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
Take Control of Your Phone's Sensors
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab have developed Funf, a phone-based data collection system for self-tracking applications.
From ACM News
Smarter Robot Arms
A combination of two algorithms developed at MIT allows autonomous robots to execute tasks much more efficiently—and move more predictably.
From ACM TechNews
Escaping Legacy It Systems
MIT researchers have developed a computer model of a corporate information infrastructure that could help information technology managers predict the effects of...
From ACM News
Printing Off the Paper
Imagine being able to "print" an entire house. Or a four-course dinner. Or a complete mechanical device such as a cuckoo clock, fully assembled and ready to run...
From ACM News
In Plane View
An airplane’s digital flight-data recorder, or "black box," holds massive amounts of data, documenting the performance of engines, cockpit controls, hydraulic...
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Computing With Light
Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have conducted an experiment that enables a single photon to control the quantum state of another photon, a development...
From ACM TechNews
Increasing Fuel Efficiency With a Smartphone
Researchers at MIT and Princeton University have developed SignalGuru, a system that uses a network of smartphones mounted on a car dashboard to collect information...
From ACM TechNews
Simple Security For Wireless
A new wireless security scheme from MIT protects against man-in-the-middle attacks does not require password protection or some additional communications mechanism...
From ACM News
Milestone For MIT Press's Bestseller
On Thursday, Aug. 4, the MIT Press held a party in MIT's Stata Center to celebrate the sale of the 500,000th copy of the textbook Introduction to Algorithms....
From ACM TechNews
Perfect Communication With Imperfect Chips
Massachusetts Institute of Technology research affiliate Lav Varshney has shown that some of the most commonly used codes in telecommunications can guarantee the...
From ACM News
A New Planning Tool Helps Direct Traffic on Aircraft Carriers
On the deck of an aircraft carrier, where up to 60 aircraft are crammed into 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares), real estate is at a premium. While aircraft directors wave...
From ACM News
Scientists Unveil Tools for Rewriting the Code of Life
MIT and Harvard researchers have developed technologies that could be used to rewrite the genetic code of a living cell, allowing them to make large-scale edits...
From ACM News
Living in the Digital Ecosystem
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman talks data mash-ups, entrepreneurship, and how his site keeps people honest.
From ACM TechNews
How to Grow Wires and Tiny Plates
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a method for controlling the shapes of submicroprocessors that makes it possible to build entire...
From ACM TechNews
Computer Learns Language By Playing Games
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Regina Marzilay has adapted a system she developed to generate scripts for installing software on a Windows computer...
From ACM TechNews
Improving Recommendation Systems
MIT professor Devavrat Shah thinks that the most common approach to recommendation systems is fundamentally flawed; he says recommendation systems should ask users...
From ACM News
Safer Skies
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated that by 2020, all commercial aircraft—and small aircraft flying near most airports—must be equipped with...
From ACM News
Layer pon Layer
Graphene, a form of pure carbon arranged in a lattice just one atom thick, has interested countless researchers with its unique strength and its electrical and...
From ACM News
Protecting Medical Implants from Attack
Millions of Americans have implantable medical devices, from pacemakers and defibrillators to brain stimulators and drug pumps; worldwide, 300,000 more people...
From ACM TechNews