science coursework

Science Courses

• Social Sciences

Backyard Meteorology: The Science of Weather

Learn to forecast the weather just by looking out your window.

Human Anatomy: Musculoskeletal Cases

Learn the anatomy basic to understanding five musculoskeletal injuries commonly seen in primary care medicine and orthopedic clinical specialty practice. Follow hypothetical patients from injury to operating room.

U.S. Public Policy: Social, Economic, and Foreign Policies

Learn about public policy in America and the dynamics of American politics.

The Einstein Revolution

Traces Albert Einstein’s engagement with relativity, quantum mechanics, Nazism, nuclear weapons, philosophy, the arts, and technology.

Energy Within Environmental Constraints

A quantitative introduction to the energy system and its environmental impacts.

The Health Effects of Climate Change

Learn how global warming impacts human health, and the ways we can diminish those impacts.

MalariaX: Defeating Malaria from the Genes to the Globe

How can we eradicate malaria? Explore cutting-edge science and technology, and examine policies needed, to control and eliminate malaria.

Case Studies in Functional Genomics

Perform RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, and DNA methylation data analyses, using open source software, including R and Bioconductor.

Introduction to Bioconductor

The structure, annotation, normalization, and interpretation of genome scale assays.

Advanced Bioconductor

Learn advanced approaches to genomic visualization, reproducible analysis, data architecture, and exploration of cloud-scale consortium-generated genomic data.

Introduction to Linear Models and Matrix Algebra

Learn to use R programming to apply linear models to analyze data in life sciences.

Statistics and R

An introduction to basic statistical concepts and R programming skills necessary for analyzing data in the life sciences.

Quantitative Methods for Biology

Learn introductory programming and data analysis in MATLAB, with applications to biology and medicine.

Improving Your Business Through a Culture of Health

Learn how a Culture of Health can transform your business to improve the well-being of your employees and company, while increasing revenue.

Energy and Thermodynamics

Learn the fundamentals of chemistry and energy, from the types of energy to atomic mass and matter to enthalpy and thermodynamics.

Introductory Science and Math

Some of OCW’s most widely used courses are introductions to science and math, which together form MIT’s Science Core . These foundational subjects in calculus, physics, chemistry, and biology are a key part of MIT’s General Institute Requirements (GIR) for all undergraduate students.

MIT offers several related but varied treatments of each subject, in order to match the learner’s particular interests and level of preparation. There is more than one way to learn these key concepts, for instance with differing emphasis on theory or on real-world applications, and so OCW shares some of the varied treatments offered at MIT.

Mathematics

The Mathematics GIR is a sequence of two subjects, Single Variable Calculus and Multivariable Calculus, as described in the following video. (This video is from MIT Department of Mathematics on YouTube and is not covered by our Creative Commons license .)

Most MIT students take the standard versions of these subjects, 18.01 and 18.02, such as the following:

• 18.01SC Single Variable Calculus
• 18.02SC Multivariable Calculus

Other versions of Single Variable Calculus and Multivariable Calculus are also available on OCW. 

The Physics GIR is a sequence of two subjects, Classical Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism, as described in the following video. (This video is from MIT Department of Physics on YouTube and is not covered by our Creative Commons license .)

Most MIT students take the standard versions of these courses, 8.01 and 8.02, such as the following:

• 8.01SC Physics I: Classical Mechanics
• 8.02 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism

Other versions of Classical Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism are also available on OCW.

Any one of three subjects satisfies the Chemistry GIR, as described in the following video. (This video is from MIT Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) on YouTube and is not covered by our Creative Commons license .)

The Department of Chemistry offers two subjects:

• 5.111SC Principles of Chemical Science
• 5.112 Principles of Chemical Science for students with more advanced background (e.g., two years of high school chemistry)

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering offers this subject: 

• 3.091 Introduction to Solid State Chemistry , which assumes some background in high school chemistry and emphasizes the application of chemistry in materials.

Other versions of Principles of Chemical Science and Introduction to Solid State Chemistry are also available on OCW.

The Biology GIR, Introductory Biology, is described in the following video.  (This video is from MIT Department of Biology on YouTube and is not covered by our Creative Commons license .)

Introductory Biology comes in several versions numbered 7.012 through 7.016. All versions cover a common core of topics, as well as distinctive material in each version as described in the Biology GIR subject options list .

• 7.01SC Fundamentals of Biology is a single course representation created by OCW using selections from several Biology GIR versions.

Other versions of Introductory Biology are also available on OCW.

Incoming students may prepare for Introductory Biology with the online non-credit course Pre-7.01: Getting up to Speed in Biology .

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Free online science courses

Physics / astronomy.

Particle physics

This free course, Particle physics, will give you an overview of current concepts and theories in the field. You will learn about the fundamental components of matter – known as leptons and quarks – and the composite particles, such as protons and neutrons, which are composed of quarks. You will see that all particle reactions may be described ...

Free course

Level: 1 Introductory

Moons of our Solar System

In this free course, Moons of our Solar System, explore the many moons of our Solar System. Find out what makes them special. Should we send humans to our Moon again?

Galaxies, stars and planets

This free course, Galaxies, stars and planets, is a general introduction, including scale of the universe from the very large to the very small; orbits and gravity; the Solar System; the Sun and other stars; galaxies and the composition of astronomical objects.

An introduction to exoplanets

This free course, An introduction to exoplanets, introduces our galaxy's population of planets, and some of their many surprises. It explains the methods used by astronomers to study exoplanets, and provides a general introduction to the methods of scientific inquiry. The course culminates in discussion of life elsewhere in our Galaxy.

Explore Moon rocks collected from the first Moon landing

Use our Virtual Microscope to examine a selection of Moon rocks collected by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, from the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Icy bodies: Europa and elsewhere

The new discipline of astrobiology that is, the science of searching for extraterrestrial life, is not only rapidly growing, but has also captured the public imagination. This free course, Icy bodies: Europa and elsewhere, examines the emergence of icy satellites of distant planets as potential sites of extraterrestrial life, looks at the ...

Level: 2 Intermediate

Biology / Life Sciences

Blood and the respiratory system

‘Don’t hold your breath’ is an expression you’ve probably heard many times, but may not have thought too much about. In this free course, Blood and the respiratory system, you’ll study why respiration is so important for life, including how air enters and leaves the lungs, how oxygen is transported in the blood, the many dynamic factors that ...

Pain and Aspirin

What causes pain and how do we stop it? This free course, Pain and Aspirin, looks at how the human body responds to the release of certain chemicals and as a result feels pain. Pain can be reduced by inhibiting the formation of such chemicals and you will learn how the molecular structure of aspirin has been formulated to help in this process.

General principles of cellular communication

Learn about how cells sense and respond to extrinsic stimuli, a capacity that allows them to communicate with each other and to respond to changes in their environment. This free course, General principles of cellular communication, explains cell signalling pathways in general terms and identifies some of the universal characteristics of ...

Level: 3 Advanced

Influenza: A case study

This free course, Influenza: A case study, explores the biology of influenza, covering a range of topics including: the virus, infection, replication, mutation, immune responses, pathology, surveillance, diagnosis and treatment.

Migration is a free course looking at the migrations of animals, with special reference to birds, and also introducing the themes of movement, selection and homeostasis.

Metals in medicine

This free course, Metals in medicine, focuses on the use of metals and their compounds in the production of images of internal structures in our bodies and on the role of metal-containing compounds as drugs in the treatment of disease.

What chemical compounds might be present in drinking water?

Do you want to know what’s in the water that you drink? This free course, What chemical compounds might be present in drinking water?, examines the chemical compounds that occur in drinking water. A high level of certain anions in water can cause environmental pollution and health problems. Cations are also important. For example, calcium salts ...

Introduction to polymers

This free course, Introduction to polymers, examines the use of polymers and demonstrates how their properties are controlled by their molecular structure. You will learn how this structure determines which polymer to use for a particular product. You will also explore the manufacturing techniques used and the how the use of polymerisation can ...

More science

Assessing contemporary science

It will explore the ways in which scientific knowledge develops, undergoes peer review and is communicated. The second half of the course will focus more closely on a specific scientific topic – plastics – and give you a chance to practise these skills by considering the topic's social impact, building a glossary of unfamiliar terms, and ...

Ethics in science?

This free course, Ethics in science? discusses how scientists have a moral and ethical responsibility to consider whether they should carry out an experiment. In this short course you will learn of the first clinical trials undertaken for scurvy and small pox and gain an understanding of how much more rigorous today’s clinical trials are. You ...

Systems Thinking: Diagramming Tutorials

Explore a range of systems diagrams and learn how to draw them - from spray, rich picture, systems map, influence, multiple cause and sign.

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Our program curricula are designed to teach theory and practical skills to enable you to change careers or advance in your current position. Classes are offered in classroom and multiple online formats to meet the needs of working professionals. Most programs can be started at any time.

Our program curricula are designed to teach theory and practical skills to enable you to change careers or advance in your current position. Classes are offered in classroom and multiple online formats to meet the needs of working professionals.

Offered in a variety of subject areas, classes give you the flexibility to gain a high-quality education and earn credits on your schedule. Choose from multiple formats to meet your needs. Enroll in just the course or courses that interest you—no application necessary.

Offered in a variety of subject areas, classes give you the flexibility to gain a high-quality education and earn credits on your schedule. Choose from multiple formats to meet your needs.

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Join a cohort of students for an in-person, semester-based, collaborative program. Learn from industry experts from the Bay Area and Silicon Valley through four courses in a 15-week semester.

Video: Start Anytime Online Science Courses

Our online science courses are useful as prerequisites for graduate programs and professional school. Some students take online science classes to boost their Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math GPA.

Students interested in professional development and personal enhancement can take our online science courses to explore new and exciting possibilities.

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Introduction to Physics and Chemistry

Course Features

Course details, course overview.

In this comprehensive science course, students will cover a wide range of topics related to motion, forces, energy, waves, matter, chemical reactions, and nuclear processes. They will learn to interpret motion using graphical representations, calculate forces, mass, and acceleration, and apply engineering design principles. The course will also delve into energy types, calculations, and transformations, exploring heat transfer and real-world applications. Students will study electricity, magnetism, chemical bonding, compounds, and chemical reactions, as well as explore elements and their properties on the periodic table. Additionally, they will investigate reaction rates, nuclear decays, and renewable and non-renewable energy sources with a focus on real-world implications and practical applications. Throughout the units, students will engage in critical thinking, problem-solving, and experimental design to build a comprehensive understanding of physical and chemical processes in the world around them.

Sample Lesson - Attraction Between Molecules

Scope and Sequence

Unit 1: Motion This unit covers various topics related to motion representation and interpretation. Students will learn about relative motion and how objects can appear motionless or in motion depending on the observer's perspective. They will understand how to evaluate an object's distance from the origin using appropriate units. The unit will also teach students to recognize scalar and vector quantities and calculate distance and displacement. Additionally, students will be able to interpret motion using various graphical representations, such as dot graphs, number lines, data tables, and line graphs.

Unit 2: Forces This unit covers forces, their interactions between objects, and how to interpret free body diagrams. Students will analyze and make claim, evidence, and reasoning statements about force-mass and force-acceleration relationships. They will calculate force, mass, and acceleration in various scenarios and identify frictional force direction. Real-world applications include writing CER statements about objects' acceleration and determining relative weight in different gravitational environments.

Unit 3: Momentum This unit covers systems, collisions, and engineering design principles. Students will identify components of a system, calculate momentum, and predict outcomes obeying conservation of momentum. They'll study concussions, methods to reduce momentum change in collisions, and the engineering design process. This unit fosters critical thinking, problem-solving, and design skills.

Unit 4: Energy and Work This unit focuses on energy, including its types and calculations. Students will recognize energy examples and units in real-life situations, understand conservation of energy, and evaluate work done on systems. They will model conservation of energy using mathematical and graphic representations, and analyze changes in energy within systems. Overall, this unit provides a comprehensive understanding of energy principles and their practical applications.

Unit 5: Thermal Energy This unit explores heat and energy transfer, covering heat amount determination, thermal energy comparison, and energy flow direction identification. Students will study conduction, convection, and radiation as energy transfer types and recognize appropriate materials. The unit includes a solar oven engineering challenge for prototype description, evaluation, and improvement while considering constraints and scientific principles. This practical knowledge equips students to apply heat and energy concepts effectively in real-world scenarios and engineering endeavors.

Unit 6: Gravitational and Electrostatic Forces This unit covers forces and their interactions, including contact and field forces, magnetic and electric field models. Students will identify the sign of forces based on attraction or repulsion, grasp the direction of gravity, and write CERs about the effects of mass and distance on gravitational and electrostatic forces. They will understand numbers in scientific notation and use Newton's law of gravitation and Coulomb's Law equation to predict relative force energy between objects or charges. By the end of this unit, students will have a comprehensive understanding of fundamental forces and their behaviors.

Unit 7: Electricity and Electromagnetism This unit covers electricity and magnetism concepts. Students will learn about energy movement as electricity, build complete circuits, and measure voltage and current using appropriate tools. They will explore the relationship between electric current and magnetic fields, design experiments, and analyze data using CERs. Additionally, students will study electric generators, transformers, and energy changes through magnetic fields using models. By the end of this unit, students will have a comprehensive understanding of electricity, magnetism, and their practical applications.

Unit 8: Waves This unit focuses on waves and electromagnetic radiation. Students will classify waves as transverse or longitudinal, label wavelength and amplitude, and understand the relationship between wavelength and frequency. They will explore how the medium influences wave speed and wavelength, and identify an object's direction of motion through wavelength comparison. Additionally, students will recognize examples of interference in wave models, compare electromagnetic spectrum areas in frequency and wavelength, and classify electromagnetic radiation as ionizing or non-ionizing.

Unit 9: Wave Applications This unit explores the behavior of visible light and electromagnetic radiation. Students will compare light before and after reflection, as well as its movement between different mediums. They will recognize properties of electromagnetic radiation supporting both wave and particle behavior and evaluate its dual nature. Additionally, students will understand how fiber optics encode data using light waves, examine advantages and disadvantages of digital information transmission and storage, and explore real-world applications of electromagnetic waves in industry and medicine.

Unit 10: Matter This unit focuses on matter and its representations. Students will identify matter examples, select appropriate models on the bulk and particle scales, and compare atoms and molecules. They will use charge interaction models to explain bonding, select correct models for solid, liquid, and gas states, and estimate relative energy during phase changes. Students will construct CER statements about energy and matter throughout the process, gaining a comprehensive understanding of matter and its properties.

Unit 11: Atoms This unit explores elements, atoms, and atomic models. Students will recognize elements and determine their natural states, identify components inside an atom, and calculate protons, electrons, and neutrons. They will learn the Bohr model for representative group atoms, relate electron movement to emission spectra, and explore electromagnetic radiation as both a wave and a particle. The unit also covers valence electrons and the formation of cations and anions from neutral atoms.

Unit 12: Organizing the Periodic Table This unit focuses on elements and their properties. Students will identify neutral elements based on protons or filled energy levels and valence electrons. They will specify elements as metals, non-metals, or metalloids based on their position on the periodic table and locate elements in the alkali, alkaline earth, halogen, and noble gas groups. Students will understand the number of valence electrons and general properties in these groups and predict atom sizes down a group and across a period.

Unit 13: Building Bigger Part 1: Ionic Compounds and Metals This unit focuses on chemical bonding and compounds. Students will develop models representing energy changes during bond formation, predict electron gain or loss based on periodic table positions, and identify common ion charges in groups 1, 2, 16, and 17. They will choose elements to form ionic and metallic bonds, specify formulas and names for ionic compounds, and calculate molar masses. Students will also select characteristics of ionic and metallic compounds from given properties.

Unit 14: Building Bigger Part 2: Covalent Compounds This unit focuses on covalent compounds and their properties. Students will choose elements for covalent bonds, name covalent compounds from formulas, and match formulas to names. They will calculate molar masses and select characteristics of covalent compounds. Additionally, students will develop experimental designs to distinguish salt containers and identify atom attraction strengths based on properties.

Unit 15: Chemical Reactions This unit focuses on chemical reactions and their characteristics. Students will identify signs of chemical change, classify reactions as endothermic or exothermic, and evaluate energy changes. They will specify chemical equations obeying conservation of mass and predict products based on valence electrons. Students will adjust explanations with additional data, model combustion reactions, and explain reactions on the atomic level.

Unit 16: Getting the Right Recipe In this unit, students will learn about moles and their relationship to mass, atoms, and molecules. They will calculate molar mass for elements and compounds. By understanding the mole-to-mass and mole-to-atom/molecule relationships, they will interpret balanced chemical equations and identify the number of moles, atoms/molecules, or mass involved. Students will also use the coefficients of balanced equations to determine ratios and calculate the amount of product formed in moles or mass from a given number of moles of reactant.

Unit 17: Reaction Rates and Equilibrium In this unit, students will explore reaction rates and factors affecting them. They will identify the factors involved in measuring reaction rates and compare the relative rates of two experiments. Students will classify solutions as high or low concentration and understand the conditions necessary for successful chemical reactions. They will demonstrate and explain the relationship between concentration and reaction rate at the bulk and particle scale. Additionally, they will investigate the impact of temperature on reaction rate and write a CER to explain this relationship.

Unit 18: Nuclear In this unit, students will learn to identify elements based on the number of protons, isotope notation, or periodic table notation. They will also be able to determine isotope notations and nucleons for nuclear decays involving alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays. Students will describe the processes and characteristics of nuclear fission and fusion. They will develop models to illustrate the changes in the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.

Unit 19: Energy and the Environment In this unit, students will learn to identify characteristics of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They will explain the process of generating electricity from these sources and select components of the greenhouse effect. Students will explore examples of using coal, fossil fuels, nuclear decay, solar energy, hydroelectric and tidal power plants, wind energy, and geothermal power plants. They will also identify sources and evaluate evidence to critique the advantages and disadvantages of using these energy sources for electricity generation.

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Specific features of the ecological functioning of urban soils in Moscow and Moscow region

Eurasian Soil Science

Urban soils (constructozems) were studied in Moscow and several cities (Dubna, Pushchino, and Serebryanye Prudy) of Moscow oblast. The soil sampling from the upper 10-cm-thick layer was performed in the industrial, residential, and recreational functional zones of these cities. The biological (the carbon of the microbial biomass carbon, Cmic and the microbial (basal) respiration, BR) and chemical (pHwater and the contents of Corg, heavy metals, and NPK) indices were determined in the samples. The ratios of BR to Cmic (the microbial respiration quotient, qCO2) and of Cmic to Corg were calculated. The Cmic varied from 120 to 738 μg C/g soil; the BR, from 0.39 to 1.94 μg CO2-C/g soil per hour; the Corg, from 2.52 to 5.67%; the qCO2, from 1.24 to 5.28 μg CO2-C/mg Cmic/g soil per h; and the Cmic/Corg, from 0.40 to 1.55%. Reliable positive correlations were found between the Cmic and BR, the Cmic and Cmic/Corg, and the Cmic and Corg values (r = 0.75, 0.95, and 0.61, respectively), as well...

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N.D. Ananyeva

Journal of Mining Institute

Alexey Alekseenko

Soils and plants of Saint Petersburg are under the constant technogenic stress caused by human activity in in-dustrial, residential, and recreational landscapes of the city. To assess the transformed landscapes of various functional zones, we studied utility, housing, and park districts with a total area of over 7,000 hectares in the southern part of the city during the summer seasons of 2016-2018. Throughout the fieldwork period, 796 individual pairs of soil and plant samples were collected. A complex of consequent laboratory studies performed in an accredited laboratory allowed the characterization of key biogeochemical patterns of urban regolith specimens and herbage samples of various grasses. Chemical analyses provided information on the concentrations of polluting metals in soils and plants of different land use zones. Data interpretation and calculation of element accumulation factors revealed areas with the most unfavorable environmental conditions. We believe that a high pollution level in southern city districts has led to a significant degree of physical, chemical, and biological degradation of the soil and vegetation cover. As of today, approximately 10 % of the Technosols in the study area have completely lost the ability to biological self-revitalization, which results in ecosystem malfunction and the urgent need for land remediation.

András Bidló

The main purpose of the present study was to monitor actual contamination levels and execute a comparative assessment of results in a mid-sized Hungarian city for two different years. The first citywide soil investigations were completed in 2011. In 2018, the most prominent properties (pH, CaCO3, texture, and trace metals Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were reanalyzed and were supplemented with mesofauna on selected sites. The available trace metal elements of urban soils showed the following tendency in 2011: Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd > Cr = Ni = Co. In 2018, the previous order changed to Zn > Pb > Cu > Cr > Cd = Ni = Co. Cd and Pb enrichments were found, especially near the M7 motorway. The comparison between 2011 and 2018 revealed soil contamination was, on average, higher in 2011. Soil microarthropod communities were sampled and assessed using abundance data and diversity measurements. Soil biological quality was evaluated with the help of the Soil Biological Qualit...

Mikhail Reshetnikov , Ngun Clement

A soil diagnosis of an urban territory Stepnoe (Saratov region) was conducted within the framework of soil research monitoring of inhabited localities with low levels of anthropogenic impact using chemical and microbiological analysis. Excess over maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of mobile forms of Cr, Zn and Cd were not observed within the researched territory. A universal excess over MPC of mobile forms of Ni, Cu and Pb was established which is most likely connected with anthropogenic contamination. It was discovered that, at the territory of the Stepnoe settlement, mobile forms of heavy metals compounds (HM) in most cases formed paragenetic associations with high correlation coefficient and despite this, an excess over MPC was not significant. This point to a common mineralogical origin of the elements inherited from the parent rock. The values of the total index of chemical contamination were not above 16, which puts the researched samples in a category with permissible contamination. The indices of the total number of heterotrophic bacteria, iron-oxidizing and hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria in most samples corresponded to normal indices for chestnut solonetsous and saline soils. In some samples, a deviation from the normal indices was observed justifying the impact of specific contaminants on the soil.

Soil Science Annual

Lidia Oktaba

The objective of the study was to determine properties of soils located within a city, and to assess the effect of anthropopressure on the accumulation of carbon and nitrogen in soils of Pruszków . a medium sized town in central Poland. Surface soil layers (0.20 cm) were collected at 36 sites. A total of 12 samples from lawns, 11 from allotment gardens, 9 from fields and 4 from fallow lands were subject to analysis. Lawns and allotment gardens were treated as central zone I . under strong pressure of anthropogenic factors, fields and fallow lands were treated as zone II . with potentially low level of anthropogenic influence. The statistical analysis showed significantly higher (p=0.008) amount of organic carbon (Corg) in lawns (mean 20.5 g·kg

For the first time, the quantitative geochemical data are given for urban soils of several groups of cities which differ in population. The content of chemical elements is considered as well as the specific ecological significance of soil contamination by these elements. The figures were established by authors on the base of average concentrations of chemical elements in the soils of more than 300 cities and settlements. The major part of data (sampling, analyses, and their statistical treatment) was obtained directly by authors as a result of special studies conducted for more than 15 years. The sufficiently numerous published materials of different researchers were also used. The greatest elements accumulation comparing with the Earth’s soils (tens of thousands of tons per 1 km2) is associated with an increase in the content of Ca and Mg. Considering the environmental significance of chemical elements accumulation in soils, we note the primary role of Pb and Zn in all groups of cities. Out from the rest pollutants it is necessary, first of all, to note As, Cu, and Cl, which are the main contaminants in four of six cities groups. In two groups of settlements, Cd and Co are important soil pollutants. In three groups, a considerable increase in the Ca content significantly modifies ecological–geochemical state of soils.

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Journal of Central European Agriculture

Marcos Francos

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Communities of microorganisms and invertebrates in soil-like bodies of soccer fields in Moscow oblast

• Soil Biology
• Published: 06 November 2014
• Volume 47 , pages 1107–1115, ( 2014 )

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• O. V. Kutovaya 1 ,
• I. V. Zamotaev 2 &
• V. P. Belobrov 1  

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Artificially created soil-like technogenic formations (STFs) of soccer fields are developed under combined action of intense technogenic and natural factors and processes, which cannot but affect the structure and biological activity of their microbial communities and mesofauna. The microflora of the STFs is very similar to the microflora of the background soddy-podzolic soils of Moscow oblast with respect to the composition of the physiological groups of microorganisms. However, they are drastically different in their quantitative characteristics. The numbers of all the trophic groups of microorganisms, except for the microscopic fungi, in the STFs are much higher than those in the zonal soils. An increased biological activity of the STFs is due to regular watering, heating, application of sand and mineral fertilizers, and technogenic turbation processes. The mesofauna of the STFs is represented by several ecological groups of earthworms, including soildwelling (endogeic) earthworms ( Aporrectodea caliginosa ), epigeic earthworms dwelling at the soil-litter interface ( Lumbricus rubellus ), and litter-dwelling earthworms ( Eisenia foetida ).

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Original Russian Text © O.V. Kutovaya, I.V. Zamotaev, V.P. Belobrov, 2014, published in Pochvovedenie, 2014, No. 11, pp. 1315–1324.

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Kutovaya, O.V., Zamotaev, I.V. & Belobrov, V.P. Communities of microorganisms and invertebrates in soil-like bodies of soccer fields in Moscow oblast. Eurasian Soil Sc. 47 , 1107–1115 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229314110052

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Received : 25 February 2014

Published : 06 November 2014

Issue Date : November 2014

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229314110052

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By Steven Levy

Meet the Woman Who Showed President Biden ChatGPT—and Helped Set the Course for AI

one day in March 2023, Arati Prabhakar brought a laptop into the Oval Office and showed the future to Joe Biden. Six months later, the president issued a sweeping executive order that set a regulatory course for AI.

This all happened because ChatGPT had stunned the world. In an instant it became very, very obvious that the United States needed to speed up its efforts to regulate the AI industry —and adopt policies to take advantage of it. While the potential benefits were unlimited (Social Security customer service that works!), so were the potential downsides, like floods of disinformation or even, in the view of some, human extinction. Someone had to demonstrate that to the president.

The job fell to Prabhakar, because she is the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and holds cabinet status as the president’s chief science and technology adviser; she’d already been methodically educating top officials about the transformative power of AI. But she also has the experience and bureaucratic savvy to make an impact with the most powerful person in the world.

Born in India and raised in Texas, Prabhakar has a PhD in applied physics from Caltech and previously ran two US agencies: the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency. She also spent 15 years in Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist, including as president of Interval Research, Paul Allen’s legendary tech incubator, and has served as vice president or chief technology officer at several companies.

Prabhakar assumed her current job in October 2022—just in time to have AI dominate the agenda—and helped to push out that 20,000-word executive order , which mandates safety standards, boosts innovation, promotes AI in government and education, and even tries to mitigate job losses. She replaced biologist Eric Lander, who had resigned after an investigation concluded that he ran a toxic workplace. Prabhakar is the first person of color and first woman to be appointed director of the office.

We spoke at the kitchen table of Prabhakar’s Silicon Valley condo—a simply decorated space that, if my recollection is correct, is very unlike the OSTP offices in the ghostly, intimidating Eisenhower Executive Office Building in DC. Happily, the California vibes prevailed, and our conversation felt very unintimidating—even at ease. We talked about how Bruce Springsteen figured into Biden’s first ChatGPT demo, her hopes for a semiconductor renaissance in the US, and why Biden’s war on cancer is different from every other president’s war on cancer. I also asked her about the status of the unfilled role of chief technology officer for the nation—a single person, ideally kind of geeky, whose entire job revolves around the technology issues driving the 21st century.

Steven Levy: Why did you sign up for this job?

Arati Prabhakar: Because President Biden asked. He sees science and technology as enabling us to do big things, which is exactly how I think about their purpose.

What kinds of big things?

The mission of OSTP is to advance the entire science and technology ecosystem. We have a system that follows a set of priorities. We spend an enormous amount on R&D in health. But both public and corporate funding are largely focused on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and very little on prevention or clinical care practices—the things that could change health as opposed to dealing with disease. We also have to meet the climate crisis. For technologies like clean energy, we don’t do a great job of getting things out of research and turning them into impact for Americans. It’s the unfinished business of this country.

Emily Mullin

Angela Watercutter

Kate O'Flaherty

It’s almost predestined that you’d be in this job. As soon as you got your physics degree at Caltech, you went to DC and got enmeshed in policy.

Yeah, I left the track I was supposed to be on. My family came here from India when I was 3, and I was raised in a household where my mom started sentences with, “When you get your PhD and become an academic …” It wasn’t a joke. Caltech, especially when I finished my degree in 1984, was extremely ivory tower, a place of worship for science. I learned a tremendous amount, but I also learned that my joy did not come from being in a lab at 2 in the morning and having that eureka moment. Just on a lark, I came to Washington for, quote-unquote, one year on a congressional fellowship. The big change was in 1986, when I went to Darpa as a young program manager. The mission of the organization was to use science and technology to change the arc of the future. I had found my home.

Arati Prabhakar took over as director of the OSTP in 2022.

How did you wind up at Darpa?

I had written a study on microelectronics R&D. We were just starting to figure out that the semiconductor industry wasn’t always going to be dominated by the US. We worked on a bunch of stuff that didn’t pan out but also laid the groundwork for things that did. I was there for seven years, left for 19, and came back as director. Two decades later the portfolio was quite different, as it should be. I got to christen the first self-driving ship that could leave a port and navigate across open oceans without a single sailor on board. The other classic Darpa thing is to figure out what might be the foundation for new capabilities. I ended up starting a Biological Technologies Office. One of the many things that came out of that was the rapid development and distribution of mRNA vaccines, which never would have happened without the Darpa investment.

One difference today is that tech giants are doing a lot of their own R&D, though not necessarily for the big leaps Darpa was built for.

Every developed economy has this pattern. First there’s public investment in R&D. That’s part of how you germinate new industries and boost your economy. As those industries grow, so does their investment in R&D, and that ends up being dominant. There was a time when it was sort of 50-50 public-private. Now it’s much more private investment. For Darpa, of course, the mission is breakthrough technologies and capabilities for national security.

Are you worried about that shift?

It’s not a competition! Absolutely there’s been a huge shift. That private tech companies are building the leading edge LLMs today has huge implications. It’s a tremendous American advantage, but it has implications for how the technology is developed and used. We have to make sure we get what we need for public purposes.

Is the US government investing enough to make that happen?

I don’t think we are. We need to increase the funding. One component of the AI executive order is a National AI Research Resource. Researchers don’t have the access to data and computation that companies have. An initiative that Congress is considering, that the administration is very supportive of, would place something like $3 billion of resources with the National Science Foundation.

That’s a tiny percentage of the funds going into a company like OpenAI.

It costs a lot to build these leading-edge models. The question is, how do we have governance of advanced AI and how do we make sure we can use it for public purposes? The government has got to do more. We need help from Congress. But we also have to chart a different kind of relationship with industry than we’ve had in the past.

What might that look like?

Look at semiconductor manufacturing and the CHIPS Act.

We’ll get to that later. First let’s talk about the president. How deep is his understanding of things like AI?

Some of the most fun I’ve gotten on the job was working with the president and helping him understand where the technology is, like when we got to do the chatbot demonstrations for the president in the Oval Office.

What was that like?

Using a laptop with ChatGPT, we picked a topic that was of particular interest. The president had just been at a ceremony where he gave Bruce Springsteen the National Medal of Arts. He had joked about how Springsteen was from New Jersey, just across the river from his state, Delaware, and then he made reference to a lawsuit between those two states. I had never heard of it. We thought it would be fun to make use of this legal case. For the first prompt, we asked ChatGPT to explain the case to a first grader. Immediately these words start coming out like, “OK, kiddo, let me tell you, if you had a fight with someone …” Then we asked the bot to write a legal brief for a Supreme Court case. And out comes this very formal legal analysis. Then we wrote a song in the style of Bruce Springsteen about the case. We also did image demonstrations. We generated one of his dog Commander sitting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.

Prabhakar says the government is in “the deep, wonky part” of figuring out how it will use AI tools.

So what was the president’s reaction?

He was like, “Wow, I can’t believe it could do that.” It wasn’t the first time he was aware of AI, but it gave him direct experience. It allowed us to dive into what was really going on. It seems like a crazy magical thing, but you need to get under the hood and understand that these models are computer systems that people train on data and then use to make startlingly good statistical predictions.

There are a ton of issues covered in the executive order. Which are the ones that you sense engaged the president most after he saw the demo?

The main thing that changed in that period was his sense of urgency. The task that he put out for all of us was to manage the risks so that we can see the benefits. We deliberately took the approach of dealing with a broad set of categories. That’s why you saw an extremely broad, bulky, large executive order. The risks to the integrity of information from deception and fraud, risks to safety and security, risks to civil rights and civil liberties, discrimination and privacy issues, and then risks to workers and the economy and IP—they’re all going to manifest in different ways for different people over different timelines. Sometimes we have laws that already address those risks—turns out it’s illegal to commit fraud! But other things, like the IP questions, don’t have clean answers.

There are a lot of provisions in the order that must meet set deadlines. How are you doing on those?

They are being met. We just rolled out all the 90-day milestones that were met. One part of the order I’m really getting a kick out of is the AI Council, which includes cabinet secretaries and heads of various regulatory agencies. When they come together, it’s not like most senior meetings where all the work has been done. These are meetings with rich discussion, where people engage with enthusiasm, because they know that we’ve got to get AI right.

There’s a fear that the technology will be concentrated among a few big companies. Microsoft essentially subsumed one leading startup, Inflection. Are you concerned about this centralization?

Competition is absolutely part of this discussion. The executive order talks specifically about that. One of the many dimensions of this issue is the extent to which power will reside only with those who are able to build these massive models.

The order calls for AI technology to embody equity and not include biases. A lot of people in DC are devoted to fighting diversity mandates. Others are uncomfortable with the government determining what constitutes bias. How does the government legally and morally put its finger on the scale?

Here’s what we’re doing. The president signed the executive order at the end of October. A couple of days later, the Office of Management and Budget came out with a memo—a draft of guidance about how all of government will use AI. Now we’re in the deep, wonky part, but this is where the rubber meets the road. It’s that guidance that will build in processes to make sure that when the government uses AI tools it’s not embedding bias.

That’s the strategy? You won’t mandate rules for the private sector but will impose them on the government, and because the government is such a big customer, companies will adopt them for everyone?

That can be helpful for setting a way that things work broadly. But there are also laws and regulations in place that ban discrimination in employment and lending decisions. So you can feel free to use AI, but it doesn’t get you off the hook.

Have you read Marc Andreessen’s techno-optimist manifesto ?

No. I’ve heard of it.

There’s a line in there that basically says that if you’re slowing down the progress of AI, you are the equivalent of a murderer, because going forward without restraints will save lives.

That’s such an oversimplified view of the world. All of human history tells us that powerful technologies get used for good and for ill. The reason I love what I’ve gotten to do across four or five decades now is because I see over and over again that after a lot of work we end up making forward progress. That doesn’t happen automatically because of some cool new technology. It happens because of a lot of very human choices about how we use it, how we don’t use it, how we make sure people have access to it, and how we manage the downsides.

How are you encouraging the use of AI in government?

Right now AI is being used in government in more modest ways. Veterans Affairs is using it to get feedback from veterans to improve their services. The Social Security Administration is using it to accelerate the processing of disability claims.

Those are older programs. What’s next? Government bureaucrats spend a lot of time drafting documents. Will AI be part of that process?

That’s one place where you can see generative AI being used. Like in a corporation, we have to sort out how to use it responsibly, to make sure that sensitive data aren’t being leaked, and also that it’s not embedding bias. One of the things I’m really excited about in the executive order is an AI talent surge, saying to people who are experts in AI, “If you want to move the world, this is a great time to bring your skills to the government.” We published that on AI.gov .

How far along are you in that process?

We’re in the matchmaking process. We have great people coming in.

OK, let’s turn to the CHIPS Act , which is the Biden administration’s centerpiece for reviving the semiconductor industry in the US. The legislation provides more than $50 billion to grow the US-based chip industry, but it was designed to spur even more private investment, right?

That story starts decades ago with US dominance in semiconductor manufacturing. Over a few decades the industry got globalized, then it got very dangerously concentrated in one geopolitically fragile part of the world. A year and a half ago the president got Congress to act on a bipartisan basis, and we are crafting a completely different way to work with the semiconductor industry in the US.

Different in what sense ?

It won’t work if the government goes off and builds its own fabs. So our partnership is one where companies decide what products are the right ones to build and where we will build them, and government incentives come on the basis of that. It’s the first time the US has done that with this industry, but it’s how it was done elsewhere around the world.

Arati Prabhakar walks through the Eisenhower Executive Building on The White House campus.

Some people say it’s a fantasy to think we can return to the day when the US had a significant share of chip and electronics manufacturing. Obviously, you feel differently.

We’re not trying to turn the clock back to the 1980s and saying, “Bring everything to the US.” Our strategy is to make sure that we have the robustness we need for the US and to make sure we’re meeting our national security needs.

The biggest grant recipient was Intel, which got $8 billion. Its CEO, Pat Gelsinger, said that the CHIPS Act wasn’t enough to make the US competitive, and we’d need a CHIPS 2. Is he right?

I don’t think anyone knows the answer yet. There’s so many factors. The job right now is to build the fabs.

As the former head of Darpa, you were part of the military establishment. How do you view the sentiment among employees of some companies, like Google, that they should not take on military contracts?

It’s great for people in companies to be asking hard questions about how their work is used. I respect that. My personal view is that our national security is essential for all of us. Here in Silicon Valley, we completely take for granted that you get up every morning and try to build and fund businesses. That doesn’t happen by accident. It’s shaped by the work that we do in national security.

Your office is spearheading what the president calls a Cancer Moonshot. It seems every president in my lifetime had some project to cure cancer. I remember President Nixon talking about a war on cancer. Why should we believe this one?

We’ve made real progress. The president and the first lady set two goals. One is to cut the age-adjusted cancer death rate in half over 25 years. The other is to change the experience of people going through cancer. We’ve come to understand that cancer is a very complex disease with many different aspects. American health outcomes are not acceptable for the most wealthy country in the world. When I spoke to Danielle Carnival, who leads the Cancer Moonshot for us—she worked for the vice president in the Obama administration—I said to her, “I’m trying to figure out if you’re going to write a bunch of nice research papers or you’re gonna move the needle on cancer.” She talked about new therapies but also critically important work to expand access to early screening, because if you catch some of them early, it changes the whole story. When I heard that I said, “Good, we’re actually going to move the needle.”

Don’t you think there’s a hostility to science in much of the population?

People are more skeptical about everything . I do think that there has been a shift that is specific to some hot-button issues, like climate and vaccines or other infectious disease measures. Scientists want to explain more, but they should be humble. I don’t think it’s very effective to treat science as a religion. In year two of the pandemic, people kept saying that the guidance keeps changing, and all I could think was, “Of course the guidance is changing, our understanding is changing.” The moment called for a little humility from the research community rather than saying, “We’re the know-it-alls.”

Is it awkward to be in charge of science policy at a time when many people don’t believe in empiricism?

I don’t think it’s as extreme as that. People have always made choices not just based on hard facts but also on the factors in their lives and the network of thought that they are enmeshed in. We have to accept that people are complex.

Part of your job is to hire and oversee the nation’s chief technology officer. But we don’t have one. Why not?

That had already been a long endeavor when I came on board. That’s been a huge challenge. It’s very difficult to recruit, because those working in tech almost always have financial entanglements.

I find it hard to believe that in a country full of great talent there isn’t someone qualified for that job who doesn’t own stock or can’t get rid of their holdings. Is this just a low priority for you?

We spent a lot of time working on that and haven’t succeeded.

Are we going to go through the whole term without a CTO?

I have no predictions. I’ve got nothing more than that.

There are only a few months left in the current term of this administration. President Biden has given your role cabinet status. Have science and technology found their appropriate influence in government?

Yes, I see it very clearly. Look at some of the biggest changes—for example, the first really meaningful advances on climate, deploying solutions at a scale that the climate actually notices. I see these changes in every area and I’m delighted.

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The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages:  379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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