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
Neural Networks Can Drive Virtual Racecars Without Learning
A study found artificial neural networks can evolve to perform tasks without learning.
From ACM TechNews
Japanese Researchers Teaching Robots to Repair Themselves
Researchers have demonstrated how to teach a PR2 robot to perform simple repairs on itself by tightening its own screws.
From ACM TechNews
Hand-Tracking Tech Watches Riders in Self-Driving Cars to See If They're Ready to Take the Wheel
Researchers have developed a hand-tracking system to determine how long it would take a driver to assume control of a self-driving car in an emergency.
From ACM TechNews
Screening Technique Finds 142 Malicious Apps in Apple's App Store
Researchers have developed a method of detecting malicious apps that sneak through Apple's App Store screening process and onto some users’ phones.
From ACM TechNews
Supercomputers Simulate Solar Flares to Help Physicists Understand Magnetic Reconnection
A team of researchers has developed a supercomputer simulation that successfully models a key part of a process that produces solar flares.
From ACM TechNews
The Bioacoustic Signatures of Our Bodies Can Reveal Our Identities
Researchers in South Korea have developed a biometric system that uses a transducer to generate vibrations and sound waves that can be used to identify individuals...
From ACM TechNews
Drones: Getting There Before an Ambulance
Researchers at Maimonides Medical Center found that medical drones carrying emergency supplies can reach 911 callers in New York City significantly faster than...
From ACM TechNews
This MIT Robot Wants to Use Your Reflexes to Walk and Balance
Researchers have developed a teleoperation system that allows a two-legged robot to "borrow" a human operator's physical skills to move with greater agility.
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 TechNews
App Detects Eye Disease in Personal Photos
Baylor University researchers have developed a free smartphone app that uses machine learning to flag eye disease from personal photos, as much as a year ahead...
From ACM TechNews
U.S. Energy Department Is First Customer for World's Biggest Chip
The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories will be among the first organizations to deploy artificial intelligence computers...
From ACM TechNews
The Top Programming Languages 2019
IEEE Spectrum's 2019 roster of leading programming languages once again ranks Python in the top slot.
From ACM TechNews
Software Engineering Grads Lack Skills Startups Need
The present state of software engineering education at universities does not meet the needs of technology-based software startups, according to a new study.
From ACM TechNews
Stretchy Wearable Patch Allows Two-Way Communication with Robots
University of Houston researchers have developed a flexible wearable electronics patch that translates the wearer's movements and other instructions to a robot....
From ACM TechNews
Robots Have a Hard Time Grasping "Adversarial Objects"
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have extended the concept of adversarial images to robot grasping, using physical objects designed to be...
From ACM TechNews
AI Can Edit Photos with Zero Experience
Researchers are using deep internal learning, in which a machine learning algorithm ascertains the internal structure of a single image from scratch, to edit photos...
From ACM TechNews
Drone Explodes into Maple Seed Microdrones in Midair
Samara-inspired drones can help deliver airborne payloads in a simple, reliable, inexpensive manner.
From ACM TechNews
Best Algorithms to Make Solar Power Storage Profitable
Scientists have identified optimal types of solar power storage management algorithms.
From ACM TechNews
Harnessing Public Smartphones to Track Drones
A new method of tracking unfamiliar drones leverages consumer smartphones to detect the Wi-Fi signals of nearby drones.
From ACM TechNews