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Communications of the ACM

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

April 2014


From ACM TechNews

Americans Wary of Futuristic Science, Tech

Americans Wary of Futuristic Science, Tech

While the majority of Americans surveyed think tech developments will make life in the next half-century better, 30 percent said they would make life worse. 


From ACM TechNews

Chess Robots to Cause Judgment Day?

Chess Robots to Cause Judgment Day?

Autonomous systems must be designed and deployed very carefully or they could develop antisocial and potentially harmful behavior, according to a study.


From ACM News

Microrobots, Working Together, Build with Metal, Glass, and Electronics

Microrobots, Working Together, Build with Metal, Glass, and Electronics

Someone glancing through the door of Annjoe Wong-Foy's lab at SRI International might think his equipment is infested by ants.


From ACM News

How to Build an Earth-Size Telescope

How to Build an Earth-Size Telescope

Looking into the galactic center is hard.


From ACM News

Five Wonder Materials That Could Change the World

Five Wonder Materials That Could Change the World

"The history of materials is a history of mistakes," says Mark Miodownik, a materials scientist at University College London, who traces his own fascination with materials to the moment he was stabbed in the back with a razor…


From ACM News

Cyber Cops: Target Hackers May Takes Years to Find

Cyber Cops: Target Hackers May Takes Years to Find

Secret Service investigators say they are close to gaining a full understanding of the methods hackers used to breach Target's computer systems last December.


From ACM News

The Plot to Kill the Password

The Plot to Kill the Password

Last Friday, Samsung's new Galaxy S5 arrived with an unexpected and underhyped feature.


From ACM News

The Next Generation of Mobile

The Next Generation of Mobile

By 2020, everyone will know what '5G' means.


From ACM News

Why Nobody Can Tell Whether the World's Biggest Quantum Computer Is a Quantum Computer

Why Nobody Can Tell Whether the World's Biggest Quantum Computer Is a Quantum Computer

For the past several years, a Canadian company called D-Wave Systems has been selling what it says is the largest quantum computer ever built.


From ACM TechNews

Mit Transform Project Gives Shape to Human-Object Interplay

Mit Transform Project Gives Shape to Human-Object Interplay

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Tangible Media Group recently demonstrated a tabletop that becomes a dynamic display. 


From ACM TechNews

Mit's Alex Pentland: Measuring Idea Flows to Accelerate Innovation

Mit's Alex Pentland: Measuring Idea Flows to Accelerate Innovation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology computational social scientist Alex Pentland's research has lately focused on social physics. 


From ACM TechNews

'wearable Eyes' Make You Appear Friendly, Social Even When You're Not

'wearable Eyes' Make You Appear Friendly, Social Even When You're Not

AgencyGlass is a wearable device that produces "virtual eyes" to give the wearer a semblance of friendliness and approachability. 


From ACM TechNews

AI Gets Its Groove Back

AI Gets Its Groove Back

The field of artificial intelligence is making real progress after a long period of sporadic advances that failed to pan out. 


From ACM TechNews

Researchers Discover Dangerous Ways Computer Worms Are Spreading Among Smartphones

Researchers Discover Dangerous Ways Computer Worms Are Spreading Among Smartphones

Researchers have found that some of the most common activities among smartphone users can leave their devices vulnerable to computer worms. 


From ACM Careers

The U.s. Government Wants 6,000 New 'cyber Warriors' By 2016

The U.s. Government Wants 6,000 New 'cyber Warriors' By 2016

The Pentagon plans to triple its cybersecurity staff by 2016, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced recently.


From ACM Careers

The Truth About Google X

The Truth About Google X

Astro Teller is sharing a story about something bad. Or maybe it's something good.


From ACM News

World Cup Mind-Control Demo Faces Deadlines, Critics

World Cup Mind-Control Demo Faces Deadlines, Critics

In less than 60 days, Brazil will begin hosting soccer's 2014 World Cup, even though workers are still hurrying to pour concrete at three unfinished stadiums.


From ACM News

Atomic Time Lord to Battle Sneaky High-Speed Trades

Atomic Time Lord to Battle Sneaky High-Speed Trades

Welcome to the room where time lives. I am standing in a space bristling with atomic clocks at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, U.K., which generates a signal that is used to mark time across the nation.


From ACM TechNews

New Research on Gigabit Wireless Communications

New Research on Gigabit Wireless Communications

Two papers presented at the recent IEEE 2014 Wireless Communications and Networking Conference could significantly impact the future of mobile devices. 


From ACM TechNews

Cheaper Joints and Digits Bring the Robot Revolution Closer

Cheaper Joints and Digits Bring the Robot Revolution Closer

SRI International is rethinking the design of Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot to try to help the machine retain its capabilities while trimming its power consumption. 


From ACM TechNews

Home ­sers Cite Laziness For Lax Online Security

Home ­sers Cite Laziness For Lax Online Security

A survey examining why people do not adequately protect their home computers found that about 80 percent of respondents said they were too lazy. 


From ACM News

Google Maps Displays Crimean Border Differently In Russia, ­.s.

Google Maps Displays Crimean Border Differently In Russia, ­.s.

The U.S. sees Crimea as "occupied territory," as the government said in a recent statement.


From ACM News

Google, Once Disdainful of Lobbying, Now a Master of Washington Influence

Google, Once Disdainful of Lobbying, Now a Master of Washington Influence

In May 2012, the law school at George Mason University hosted a forum billed as a "vibrant discussion" about Internet search competition.


From ACM News

Acm Europe Panel Explores the Future of Cs Research in Europe

Acm Europe Panel Explores the Future of Cs Research in Europe

Considering the future of Europe's global competitiveness in research and innovation.


From ACM News

Ancient Mars Probably Too Cold For Liquid Water

Ancient Mars Probably Too Cold For Liquid Water

Mars' atmosphere was probably never thick enough to keep temperatures on the planet's surface above freezing for the long term, suggests research published today in Nature Geoscience.


From ACM News

Internet of Things: The 'ghosts' that Haunt the Machine

Internet of Things: The 'ghosts' that Haunt the Machine


From ACM TechNews

UNSW Scientists Using AI to Create Elastic Cloud

UNSW Scientists Using AI to Create Elastic Cloud

Researchers are using artificial intelligence to build a computer network they say can regulate its own consumption of public cloud services. 


From ACM TechNews

Sneak a Peek Through the Mist to Technology of the Future

Sneak a Peek Through the Mist to Technology of the Future

A tabletop display system could change the way people interact and collaborate in the future. 


From ACM TechNews

U.S. Rallied 120 Nations in Response to 2012 Cyberattack on American Banks

U.S. Rallied 120 Nations in Response to 2012 Cyberattack on American Banks

In 2012, the Obama administration appealed to 120 nations to help block a wide-ranging cyberattack campaign against U.S. banks 


From ACM TechNews

Command a Glowing Robot Horde to Do Your Bidding

Command a Glowing Robot Horde to Do Your Bidding

Researchers have built palm-sized glowing robots that can scurry along the ground at the command of someone using a tablet or a gesture-sensing camera.