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 News
How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response
When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, Facebook was the new kid on the block. There was no Twitter for news updates, and the iPhone was not...
From ACM Opinion
When Will Smartglasses and Other Wearable Computers Hit the Mainstream?
Google has stoked our collective imagination via relentless promotion of its Google Glass wearable computer in recent months.
From ACM News
In the Fog of Battle Acoustic Sensors Pinpoint Gunfire By Measuring Air Movement
Sensors originally designed to alert pilots of single-engine planes to the location of nearby aircraft are instead finding a military role locating unseen battle...
From ACM News
The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens
In a viral YouTube video from October 2011 a one-year-old girl sweeps her fingers across an iPad's touchscreen, shuffling groups of icons.
From ACM TechNews
Why Are Micro Movies So Popular These Days?
Online micro videos are enjoying a surge in popularity, despite a lack of advanced technology.
From ACM Opinion
Is High-Tech Security at Public Events Counterproductive?
Which is more intrusive: security screening and metal detectors every few blocks, or a drone flying high above it taking video of every little thing you do?
From ACM News
Crash Course: Training the Brain of a Driverless Car
Early attempts at driverless cars have had little difficulty gathering the loads of data required to operate autonomously.
From ACM News
Fashion Statement: Designer Creates Line of Drone-Proof Garments to Protect Privacy
As the U.S. government draws up plans to use surveillance drones in domestic airspace, opposition to what many consider an unwarranted and significant invasionprivacy...
From ACM News
Small Gadgets That Make You Healthier
At any moment, someone in the U.S. most likely is having an asthma attack.
From ACM Opinion
When Will the Internet Reach Its Limit (and How Do We Stop It from Happening)?
The number of smartphones, tablets and other network-connected gadgets will outnumber humans by the end of the year.
From ACM Opinion
Chipmaker Races to Save Stephen Hawking's Speech as His Condition Deteriorates
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has long relied on technology to help him connect with the outside world despite the degenerative motor neuron disease he has...
From ACM Opinion
Online Social Science: Can the Web Graduate from Digital Petri Dish to Virtual Laboratory?
In many ways the Internet is the ultimate virtual laboratory.
From ACM News
Auto-Immune: 'symbiotes' Could Be Deployed to Thwart Cyber Attacks
Anti-hacker defenses have long focused mainly on protecting personal computers and servers in homes and offices.
From ACM News
Gps-Free Tech Can Track Miners' and Soldiers' Boots nderground
A mining crew is trapped deep underground after a cave-in. Firefighters run into a smoke-spewing high-rise to battle a violent blaze. A team of soldiers breaches...
From ACM News
Virtues of the Virtual Autopsy
Once a common medical procedure, the standard autopsy is passing out of use.
From ACM News
Quantum Manipulation and Measuring Win Nobel Prize in Physics
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual...
From ACM News
Information Nation: Digital Social Experiment to Put a Human Face on Big Data
Imagine seeing life through one eyeball but then being given the ability to view the world through two or even three eyeballs at once.
From ACM News
'part-Time' Scientists Aim to Develop Autonomous Rover to Compete For Lunar X Prize
Some people try to make the most of their spare time by exercising, volunteering, or simply recharging their batteries. Others like to use that time to build robots...
From ACM Opinion
Intel Futurist on Why We Should Not Fear the Future
Much of Intel's success as a microprocessor manufacturer over the past four decades has come from the company's ability to understand and anticipate the future...
From ACM News