Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2022
From ACM News
New Deepfake Threats Loom, says Microsoft's Chief Science Officer
Microsoft chief science officer Eric Horvitz said the rising capabilities of discriminative and generative artificial intelligence methods are reaching an inflection point.
From ACM News
Stuck on the Streets of San Francisco in a Driverless Car
A reporter and a photographer went for a ride in an experimental autonomous vehicle operated by the General Motors subsidiary Cruise. There were bumps in the road.
From ACM News
Meta's LeCun: Most of Today's AI Approaches Will Never Lead to True Intelligence
Fundamental problems elude many strains of deep learning, says LeCun, including the mystery of how to measure information.
From ACM News
How the U.S. is Trying to Maintain Dominance of the Advanced Semiconductor Industry
...while trying to limit China's ability to develop its own.
From ACM News
LinkedIn Ran Undisclosed Social Experiments on 20 Million Users for Years to Study Job Success
Researchers were testing a social-scientific theory known as the "strength of weak ties."
From ACM TechNews
Technology Could Help Whales Threatened by Noise Pollution
Researchers have developed software to prevent whale deaths caused by underwater noise pollution interfering with their echolocation.
From ACM TechNews
Engineers Build Battery-Free, Wireless Underwater Camera
Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers have developed a battery-free, wireless underwater camera.
From ACM TechNews
'Papermill Alarm' Software Flags Potentially Fake Papers
Adam Day at U.K.-based data services company Clear Skies developed a software tool that highlights potentially bogus scientific papers.
From ACM News
In India, Debunking Fake News and Running Into the Authorities
Independent website Alt News has emerged as a leading debunker of misinformation in India, but highlighting hate speech against minorities has put it on a collision course with the government.
From ACM TechNews
Software Could Monitor Your Brain while You Rest in Intensive Care
Researchers build algorithm to monitor feeds from heart rate, breathing rate, brain temperature, blood oxygen level, and other sensors.
From ACM TechNews
Designing Quantum Materials on the Computer
An international team including researchers from Rice University and the Technical University of Vienna have developed a theoretical method for identifying novel materials with special electronic properties necessary for quantum…
From ACM TechNews
Philadelphia Tech Salaries See Biggest Jump in the U.S.
Tech salaries in Philadelphia grew fastest this year than in Silicon Valley and other U.S. metro areas, rising nearly 12% to $142,000 compared with 15 other locations, according to Hired.com's annual worker/employer poll.
From ACM TechNews
Lossless Data Management Platform for ML, Sharing of Experimental Info
New platform allows automated analysis and lossless sharing of material exploration data in the form of knowledge graphs in electronic laboratory notebooks.
From ACM TechNews
3D Printing Drones Work Like Bees
An international team of scientists developed a fleet of three-dimensional (3D) printing drones that can build and repair structures in flight.
From ACM TechNews
Autonomous, Wireless Robots Could Dance on a Human Hair
Cornell University researchers have created wireless robots small enough to sit on a human hair that operate autonomously, using light as a power source.
From ACM TechNews
Key Element for a Scalable Quantum Computer
Physicists have taken a step toward realizing a scalable quantum computer by transferring electrons across several micrometers on a quantum chip.
From ACM News
Google Sees Russia Coordinating With Hackers in Cyberattacks Tied to Ukraine War
"We have never previously observed such a volume of cyberattacks, variety of threat actors, and coordination of effort," the report says; some U.S. institutions have been targeted.
From ACM TechNews
When AI Asks Dumb Questions, It Gets Smart Fast
New research suggests patiently correcting artificial intelligence (AI) when it asks dumb questions may be key to helping the technology learn.
From ACM News
Smart Mask Could Be Early Warning System
Chinese team develops a wearable bioelectric mask that can sniff out diseases such as Covid-19 and influenza.
From ACM News
Bring the Laboratory With You
Microfluidic laboratories on chips proliferate.
From ACM News
Senate Confirms Fick as First U.S. Cyber Ambassador
Fick served in the U.S. Marine Corps and has extensive experience working in the private sector, including as CEO of the cybersecurity software company Endgame.
From ACM News
What Are Data Scientists' Biggest Concerns?
Among the key concerns identified in Anaconda's State of Data Science 2022 report was the barriers to adoption of data science overall.
From ACM News
Superconductors: Scientists Discover an Invisible Phenomenon
It may be possible to develop superconductors that operate at room temperature with further knowledge of the relationship between spin liquids and superconductivity.
From ACM News
'Very Harmful' Lack of Data Blunts U.S. Response to Outbreaks
Major data gaps, the result of decades of underinvestment in public health, have undercut the government response to the coronavirus, and now to monkeypox.
From ACM TechNews
YouTube's Dislike Button Rarely Shifts Recommendations
Mozilla Foundation researchers found pressing the "dislike" button on a YouTube video does little to improve the videos chosen by the YouTube platform's recommender algorithm.
From ACM TechNews
Deepfake Audio Has a Tell
Researchers at the University of Florida can detect audio deepfakes by measuring acoustic and fluid dynamic distinctions between organic and synthetic voice samples.
From ACM TechNews
Face Recognition for Pigs Could Improve Welfare on Farms
Wenhao Zhang and colleagues at the U.K.'s University of the West of England have developed a facial recognition system for pigs.
From ACM TechNews
Implantable Sensor Sniffs Out Possible Signals of Osteoarthritis
A new flexible biosensor performs continuous, wireless monitoring of nitric oxide, a biomarker associated with inflammation, in rabbits.
From ACM News
Cleveland Wants to Use AI to Fight Illegal Dumping
The city intends to deploy smart cameras outfitted with the new technology on two corridors known for being dumping hotspots.
From ACM News
The Robots Are Here, And Making You Fries
Meet Flippy, Sippy and Chippy, the newest technology stepping in to address a protracted labor crunch in food service.