The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
The Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow's ICT Skills (CCICT) is hoping to increase the number of students studying information technology through its new National ICT Week event. "We need to get the word out as to how the world…
The University of Washington (UW) is increasingly requiring all medical, nursing, and pharmacology students, and those in similar fields, to perfect their skills in simulated environments before interacting with a human patient…
Higher-education institutions are having a hard time keeping computing costs under control because of power-thirsty data centers. Experts say colleges and universities have been slow to realize the value of energy-saving methods…
A $30 billion investment in the U.S. IT industry would create or help retain nearly 1 million jobs, concludes "The Digital Road to Recovery: A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, Boost Productivity and Revitalize America," a new report…
European and Israeli researchers have developed an education system that focuses on teaching students critical thinking, social interaction, discourse, rhetoric, and self-expression. The system helps instructors track who is…
A year after security researchers exposed a flaw in the Domain Name System (DNS), a permanent solution is finally being implemented. The DNSSEC protocol, which verifies DNS messages with digital signatures, is being implemented…
Teachers are increasingly incorporating video games, virtual reality, and simulations to improve education. Business and science classes are starting to use sophisticated software that allows students to test out potential careers…
The libraries of the 21st century will be Web-based, but the technologies, standards, and architecture that future digital libraries will use are still being defined, writes University of South Florida information scientist Scott…
ACM President Wendy Hall, a computer science professor at the University of Southampton and a former head of the School of Electronics and Computer Science, has been appointed to The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire…
Retailers are using robots to help warehouse workers find fast-selling products more quickly. The robots, built by Kiva Systems, are programmed with maps of the warehouse they operate in, and have artificial intelligence (AI)…
Companies are offering their IT employees the opportunity to volunteer for projects in developing countries, and some IT workers, frustrated by a lack of purpose, are leaving the corporate world and lending their expertise to…
In 2006, the journal Science named the solution to the century-old Poincaré Conjecture as its "breakthrough of the year." Three years later, the Clay Mathematics Institute, which had pledged to award $1 million to the personMillennium…
Climate researchers have no shortage of scientific issues on which to expend computer power. The biggest problem is choosing which one to tackle first.
Two virtual astronomical telescopes promise to transform the way people view and study the cosmos.
Future generations of smartphones will be context aware, tracking your behavior, providing information about the immediate environment, and anticipating your intentions.
Programmer Jean Bartik is inducted into the Computer History Museum's Hall of Fellows.
I would be hard-pressed to recall in my four decades as an ACM member a time as eventful and exceptional as recorded by ACM in FY08.
The sometimes contentious development of 64-bit systems shows how technology decisions can have unexpected, enduring consequences.