As part of a continuing series of interviews with thought leaders in computing, our friends at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) have published a podcast this week featuring 2011 ACM A.M. Turing Award winner Judea Pearl: The interview reveals the fascinating role of philosophy and empirical science in Pearl’s work, which encompasses probability, causality, and counterfactual thinking. Pearl discusses the influence of education on his success and the challenges of educating future generations. He also illuminates his interests in cognitive science, computation, and physics as well as his work at RCA Research Laboratories, and the transition into academia.   [The interview also explores] how Judea’s attempt to filter out uncertainty and noisy […]

Earlier this afternoon, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a joint webinar addressing the Core Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science and Engineering (BIGDATA) solicitation announced in late March — the cornerstone of the Federal government’s $200 million Big Data R&D Initiative (more after the jump).

The recent surge in the number of new Ph.D.s in computer science and allied fields pursuing postdoctoral positions has continued in the past year, according to the latest data from the Computing Research Association’s (CRA) annual Taulbee survey being published this month — warranting renewed attention to CRA’s efforts to engage the community in a conversation about this trend (more following the link).

Scott Aaronson and Robert Wood, the two computer scientists who in March were named joint recipients of the 2012 Alan T. Waterman Award, will deliver half-hour presentations about their research to the National Science Board (NSB) later this morning. The presentations are scheduled to begin at 11am EDT, and they will be streamed live via the web as part of an open session during the Board’s meeting (more after the jump).

Calling data “a transformative new currency for science, engineering, education, and commerce,” National Science Foundation (NSF) Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Farnam Jahanian kicked off a briefing about ‘Big Data’ on Capitol Hill earlier today. Organized by TechAmerica, the briefing sought to bring together a panel of leaders from government and industry to discuss the opportunities for innovation arising from the collection, storage, analysis, and visualization of large, heterogeneous data sets, all the while taking into consideration the non-trivial security and privacy implications. Jahanian noted how “Big Data is characterized not only by the enormous volume of data but also by the diversity and heterogeneity of the data and the […]

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) continues to roll out its annual awards, today naming William Wulf the recipient of its 2011 Distinguished Service Award and Seth Cooper its 2011 Doctoral Dissertation Award. Wulf is being recognized for his service as both the Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the President of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Cooper is receiving his honor for his groundbreaking work exploring the use of video games for solving difficult scientific problems. According to the ACM press release: