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
Parallel Programming May Not Be So Daunting
Researchers plan to demonstrate an analytics technique suggesting that, in a wide range of real-word scenarios, lock-free algorithms can provide wait-free performance...
From ACM News
Smarter Caching
Computer chips keep getting faster because transistors keep getting smaller.
From ACM News
Herding Robots
Writing a program to control a single autonomous robot navigating an uncertain environment with an erratic communication link is hard enough; write one for multiple...
From ACM Careers
Teaching Computers to See–by Learning to See Like Computers
By translating images into the language spoken by object-recognition systems, then translating them back, researchers hope to explain the recognition systems'...
From ACM TechNews
Artificial-Intelligence Research Revives Its Old Ambitions
Artificial intelligence research has advanced significantly, but much work remains before computers can truly replicate or surpass human intelligence.
From ACM News
Artificial-Intelligence Research Revives Its Old Ambitions
The birth of artificial-intelligence research as an autonomous discipline is generally thought to have been the monthlong Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial...
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Build an All-Optical Transistor
Researchers have created an optical switch that’s controlled by a single photon.
From ACM TechNews
Making Cloud Computing More Efficient
DBSeer could alleviate cloud computing inefficiencies that arise from the overprovisioning that occurs with database-intensive applications.
From ACM TechNews
Cell Circuits Remember Their History
MIT researchers have developed genetic circuits in bacterial cells that perform logic functions and remember the results.
From ACM News
Proving Quantum Computers Feasible
Quantum computers are devices—still largely theoretical—that could perform certain types of computations much faster than classical computers; one way they might...
From ACM Opinion
3 Questions: A Web For Everyone
During the opening ceremonies of this summer’s Olympic games in London, a musical performance culminated with a stage-set house rising into the rafters to reveal...
From ACM TechNews
Robotic Assistants May Adapt to Humans in the Factory
MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that enables a robot to quickly learn an individual's preference for a certain task and adapt accordingly to help complete...
From ACM TechNews
System Improves Automated Monitoring of Security Cameras
MIT researchers have developed a system that can analyze several surveillance cameras more accurately and in less time than it would take a human operator.
From ACM TechNews
Engineering a Safer World
MIT professor Nancy Leveson recently hosted a workshop to educate more than 250 safety engineering professionals from around the world about System-Theoretic Accident...
From ACM TechNews
A Camera That Peers Around Corners
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a system that can produce recognizable three-dimensional images of objects located around corners...
From ACM News
Tiny 3D Chips
Microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, are small devices with huge potential. Typically made of components less than 100 microns in size—the diameter of a human...
From ACM News
Microchips' Optical Future
To keep energy consumption under control, future chips may need to move data using light instead of electricity—and the technical expertise to build them may reside...
From ACM TechNews
New System Allows Robots to Continuously Map Their Environment
MIT researchers have developed a system that enables robots to create and continuously update a three-dimensional map of their environment using a low-cost camera...
From ACM News
Robots in Reality
Consider the following scenario: A scout surveys a high-rise building that's been crippled by an earthquake, trapping workers inside. After looking for a point...
From ACM News