Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2010
From ACM TechNews
Shape-Shifting Robot Compensates For Damaged Limb
European roboticists have developed software that enables a modular robot to adapt when one part stops working.
From ACM News
Google Speeds Queries With 'instant' Results
Those who find Google’s search engine to be impossibly slow will welcome Google Instant, an upgrade to the company’s search results that it unveiled Wednesday.
From ACM TechNews
Searching For STEM Success
Rural community colleges (CCs) have recently done much better than urban and suburban CCs in the percentage increase of associate degrees awarded to women and minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)…
From ACM TechNews
ITU Head: Cyberwar Could Be 'Worse Than Tsunami'
There needs to be a global cybersecurity peace treaty to avert the threat of international cyberwar, whose effects would be more devastating than a tsunami, says International Telecommunications Union Secretary-General Hamadoun…
From ACM TechNews
New Process Promises to Revolutionize Manufacturing of Products
University of Waterloo scientists have developed Multiple Memory Material Technology, a new manufacturing process that they say makes smart materials even smarter.
From ACM TechNews
HTML5 May Help Web Pages Talk, Listen
A new World Wide Web Consortium project could lead to the incorporation of voice recognition and speech synthesis interfaces within Web pages.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Develop Device to Enable Improved Global Data Transmission
University of Southampton researchers have developed a data transmission system that could benefit optical communications networks by eliminating phase noise from optical amplifiers and cross talk induced by rogue signals.
From ACM News
Future Technology in the NFL
In the years ahead, the National Football League looks set to dial up some new tech blitzes that will make the game fairer and safer. Among the technologies most likely to make it onto the field soon are wireless sensors in…
From ACM News
The Human Process Behind Google's Algorithm
Google is famous for evangelizing the power of the algorithm. It spends less time talking about the several hundred human beings who influence its algorithm.
From ACM News
Texas Ag Probing Google's Searches
The Texas attorney general's office is conducting an antitrust review of Google Inc.'s core search-engine business, a sign of widening government scrutiny of the Web giant.
From ACM News
Once a Dynamo, the Tech Sector Is Slow to Hire
For years the technology sector has been considered the most dynamic, promising and globally envied industry in the United States. It escaped the recession relatively unscathed, and profits this year have been soaring.
From ACM News
Study Confirms Wireless Computers Effective During Class
A recent Columbus State University study shows that students who consistently use laptops with interaction software to enhance or supplement their classroom notes outperform their counterparts.
From ACM TechNews
Dental Surgery at the Click of a Mouse
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz researchers have developed an e-learning platform that enables dentistry students to download case studies with videos and images showing disease patterns and surgical procedures directly to…
From ACM News
A Strong Password Isn't the Strongest Security
Make your password strong, with a unique jumble of letters, numbers and punctuation marks. But memorize it—never write it down. And, oh yes, change it every few months. These instructions are supposed to protect us. But they…
From ACM TechNews
Iphone App May Replace Stethoscope
iPhones can function as stethoscopes using a new application developed by a University College of London computer scientist and cardiologist researchers. The app allows users to listen to heartbeats, and displays the heat waveform…
From ACM News
Marc Andreessen Flexes His Muscles in Silicon Valley
He spoke for Hewlett-Packard's board when it showed ex-CEO Mark Hurd the door—and is now part of the team searching for Hurd's successor. He played a role in eBay's spinoff of Skype—buying a $50 million chunk in the process…
From ACM News
Massive Online Networks to be Focus of Study of Creative Collaborations
Using two creative online communities as their laboratory, two Indiana University Bloomington researchers hope to understand how the inner workings of such massive, networked collaborations could benefit scientists, corporations…
From ACM News
Two Years On, Chrome Reshapes Browser Market
It's been two years since the first public version of Chrome appeared, but in some ways, Google's browser remains a novelty.
From ACM News
Cern Collides with a Patent Reality
You might imagine that vast patent royalties flow into the organisation that invented the touchscreen and the World Wide Web. But the atom-smashing outfit CERN, cradle of both these technologies, doesn't make a bean from either…
From ACM News
Some Newspapers, Tracking Readers Online, Shift Coverage
In most businesses, not knowing how well a particular product is performing would be almost unthinkable. But newspapers have always been a peculiar business, one that has stubbornly, proudly clung to a sense that focusing…
From ACM News
Scientists Decode Words from Brain Signals
In an early step toward turning the thoughts of severely paralyzed people into digitized speech, University of Utah researchers translated brain signals into words using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted beneath the…
From ICT Results
Electronic Nose Sniffs Out Bacteria
Early treatment of infection in burn patients is critical. A European consortium has designed a point-of-care instrument that can identify types of bacteria from the tiny amounts of volatile gases they emit.
From ACM News
Bringing Engineering to K-12 Classrooms
With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, engineers from Tufts University are bringing engineering to young students through STOMP, the Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program.
From ACM News
Computer Scientists Leverage Dark Silicon to Improve Smartphone Battery Life
A new smartphone chip prototype under development at the University of California, San Diego will improve smartphone efficiency by making use of "dark silicon"—the underused transistors in modern microprocessors.
From ACM News
How to Remake Life
Venter Institute researchers have made the first viable cell with a synthetic genome.
From ACM TechNews
How Coders Can Help Fight Climate Change
University of Toronto professor Steve Easterbrook has issued a research paper in which he outlines how software engineers can help climate scientists build computer models for projecting climate change.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Create Robot That Can Pair, Fold Socks
University of California, Berkeley researchers have developed a robot that can pair and fold socks. The robot can determine whether a sock is inside out based on its texture, flipping it if necessary and pairing it with its…
From ACM TechNews
FCC Seeks More Input on Wireless Internet Rules
The FCC recently asked for more feedback regarding whether regulations should apply to wireless Internet service, adding months of debate on the subject. The FCC also is asking for input about special services that offer to…
From ACM News
How Internet Growth Is Playing Out in Top Emerging Markets
The number of Internet users in the top emerging markets is set to nearly double by 2015—a pace of growth that sounds enticing but that actually presents plenty of challenges for businesses, according to a Boston Consulting…
From ACM News
Season For High Science
Hurricanes on both coasts are test beds for new forecasting tools.