Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2020
From ACM News
England’s Flawed Virus Contact Tracing Will Be Revamped
After months of complaints about its centralized, privatized system, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government says resources will be diverted to local public health authorities.
From ACM News
Is the U.S. about to Split the Internet?
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he wants a "clean" Internet.
From ACM News
The U.S. Has AI Competition All Wrong
Computing power, not data, is the secret to tech dominance.
From ACM News
Evil AI: These are the 20 Most Dangerous Crimes that Artificial Intelligence will Create
A new report tells us which criminal applications of AI we should really worry about.
From ACM TechNews
Singapore Police Trial 2 Pilotless Drones to Help Enforce Social Distancing Measures
Singapore law enforcement is testing two unmanned drones designed by developer Airobotics to help enforce social distancing measures, by tracking gatherings and streaming video of them to police.
From ACM TechNews
Qualcomm Chip Vulnerability Puts Millions of Phones at Risk
The Check Point security firm found 400 code vulnerabilities on Qualcomm's Snapdragon digital signal processor chip, used in more than 40% of Android smartphones worldwide.
From ACM TechNews
Modern Driver-Assistance Technology 'Far From Reliable': AAA Study
A study by the American Automobile Association found that current advanced driver assistance technology does not provide reliable safety benefits.
From ACM TechNews
'Giant Atoms' Enable Quantum Processing, Communication in One
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have unveiled a quantum computing architecture that performs low-error computations while rapidly sharing quantum data between processors.
From ACM TechNews
Using AI to Smell the Roses
Researchers used machine learning to help a computer understand what a chemical smells like to humans.
From ACM TechNews
Some Hospitals Tracking Covid-19 by Adding Sensors to Employees' Badges
About 50 hospitals use sensor technology to monitor whether staff are washing their hands when they enter and exit patient rooms, and to keep tabs on expensive equipment like wheelchairs.
From ACM TechNews
Single Particles of Light Can Be Used for Remote 3D Surveillance
Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China used a single-photon version of LiDAR to remotely capture extremely detailed three-dimensional images from afar.
From ACM TechNews
Deep Learning Moves Cancer Vaccines Toward Reality
Researchers have designed a deep learning method to help develop personalized cancer vaccines by better understanding the biological mechanisms of interaction between cancer cells and the human immune system.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Design Thread-Based Wearable Sweat Sensors to Monitor Health
Researchers at Tufts University have developed a flexible electronic sensing patch that can analyze a person's sweat for multiple health markers while being worn.
From ACM TechNews
IoT Technology to Help Trees Fight Climate Change
Vodafone has joined forces with the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs and Forest Research to study the role of trees in addressing climate change.
From ACM TechNews
Australia Will Use Robot Boats to Find Asylum Seekers at Sea
Australia is deploying unmanned robot boats to patrol its waters and monitor weather and wildlife, as well as identifying boats potentially transporting asylum seekers.
From ACM News
PCAST Delivers Roadmap to Spur 'Industries of the Future'
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has recommended detailed actions to spur "Industries of the Future," meet national STEM workforce needs, and better leverage national labs..
From ACM TechNews
How BMW Used Pandemic Plant Stoppages to Boost AI
Automaker BMW used pandemic-related work stoppages as an opportunity to increase the use of artificial intelligence at its manufacturing facilities in Germany.
From ACM TechNews
The Quest for Quantum-Proof Encryption Just Made a Leap Forward
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology says there are 15 contenders remaining in its competition to develop quantum-proof encryption, down from an initial list of 69.
From ACM TechNews
How a Historian Stuffed Hagia Sophia's Sound Into a Studio
Researchers at Stanford University were able to capture the acoustics of the Hagia Sophia, prior to the Byzantine cathedral in Istanbul being rededicated as a Muslim place of worship.
From ACM TechNews
Machine Learning Method Allows Hospitals to Share Patient Data Privately
Researchers have developed a machine learning method that can facilitate the sharing of patient data without compromising privacy.
From ACM News
We Need to Talk About Linguistic Diversity in AI
More than 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, but speech- and text-based services that use artificial intelligence are dominated by a handful.
From ACM TechNews
3D-Printed Tiles Helping Restore Devastated Coral Reefs
Marine scientists and architects created three-dimensionally-printed terra-cotta tiles to function as artificial coral reefs, in order to help restore devastated coral colonies.
From ACM TechNews
Automated Line Calls Replace Human Judges at U.S. Open
With the coronavirus pandemic highlighting the need for safety, the upcoming U.S. Open tennis tournament will replace human line judges on 15 of 17 match courts with an electronic system that makes automated line calls.
From ACM TechNews
How to Optimize Neural Networks on a Brain-Inspired Computer
A study found how "critical states" can be used to optimize artificial neural networks running on brain-inspired neuromorphic hardware.
From ACM TechNews
China Celebrates Completion of Rival Satellite Navigation System
China has completed its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), with the 55th and final geostationary satellite in the constellation launched June 23.
BDS-3, the third iteration of the BeiDou system, could rival the U.S.…From ACM TechNews
U.S. Marines to Get 'Alpha' Exoskeleton for Super Strength
The U.S. Marine Corps will test use-cases for Guardian XO Alpha, a wearable robotic exoskeleton from the defense-focused subsidiary of Sarcos Robotics.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Disclose Widespread Bootloader Vulnerability
Researchers at enterprise device security company Eclypsium reported a buffer-flow flaw during booting that could potentially compromise billions of Linux and Windows-based computing devices.
From ACM News
Frances Allen, First Female Recipient of ACM A.M. Turing Award, Dies at 88
Frances Allen spent her career advancing the field of computing and inspired generations of technologists.
From ACM News
For Robots, It’s a Time to Shine (and Maybe Disinfect)
The pandemic has turned cleaning and other mundane building tasks into a challenge, stoking interest in machines as cost-effective solutions.
From ACM News
GPT-3: AI Game-changer or Environmental Disaster?
The tech giants' latest machine-learning system comes with both ethical and environmental costs.