital currency for such trash.
From ACM TechNews
The Push Towards AI in Africa
Initiatives are underway to train African computer scientists in artificial intelligence, with major technology companies investing in the cultivation of new AI...
From ACM TechNews
.K. Drones Map Chernobyl's 'Red Forest'
U.K. researchers used a drone-mapping system they developed to survey Chernobyl's "Red Forest," one of the most radioactive locations on Earth.
From ACM TechNews
Hackers Beat niversity Cyber-Defenses in Two Hours
Ethical hackers conducted simulated cyberattacks on U.K. university defenses, and were able to successfully access "high-value" information within two hours.
From ACM News
How Pope Francis Could Shape the Future of Robotics
At the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life workshop, Pope Francis presented a letter warning of developing technologies without first considering societal costs...
From ACM TechNews
Prisoners in England to Be Taught to Code
The U.K. government will fund a program in which "carefully vetted" prisoners will be taught software coding.
From ACM News
How Quantum Sensing Is Changing the Way We See the World
Imagine a world where you can find out exactly what lies under your feet, get advanced warning of volcanic eruptions, look around corners or into rooms, and detect...
From ACM TechNews
Call to Ban Killer Robots in Wars
A scientific coalition is urging a ban on the development of weapons governed by artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
Russia Considers 'nplugging' From Internet
Russia is considering a brief disconnection from the worldwide Internet to test its cyber defenses.
From ACM TechNews
Amazon Scout Robots Take to Pavements in Washington State
Amazon is pilot-testing a wheeled electric robot that travels on pavements to deliver packages to customers in Snohomish County, WA.
From ACM TechNews