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
BCI Startup Implants First Device in U.S. Patient
A brain-computer interface startup has implanted a wire-electrode combination in the brain of a U.S. patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
From ACM TechNews
Tech Companies Want More Eyes in the Sky for Wildfire Season
The growing threat of wildfires in the U.S. has created opportunities for technology companies offering artificial intelligence solutions to help bring them under...
From ACM TechNews
FDA Warns DNA Sequencing Machines Could Be Hacked
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that certain Illumina DNA-sequencing machines have a software vulnerability that could jeopardize patient data.
From ACM TechNews
Cities Using Digital Twins Like SimCity for Policymakers
Cities like Orlando, FL, and Singapore are using digital twins to generate virtual models of themselves, in order to simulate the effects of potential new policies...
From ACM News
Apple and Meta Gave User Data to Hackers Who Used Forged Legal Requests
Data was used to enable harassment, may aid financial fraud.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Truckers Could Replace 500K U.S. Jobs
Autonomous driving engineers are developing driverless trucks for long-haul freight that runs along simple interstate routes.
From ACM TechNews
DHL Doubles Robots as Humans Alone Can't Handle Holiday Crunch
DHL's supply-chain unit has doubled the number of robots it uses in the U.S. to about 1,500 ahead of the holidays, in addition to hiring 15,000 seasonal workers...
From ACM TechNews
World Bank Program Looks to Blockchain to Solve Carbon Emissions Data Issues
The World Bank's Climate Warehouse program is consulting with cryptocurrency startups like the Chia Network to build a "public-good layer" for climate.
From ACM News
Big Teacher Is Watching: How AI Spyware Took Over Schools
The pandemic caused schools to embrace laptops, tablets, Zoom, and an app called GoGuardian that tracks everything students (and, sometimes, parents) do online....
From ACM News
Google Quietly Tweaks Image Searches for Racially Diverse Results
Effort is meant to avoid incidents that show algorithmic bias.
From ACM TechNews
Amazon, Microsoft Swoop In on $24-Billion India Farm-Data Trove
Technology giants including Amazon, Microsoft, and Cisco are preparing to access data from India's farmers in a campaign to modernize the country's agricultural...
From ACM TechNews
Ethereum Weathers Bug That Underlines Possible Blockchain Risks
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin said the blockchain survived a flaw from outdated software that divided the digital ledger last week, thanks to a quick program...
From ACM TechNews
Facebook Disables Accounts Tied to NYU Research Project
Facebook disabled the personal accounts of New York University scientists studying political ads on the social network, alleging their extraction of data violates...
From ACM TechNews
Bank of Israel Testing Ethereum Tech in Digital Shekel Trial
The Bank of Israel is testing Ethereum's blockchain technology as part of a new internal digital shekel trial.
From ACM TechNews
Digitizing Rural Land Records, 1 Drone at a Time
The Indian government's Svamitva project involves the use of drone technology to survey the inhabited areas of rural villages.
From ACM News
Apple and Google Are Killing the (Ad) Cookie. Here's Why
Farewell, advertising cookie.
From ACM TechNews
Facial Recognition, Other 'Risky' AI Set for Constraints in EU
The European Commission has proposed new rules constraining the use of facial recognition and other artificial intelligence applications.
From ACM TechNews
Swedish Central Bank Reveals First Study of Digital Currency
Sweden's central bank has released the results of the first phase of a pilot project into what is essentially the most advanced exploration of a post-cash era to...
From ACM News
A Vaccine Passport Is the New Golden Ticket as the World Reopens
Companies and countries that depend on travel or large gatherings are counting on a totally unproven concept.
From ACM TechNews