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The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.

March 2019


From ACM News

NASA Mission Reveals Asteroid Has Big Surprises

NASA Mission Reveals Asteroid Has Big Surprises

A NASA spacecraft that will return a sample of a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu to Earth in 2023 made the first-ever close-up observations of particle plumes erupting from an asteroid's surface.


From ACM TechNews

­NSW, Sydney ­ni Join Quantum Powers to Prove Qubit Theory

­NSW, Sydney ­ni Join Quantum Powers to Prove Qubit Theory

Researchers in Australia are combining their quantum computing powers, uniting methods designed by researchers at each university to prove their feasibility.


From ACM TechNews

Origami-Inspired Robot Gripper Grasps Objects ­p to 120 Times Its Weight

Origami-Inspired Robot Gripper Grasps Objects ­p to 120 Times Its Weight

Researchers have designed a robot-mounted gripper that can lift items of various weights, shapes, and sizes.


From ACM TechNews

Companies With Tech Expertise on the Board See Higher Revenue Growth, MIT Study Finds

Companies With Tech Expertise on the Board See Higher Revenue Growth, MIT Study Finds

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology found enterprises with technologists on their boards have superior revenue growth, return on assets, and market capitalization expansion, compared to others.


From ACM News

Welcome the Plants That Move on their Own

Welcome the Plants That Move on their Own

Exploring the potential of plant-robot hybrids that can produce architectural artifacts and living spaces.


From ACM News

Stanford Helped Pioneer Artificial Intelligence. Now the University Wants to Put Humans at Its Center.

Stanford Helped Pioneer Artificial Intelligence. Now the University Wants to Put Humans at Its Center.

A Stanford University scientist coined the term artificial intelligence. Others at the university created some of the most significant applications of it, such as the first autonomous vehicle.


From ACM News

Why AI Is Still Terrible at Spotting Violence Online

Why AI Is Still Terrible at Spotting Violence Online

Artificial intelligence can identify people in pictures, find the next TV series you should binge watch on Netflix, and even drive a car.


From ACM Opinion

The ­ncanny Valley Nobody's Talking About: Eerie Robot Voices

The ­ncanny Valley Nobody's Talking About: Eerie Robot Voices

Call it the Great Convergence of Creepiness. The first bit, the uncanny valley, we're all familiar with by now: If a humanoid robot looks super realistic, but not quite realistic enough, it freaks us out.


From ACM TechNews

Top ­.S. ­niversities Shun Cash From Huawei ­nder Trump Pressure

Top ­.S. ­niversities Shun Cash From Huawei ­nder Trump Pressure

Pressure from Congress and the Trump administration has forced top U.S. universities to refuse research funding from China's Huawei Technologies over national security issues.


From ACM TechNews

Locking More Than the Doors as Cars Become Computers on Wheels

Locking More Than the Doors as Cars Become Computers on Wheels

Concern that cars could be hacked by criminals, terrorists, or even rogue governments has prompted a new era of security efforts within the auto industry.


From ACM TechNews

Diversity in Tech: How One VC Firm Is Partnering With Historically Black Colleges to Address the Pipeline Issue

Diversity in Tech: How One VC Firm Is Partnering With Historically Black Colleges to Address the Pipeline Issue

Unusual Ventures this summer will launch a program designed to increase the number of black students working in technical internships.


From ACM TechNews

Computer Kidney Could Provide Safer Tests for New Medications

Computer Kidney Could Provide Safer Tests for New Medications

The first computational model of the human kidney is enabling scientists to more deeply explore kidney function and how new medications may work.


From ACM TechNews

Sensor Cited as Potential Factor in Boeing Crashes Draws Scrutiny

Sensor Cited as Potential Factor in Boeing Crashes Draws Scrutiny

Sensors Boeing was ordered to replace following the near-crash of an Airbus A321 in 2014 are drawing fresh scrutiny after two recent Boeing 737 disasters.


From ACM TechNews

Chinese Children Take to Coding Amid Country's Lofty Goals in AI

Chinese Children Take to Coding Amid Country's Lofty Goals in AI

China's ambitions to become unparalleled in artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies are reflected in Chinese children's increasing enrollment in coding classes.


From ACM TechNews

Drones That Perch Like Birds Could Go on Much Longer Flights

Drones That Perch Like Birds Could Go on Much Longer Flights

Yale University researchers have designed an observational drone that can perch like a bird to save energy.


From ACM TechNews

Facial Recognition's 'Dirty Little Secret': Millions of Online Photos Scraped Without Consent

Facial Recognition's 'Dirty Little Secret': Millions of Online Photos Scraped Without Consent

Legal experts warn people's online photos are being used without permission to power facial-recognition technology that could eventually be used for surveillance.


From ACM TechNews

Squeezing More Data Through Less Fiber

Squeezing More Data Through Less Fiber

Researchers have developed transmitting and receiving equipment that could squeeze 26.2 terabits per second through the MAREA cable.


From ACM TechNews

Facebook's Daylong Malfunction Is Reminder of Internet's Fragility

Facebook's Daylong Malfunction Is Reminder of Internet's Fragility

Facebook said it has corrected a technical error that caused a nearly 24-hour-long service interruption for Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and other Facebook properties this week.


From ACM TechNews

Display Technologies Set to Transform Workspaces

Display Technologies Set to Transform Workspaces

Within the next decade, new workspaces will emerge with multiple displays and larger, panoramic screens.


From ACM News

Escalating Battle with Huawei Ensnares ­S Allies

Escalating Battle with Huawei Ensnares ­S Allies

The Trump administration's standoff with Chinese tech giant Huawei is entering a new phase, one that could put existing intelligence-sharing agreements with U.S. allies at risk.


From ACM News

Opportunity's Parting Shot Was a Beautiful Panorama

Opportunity's Parting Shot Was a Beautiful Panorama

Over 29 days last spring, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity documented this 360-degree panorama from multiple images taken at what would become its final resting spot in Perseverance Valley.


From ACM News

Collaborating with Robots

Collaborating with Robots

The challenge of cobots in the workplace.


From ACM TechNews

Finance Teams Bet Technology Will Bridge Budget Gap

Finance Teams Bet Technology Will Bridge Budget Gap

Finance departments across the country think new technology will close efficiency gaps created by budget and staff cuts spurred by the next economic slowdown.


From ACM TechNews

Breakthrough Research ­sing Quantum Cryptography Addresses Security in 5G Networks

Breakthrough Research ­sing Quantum Cryptography Addresses Security in 5G Networks

Researchers have demonstrated a solution for securing future critical communications infrastructure, including emerging 5G networks.


From ACM TechNews

­niversity of Washington Team Creates Voice-Controlled Robot to Help People Eat

­niversity of Washington Team Creates Voice-Controlled Robot to Help People Eat

A voice-controlled robot can feed pieces of fruit to humans on command.


From ACM TechNews

DeepMind is Asking How AI Helped Turn the Internet into an Echo Chamber

DeepMind is Asking How AI Helped Turn the Internet into an Echo Chamber

Researchers have analyzed how different recommendation algorithms can accelerate or decelerate filter bubbles and echo chambers online.


From ACM News

China Is Catching ­p to the ­S in A.I. Research, Fast

China Is Catching ­p to the ­S in A.I. Research, Fast

At the world's top computer-vision conference last June, Google and Apple sponsored an academic contest that challenged algorithms to make sense of images from twin cameras collected under varied conditions, such as sunny and…


From ACM News

­.S. Warns Germany: ­sing Huawei Could Crimp Intelligence-Sharing Between Agencies

­.S. Warns Germany: ­sing Huawei Could Crimp Intelligence-Sharing Between Agencies

The U.S. has apparently warned Germany that if Chinese tech companies such as Huawei help build the country's new 5G telecom infrastructure, U.S. agencies might not share as much intelligence with the German government as they…


From ACM TechNews

Tonight's Dinner? In a Cooler-Sized Robot That Knows Where You Live

Tonight's Dinner? In a Cooler-Sized Robot That Knows Where You Live

Venture-backed startups have been dispatching cooler-sized robots in cities around the U.S. to deliver food and groceries to customers' doorsteps.


From ACM TechNews

Cooler Screens' Display Cases Scan Your Face to Size ­p Buying Habits

Cooler Screens' Display Cases Scan Your Face to Size ­p Buying Habits

Chicago-based Cooler Screens has developed a facial-profiling system that tries to guess what consumers will buy next based on how they appear in front of a refrigerated case.