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 News
Magnetic Memory and Logic Could Achieve Ultimate Energy Efficiency
Future computers may rely on magnetic microprocessors that consume the least amount of energy allowed by the laws of physics, according to an analysis by University...
From ACM Opinion
The Tragic Decline of Blackberry
Research In Motion (RIM), makers of the venerable BlackBerry devices, will always be remembered as the company that liberated corporate email from the PC. In...
From ACM News
Biomolecular Computer Can Autonomously Sense Multiple Signs of Disease
In the future, nano-sized computers implanted in the human body could autonomously scan for disease indicators, diagnose diseases, and control the release of...
From ACM News
Panel Proposes Killing Webb Space Telescope
The House Appropriations Committee proposed Wednesday to kill the James Webb Space Telescope, the crown jewel of NASA’s astronomy plans for the next two decades...
From ACM TechNews
Tunneling Transistors
The Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery is researching the development of tunneling transistors, which are comprised of elements from the third and...
From ACM Opinion
Was the Space Shuttle a Mistake?
Forty years ago, I wrote an article for Technology Review titled "Shall We Build the Space Shuttle?" Now, with the 135th and final flight of the shuttle at hand...
From ACM TechNews
Moore's Law Meets Exascale Computing
Moore's law will end during the decade of exascale computing, predicts a new white paper.
From ACM News
With the Shuttle Program Ending, Fears of Decline at Nasa
As NASA prepares to launch its last space shuttle—ending 30 years in which large teams of creative scientists and engineers sent winged spaceships into orbit—it...
From ACM News
Real .s. Stealth-Tech Advantage: Its Assembly Lines
For more than 20 years, the U.S. Air Force had a world monopoly on radar-evading technology—and with it, a huge advantage over any rival. Several generations...
From ACM News
Cisco Poised to Help China Keep an Eye on Its Citizens
Western companies, including Cisco Systems Inc., are poised to help build an ambitious new surveillance project in China—a citywide network of as many as 500,000...
From ACM TechNews
Silver Pen Has the Write Stuff For Flexible Electronics
University of Illinois researchers have developed a silver-inked rollerball pen that can write electrical circuits and interconnects on paper and other materials...
From ACM News
A Roboticist's Trip From Mines to the Moon
Robots created by William "Red" Whittaker have crawled into mines and volcanoes, crossed deserts, won a 60-mile road race, helped clean up nuclear waste and harvested...
From ACM News
Autopiloted Glider Knows Where to Fly For a Free Ride
Hawks and albatrosses soar for hours or even days without having to land. Soon robotic gliders could go one better, soaring on winds and thermals indefinitely...
From ACM News
Who
My dad, who at 98 no longer drives, used to complain about women drivers, defensive drivers, slow drivers, cab drivers and, occasionally, fast drivers. I should...
From ACM News
Graphene Technology Moves Closer
Graphene is a "wonder material" waiting to happen. Since this super-conductive form of carbon, made from single-atom-thick sheets, was first produced in 2004,...
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
Minds, Machines Merge to Offer New Hope For Overcoming Impairments
Scientists are creating a new generation of artificial body parts to help people with disabilities see, walk, swim, grip and run among other things. Miles O'Brien...
From ACM Opinion
Lady of the Rings: Saturn Surveyor Carolyn Porco
When Carolyn Porco started exploring the outer solar system, it was all about the rings. Her 1983 doctoral thesis at Caltech focused on shifting spokes in Saturn’s...
From ACM News
New Patriot Act Controversy: Is Washington Collecting Your Cell-Phone Data?
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee is weighing fresh concern about the sweeping nature of domestic spying using one controversial section of the Patriot Act...
From ACM News