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 News
Split-Second 'Phantom' Images Can Fool Tesla's Autopilot
Researchers found they could stop a Tesla by flashing a few frames of a stop sign for less than half a second on an Internet-connected billboard.
From ACM News
Internet Freedom Has Taken a Hit During the Covid-19 Pandemic
From surveillance to arrests, governments are using the novel coronavirus as cover for a crackdown on digital liberty.
From ACM News
Lidar Is Finally Becoming a Real Business
The success of lidar companies was unclear until this summer, when three leading makers offered glimpses of their finances.
From ACM TechNews
Kids' Smartwatches a Security Nightmare, Despite Years of Warnings
Researchers at Germany's Münster University of Applied Sciences found smartwatch brands marketed for children are exploitable, based on years of similar findings...
From ACM TechNews
Hackers Are Building an Army of Cheap Satellite Trackers
The U.S. Air Force, Red Balloon Security, and the Defense Digital Service teamed up on the NyanSat project to build an open source satellite communication tool...
From ACM News
Inside Big Tech’s High-stakes Race for Quantum Supremacy
Quantum computers used to be an impossible dream. Now, after a decade of research by some of the world's biggest tech companies, they're on the verge of changing...
From ACM TechNews
After 50 Years of Effort, Researchers Made Silicon Emit Light
Researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands say they have induced the emission of light from silicon.
From ACM TechNews
How a Real Dog Taught a Robot Dog to Walk
Researchers at Google have developed a robotic dog and taught it to walk by showing it motion-capture videos of real dogs walking on treadmills.
From ACM TechNews
This Clever Robotic Finger Feels With Light
A new robotic skeleton is embedded with 32 photodiodes and 30 adjacent LEDs, and is covered by a squishy skin of reflective silicone that keeps the device's own...
From ACM TechNews
Intel Patching the Patch for the Patch for 'Zombieload' Flaw
Intel said it will release yet another patch for a microarchitectural data sampling vulnerability that allows hackers to fool microprocessors into exposing protected...
From ACM TechNews
GM Gives All Its Vehicles a New Soul
A new electronic platform from General Motors is envisioned as the linchpin of the automaker's future, enabling the function of almost all its cars' digital systems...
From ACM TechNews
Intel Flaw Lets Hackers Siphon Secrets From Millions of PCs
Intel and a coalition of security researchers have identified a new vulnerability in Intel's chips which could permit the theft of sensitive data from central processing...
From ACM News
How Google Is Cramming More Data Into Its New Atlantic Cable
Google says the fiber optic cable it's building across the Atlantic Ocean will be the fastest of its kind.
From ACM Opinion
The ncanny Valley Nobody's Talking About: Eerie Robot Voices
Call it the Great Convergence of Creepiness. The first bit, the uncanny valley, we're all familiar with by now: If a humanoid robot looks super realistic, but not...
From ACM News
Quantum Physics Could Protect the Grid From Hackers, Maybe
Cybersecurity experts have sounded the alarm for years: Hackers are ogling the U.S. power grid.
From ACM News
How I Became a Robot in London, From 5,000 Miles Away
I am but a babe, exploring the world for the first time. Wearing a computerized glove, I reach forward in pursuit of a little toy basketball.
From ACM News
The Elite Intel Team Still Fighting Meltdown and Spectre
Throughout 2018, researchers found exploitable weaknesses related to "speculative execution" vulnerabilities.
From ACM News
Quantum Computing Needs You to Help Solve Its Core Mystery
Since 2016, IBM has offered online access to a quantum computer. Anyone can log in and execute commands on a 5-qubit or 14-qubit machine located in Yorktown Heights...
From ACM News
How Supercomputers Can Help Fix Our Wildfire Problem
Fire is chaos. Fire doesn't care what it destroys or who it kills—it spreads without mercy, leaving total destruction in its wake, as California's Camp and Woolsey...
From ACM News