Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2019
From ACM TechNews
Security Researchers Warn of Online Voting Risks
Security researchers warned Australia should not rely on any online voting system that lacks a thorough ballot-verification method, to ensure against fraudulent voting.
From ACM TechNews
Walmart, Mattel Lease 'Floors' in a Virtual Toy Store
Toy company Mattel and retailer Walmart are "leasing floors" in a virtual store.
From ACM TechNews
Bug in Python Script May Have Affected Hundreds of Studies
A coding error in a set of Python scripts often used for computational analysis of chemistry data yielded significantly different outcomes, depending on which operating system was used.
From ACM TechNews
Bike Designed with AI Breaks World Speed Records
A bicycle designed by a software applicaiton helped two competitors set the women's and men's world records for fastest human-powered vehicle last month.
From ACM TechNews
California Launches Earthquake Early Warning System
California has launched the first statewide earthquake warning system in the U.S.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum State of Single Electrons Controlled by 'Surfing' on Sound Waves
An international team used sound waves to control quantum information in one electron, an advance in creating efficient quantum computers built from semiconductors.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Use AI to Find Patterns Among Multitude of People, Cells
Researchers have developed a method of leveraging artificial intelligence neural networks to reveal larger patterns of activity of individual cells that come from several individuals.
From ACM TechNews
App Helps You Learn About China, While China Learns All About You
Researchers in Germany and Australia found China is using a widely downloaded mobile app and translation service to siphon billions of pieces of information on users.
From ACM TechNews
Astrobee Performs First Autonomous Flight on the International Space Station
A National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobee robot is now up and running on the International Space Station (ISS).
From ACM News
Snaking Its Way into Your Heart
Artfiicial intelligence's new take on heart surgery.
From ACM TechNews
The Deep Learning Way to Design Fly-Like Robots
Researchers have developed motion-capture software that uses deep learning to model a fruit fly's movements in three dimensions, in the hope of designing fly-like robots.
From ACM TechNews
AI-Based Firefighter Safety Startup Wins IBM Call for Code Challenge
IBM named the winners of this year's Call for Code Global Challenge.
From ACM TechNews
Autonomous Shuttles in Northern Virginia Suburb Show Why Future of Robot Cars Might Be Slow
Two companies have partnered on an autonomous shuttle service to transport commuters between a Metro station and locations in Reston, VA.
From ACM TechNews
Does Your Toothbrush Have an App Yet?
New technologies are being introduced to the world of dental care.
From ACM TechNews
Summit Simulates How Humans Will 'Brake' During Mars Landing
U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers are using the Summit supercomputer to model retropropulsion (using rocket engines to decelerate) for landing manned spacecraft on Mars.
From ACM TechNews
Russia's Pizza King Wants to Use the Cloud to Take Over the World
Russian pizza magnate Fyodor Ovchinnikov plans to open 1,000 Dodo Pizza outlets in Europe, Asia, and Africa in the next five years, using a combination of application software and analytics in the cloud.
From ACM News
If a Robotic Hand Solves a Rubik’s Cube, Does It Prove Something?
A five-fingered feat could show important progress in Artificial Intelligence research. It is also a stunt.
From ACM News
Artificial Intelligence: What’s to Fear?
What should worry us most about artificial intelligence: losing our jobs to cheaper labor or losing our lives to killer robots? The real threat may lie in yet another danger: losing our minds.
From ACM News
How the U.S. Census Kickstarted America’s Computing Industry
As the country grew, each census required greater effort than the last, not merely to collect the data but also to compile it into usable form.
From ACM TechNews
Europe's Old Universities Spin Out New Tech Companies
Across Europe, some of the world's oldest universities are intensifying efforts to get promising technologies out of their labs and into commercial use.
From ACM TechNews
NTU Singapore Start-Up Unveils Robot with Human-Like Dexterous Grip
Researchers have developed a robot that can pick up delicate optical lenses and mirrors with the care and precision of human hands.
From ACM TechNews
Canberra Gives AU$32m for Autonomous Decision-Making Research
The Australian government is allocating AU$31.8 million (about US$21.5 million) to the Australian Research Council to study responsible, ethical, and inclusive autonomous decision-making technologies.
From ACM News
Lost in Translation?
Machine language translation is advancing rapidly, but can it reach the level of human understanding?
From ACM News
Celebrating 50 Years of Unix
Since its introduction 50 years ago, Unix has been copied or imitated countless times.
From ACM TechNews
Biologically Inspired Artificial Skin Improves Sensory Ability of Robots
Researchers designed a system integrating artificial skin with control algorithms, which they used to create the first autonomous humanoid robot with full-body synthetic skin.
From ACM TechNews
Cybersecurity Giants to Combat Cyberthreats Under OASIS Umbrella
IBM, McAfee, and 16 more firms have launched an effort to address fragmentation and interoperability problems in cybersecurity.
From ACM TechNews
Engineers Solve 50-Year-Old Puzzle in Signal Processing
Iowa State University researchers have solved the mystery of the inverse fast Fourier transform algorithm.
From ACM TechNews
Caltech's Latest Creation: A Hovering, Bird-Like Robot That Could Someday Explore Mars
California Institute of Technology researchers have developed a robot drone that can traverse rough terrain.
From ACM TechNews
Gymnastics' Latest Twist? AI Judges That See Everything
The gymnastics world championships in Germany used an artificial intelligence system to evaluate athletes' performance.
From ACM News
Why Deep Learning AIs Are So Easy to Fool
Artificial intelligence researchers are trying to fix the flaws of neural networks.