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
Yale's Robot Hand Copies How Your Fingers Work to Improve Object Manipulation
Researchers have built a robotic gripper that can turn friction on and off to facilitate manipulating objects with one hand.
From ACM News
DARPA Wants Brain Interfaces for Able-Bodied Warfighters
Until now, the neuroscience programs at DARPA, the mad science wing of the Department of Defense, have focused on technologies for warfighters who have returned...
From ACM TechNews
Metallic Nanoparticles Come to the Rescue of DRAM
IIT Roorkee in India and Applied Materials have added metallic nanoparticles to dynamic RAM to eliminate row hammering data corruption in high-volume DRAM cells...
From ACM TechNews
Mobile Robots Cooperate to 3D Print Large Structures
Researchers in Singapore used two mobile robots operating concurrently to three-dimensionally-print a single piece of concrete structure.
From ACM News
This Lens-less Camera Is Built Specially for AI and Computer Vision Programs
Cameras used to be their own devices with lenses and film and trips to the drug store to get the pictures developed. Then, they disappeared into phones, tablets...
From ACM News
The Desperate Quest for Genomic Compression Algorithms
Have you had your genome sequenced yet? Millions of people around the world already have, and by 2025 that number could reach a billion.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft's Glasses Monitor Blood Pressure
Smart glasses developed by Microsoft Research's Glabella Project can measure blood pressure noninvasively.
From ACM TechNews
How Paper Batteries Charged by Bacteria Could Power Internet of Things
A paper-based single-use battery harnesses bacteria to generate an electric current, and then to consume the battery after its use.
From ACM TechNews
A Twist in Graphene Could Make for Tunable Electronic Devices
Researchers have demonstrated proof of principle for a method of controlling graphene's rotation and the dynamic variance of its electrical, optical, and mechanical...
From ACM TechNews
All-Optical Computing Gets Another Arrow in Its Quiver
Researchers have developed all-optical logic gates from nanowires in a novel way, a significant step in the development of on-chip, all-optical logic components...
From ACM TechNews
World's Largest Robot Hauls Ore Through Western Australia
The world's largest robot is an autonomous train that hauls tons of material across Australia.
From ACM TechNews
Sprawling Wheel Leg Robot Crawls and Climbs
A sprawling robot at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel upgrades an earlier design's wheel-leg mobility so it can scale impediments.
From ACM TechNews
Popcorn-Driven Robotic Actuators
Cornell University researchers have devised ways for biodegradable robotic actuators to be powered by popping corn.
From ACM TechNews
Teaching Bipedal Robots to Step Across Discrete Terrain
Leveraging recent advances in optimal and nonlinear control systems, the University of California, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon University have demonstrated a bipedal...
From ACM News
A .S. Machine Recaptures the Supercomputing Crown
Today, U.S. supercomputer advocates are cheering, because for the first time since 2012, a U.S. supercomputer—Oak Ridge National Laboratory's newly installed ...
From ACM TechNews
Flying DRAGON Robot Transforms Itself to Squeeze Through Gaps
A new modular flying robot powered by ducted fans can change shape while in flight.
From ACM TechNews
Firefighting Robot Snake Flies on Jets of Water
Researchers in Japan have developed a firefighting snake-like robot with the body of a fire hose.
From ACM TechNews
Making Radio Chips for Hell
A new wireless radio mixer integrated circuit can operate at temperatures up to 500 degrees Celsius.
From ACM TechNews
Feel What This Robot Feels Through Tactile Expressions
Cornell University's Human-Robot Collaboration and Companionship Lab is developing a robot designed to explore textual communication.
From ACM News