Communications of the ACM
An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Smart Glasses Dim Bright Objects
Camera- and liquid-crystal display-equipped smart glasses can "balance" a scene by dimming bright objects without affecting dim ones.
From ACM TechNews
Inflatable Drone Can Bounce Off Walls, Perch on Nearly Anything
Arizona State University researchers have developed an inflatable drone that can perch on nearly any object.
From ACM News
Wood Transistor Could Let Us Embed Electronics in Trees
An electrochemical transistor made from balsa wood opens up the possibility of embedding sensors and other electronic devices in plants, which could help in agriculture...
From ACM TechNews
Shapes 3D-Printed into Living Worms Could Be Future of Brain Implants
A technique developed by researchers at the U.K.'s Lancaster University can print conductive circuits inside living organisms using a photonic three-dimensional...
From ACM TechNews
Venus Flytrap Cyborg Snaps Shut with Smartphone Commands
Wenlong Li and colleagues at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have transformed Venus flytraps into biological robots.
From ACM TechNews
U.S. Air Force Giving Military Drones the Ability to Recognize Faces
A contract between the U.S. Department of Defense and RealNetworks calls for the Seattle-based company to equip U.S. Air Force autonomous drones with facial recognition...
From ACM TechNews
Kombucha Cultures Can Be Turned into Flexible Electric Circuit Boards
Researchers at the U.K.'s University of the West of England, Bristol used the mat of cells that form on top when brewing kombucha to develop flexible electric circuit...
From ACM TechNews
Flying Robot Echolocates Like a Bat to Avoid Hitting Walls
Frederike Dümbgen and colleagues have equipped a flying robot to use bat-like echolocation to map its surroundings using a simple microphone and speaker.
From ACM TechNews
AI Has Designed Bacteria-Killing Proteins from Scratch
A multi-institutional team of California researchers engineered an artificial intelligence to design bacteria-destroying proteins that actually worked.
From ACM TechNews
Russia Is Jamming More GPS Satellite Signals Around Moscow
Russia has accelerated its jamming of GPS satellites around Moscow, apparently to deter long-range strikes by Ukrainian drones, according to GPSJam.
From ACM TechNews
Noisy Flashing Drone Could Stop Bats Crashing into Wind Turbines
Yuval Werber and colleagues at Israel's University of Haifa invented a drone that makes noise and flashes lights to prevent bats from colliding with turbine blades...
From ACM TechNews
Online Advertising Estimated to Use as Much Energy as a Small Country
Researchers have developed a system that can calculate energy consumption related to online advertising.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Computers Vulnerable to Eavesdropping Hackers
Allen Mi and colleagues at Yale University warn that even carefully wiping quantum computers of data would not thwart its theft by hackers.
From ACM TechNews
AI-Designed Invisibility Cloak Could Hide Small Communication Devices
Researchers used artificial intelligence to design an invisibility cloak to conceal antennas or small communication devices from infrared light or microwave detectors...
From ACM TechNews
AI Diversity Scoring System Could Help Root Out Algorithmic Bias
Princeton University's Adji Bousso Dieng and Dan Friedman have developed a diversity score for artificial intelligence to help detect bias.
From ACM TechNews
U.K. Will Use GPS Fingerprint Scanner to Track People Facing Deportation
The U.K.'s Home Office says it will soon require people facing deportation to carry a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled fingerprint scanner at all times. ...
From ACM TechNews
Unpiloted Military Helicopter Flies 134 km in Simulated Mission
The U.S. Army flew an autonomous Black Hawk Helicopter 134 kilometers (83 miles) to deliver 230 kilograms (507 lbs.) of simulated and real blood.
From ACM TechNews
Robotic Laser Can Target, Kill Cockroaches
Researchers developed a device that can kill cockroaches using a laser, two cameras, and an artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of targeting specific insect...
From ACM TechNews
Algorithm Can Design Perfect Cycle Lane System for Any City
Malte Schröder and colleagues at Dresden University of Technology programmed an algorithm to design the optimal cycling route for any given city, using network...
From ACM TechNews