Communications of the ACM
The Promise of Holographic Displays
The computational expense of creating three-dimensional images that can be viewed by all is just one factor holding them back… From ACM NewsAn 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
Nash's Beautiful Mind Pre-Empted Million-Dollar Puzzle
John Nash's mind is even more exquisite than we thought. The Nobel laureate, famous for both his work in game theory and his schizophrenia—as portrayed in the book...
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Slow Graphene Down, Speed Computers Up
Astonishing conductivity helped the discoverers of graphene win the Nobel prize in physicsin 2010. Now a way to switch off the easy flow of electrons in this wonder...
From ACM TechNews
Phase-Change Materials Can Fix Machine Memory Crunch
Phase-change materials (PCMs) could thwart the limits of digital memory and enable a massive increase in storage density. PCM's biggest advantage is that it can...
From ACM News
Light Is Not Fast Enough For High-Speed Stock Trading
Every microsecond counts in stock trading. The New York Stock Exchange handles a third of the world's stock trading—around 22 billion messages a day. But NYSE Euronext...
From ACM News
Light Is Not Fast Enough For High-Speed Stock Trading
Every microsecond counts in stock trading. The New York Stock Exchange handles a third of the world's stock trading—around 22 billion messages a day. But NYSE...
From ACM News
Intel Anthropologist: Fieldwork with the Silicon Tribe
Anthropologist Genevieve Bell gives the chip maker insight into how people experience new technologies.
From ACM TechNews
Bye-Bye Electrons? Circuit Made From Flowing Atoms
Kevin Wright and colleagues at NIST chilled 100,000 sodium atoms then used lasers to shape the blob of atoms into a torus and give it enough energy to circulate...
From ACM TechNews
Metamorphosis Key to Creating Stable Walking Robots
A study to find the quickest way to evolve walking behaviors in virtual robots was conducted by University of Vermont researcher Josh Bongard. He ran simulations...
From ACM TechNews
Ice and a Slice Makes Transistors More Precise
Transistors can be built more precisely by using ice as a mask, according to researchers at Harvard University. The ice lithography process resembles how computer...
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Robot Arm Punches Human to Obey Asimov's Rules
Isaac Asimov would probably have been horrified at the experiments under way in a robotics lab in Slovenia. There, a powerful robot has been hitting people over...
From ACM TechNews
Shape-Shifting Robot Compensates For Damaged Limb
European roboticists have developed software that enables a modular robot to adapt when one part stops working.
From ACM News
Wonder Conductors Will Spin p Cooler Computers
Newly discovered materials called topological insulators could clear the way for blisteringly fast laptops and smartphones that don't warm your lap or singe your...
From ACM TechNews
Lizard-Like Robot Can 'swim' Through Sand
Inspired by the sandfish lizard, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are collaborating with Northwestern University's Paul Umbanhowar to develop...
From ACM TechNews
Clouds Add Depth to Computer Landscapes
Nathan Jacobs and colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis have used a single camera to create a depth map, which records the geography of a three-dimensional...
From ACM News
Crumbling Labs Could Clip Nasa's Wings
Years of neglect have left many NASA labs that might be used for breakthrough technology research in rough shape, says a report from the U.S. National Academies...
From ACM TechNews
Is Water the Key to Cheaper Nanoelectronics?
Researchers have developed a way to use water to transfer layers from one surface to another by exploiting the fact that different materials have different hydrophilicity...
From ACM TechNews
Diamond Chips to Make Meaner, Greener Electronics
Researchers at Japan's AIST have developed synthetic diamonds that could be used to make microchips capable of processing high-powered signals without requiring...
From ACM TechNews
Human Arm Transmits Broadband
Korea University researchers have developed a method for transmitting data at a rate of 10 megabits per second through a person's arm, between two electrodes on...
From ACM News
For Smaller Chips, Borrow 18th-Century Tricks
A new take on a centuries-old printing technique could shrink silicon chips and lead to advances in ultra-high-density computer storage. Computer chips are made...
From ACM News