Provides acoustical background necessary to understand the role of sound in speech communication. Analyzes constraints imposed by the properties of sound and human anatomy on speech production (sound production from airflow and filtering by the vocal tract); auditory physiology (transformation of acoustical waves in the air to mechanical vibrations of cochlear structures); and sound perception (spatial hearing, masking, and auditory frequency selectivity). The Acoustics of Speech and Hearing is an H-Level graduate course that reviews the physical processes involved in the production, propagation and reception of human speech. Particular attention is paid to how the acoustics and mechanics of the speech and auditory system define what sounds we are capable of producing and what sounds we can sense. Areas of discussion include: 1. the acoustic cues used in determining the direction of a sound source, 2. the acoustic and mechanical mechanisms involved in speech production and 3. the acoustic and mechanical mechanism used to transduce and analyze sounds in the ear

Reviews selected issues including learning, cognition, perception, foraging and feeding, migration and navigation, defense, and social activities including conflict, collaboration, courtship and reproduction, and communication. The interacting contributions of environment and heredity are examined and the approaches of psychology, ethology, and ecology to this area of study are treated. The relation of human behavior patterns to those of nonhuman animals is explored. Additional readings and a paper are required for graduate credit.

Theoretical topics of fluid dynamics relevant to natural phenomena or man-made hazards in water and atmosphere. Basic law of fluid motion. Scaling and approximations. Slow flows, with applications to drag on a particle and mud flow on a slope. Boundary layers: jets and plumes in pure fluids or in porous media. Thermal and buoyancy effects, selective withdrawal and internal waves. Transient boundary layers in impulsive flows or waves. Induced streaming and mass transport. Dispersion in steady flows or in waves. Effects of earth rotation on coastal flows. Wind induced flow in shallow seas. Stratified seas and coastal upwelling.

Theoretical topics of fluid dynamics relevant to natural phenomena or man-made hazards in water and atmosphere. Basic law of fluid motion. Scaling and approximations. Slow flows, with applications to drag on a particle and mud flow on a slope. Boundary layers: jets and plumes in pure fluids or in porous media. Thermal and buoyancy effects, selective withdrawal and internal waves. Transient boundary layers in impulsive flows or waves. Induced streaming and mass transport. Dispersion in steady flows or in waves. Effects of earth rotation on coastal flows. Wind induced flow in shallow seas. Stratified seas and coastal upwelling.

Site characterization and geotechnical aspects of the design and construction of foundation systems. Topics include site investigation (with emphasis on in situ testing), shallow (footings and raftings) and deep (piles and caissons) foundations, excavation support systems, groundwater control, slope stability, soil improvement (compaction, soil reinforcement, etc.), and construction monitoring.

This course will explore the mutual influences of ideas of nature, theories of city design and planning, and practices of urban design, construction, and management. We will investigate how natural processes shape urban landscapes (from the scale of street corner to region) and how to intervene strategically in those processes in order to achieve certain goals. We will examine cases of cities that adapted successfully to natural processes and those that did not. Students will then have the opportunity to research a case of their choice and to present their findings for discussion. The subject may be historical or an an example of contemporary theory and practice. Additional information is also available at Professor Spirn’s class website.

12.491 is a seminar focusing on problems of current interest in geology and geochemistry. For Fall 2005, the topic is organic geochemistry. Lectures and readings cover recent research in the development and properties of organic matter.

This class presents the application of principles of soil mechanics. It considers the following topics: the origin and nature of soils; soil classification; the effective stress principle; hydraulic conductivity and seepage; stress-strain-strength behavior of cohesionless and cohesive soils and application to lateral earth stresses; bearing capacity and slope stability; consolidation theory and settlement analyses; and laboratory and field methods for evaluation of soil properties in design practice.

This course studies the relations of affect to cognition and behavior, feeling to thinking and acting, and values to beliefs and practices. These connections will be considered at the psychological level of organization and in terms of their neurobiological and sociocultural counterparts.

Explores a variety of models and optimization techniques for the solution of airline schedule planning problems. Schedule design, fleet assignment, aircraft maintenance routing, crew scheduling, robust planning, passenger mix, integrated schedule planning, and other topics. Solution techniques involving decomposition, e.g., Lagrangian relaxation, column generation and partitioning, and state-of-the-art applications of these techniques to airline problems. Explores a variety of models and optimization techniques for the solution of airline schedule planning and operations problems. Schedule design, fleet assignment, aircraft maintenance routing, crew scheduling, passenger mix, and other topics are covered. Recent models and algorithms addressing issues of model integration, robustness, and operations recovery are introduced. Modeling and solution techniques designed specifically for large-scale problems, and state-of-the-art applications of these techniques to airline problems are detailed.

This course is offered to undergraduates and addresses several algorithmic challenges in computational biology. The principles of algorithmic design for biological datasets are studied and existing algorithms analyzed for application to real datasets. Topics covered include: biological sequence analysis, gene identification, regulatory motif discovery, genome assembly, genome duplication and rearrangements, evolutionary theory, clustering algorithms, and scale-free networks.

Explores the changing roles, ethical conflicts, and public perceptions of science and scientists in American society from World War II to the present. Studies specific historical episodes focusing on debates between scientists and the contextual factors influencing their opinions and decisions. Topics include the atomic bomb project, environmental controversies, the Challenger disaster, biomedical research, genetic engineering, (mis)use of human subjects, scientific misconduct and whistleblowing.

This class analyzes complex biological processes from the molecular, cellular, extracellular, and organ levels of hierarchy. Emphasis is placed on the basic biochemical and biophysical principles that govern these processes. Examples of processes to be studied include chemotaxis, the fixation of nitrogen into organic biological molecules, growth factor and hormone mediated signaling cascades, and signaling cascades leading to cell death in response to DNA damage. In each case, the availability of a resource, or the presence of a stimulus, results in some biochemical pathways being turned on while others are turned off. The course examines the dynamic aspects of these processes and details how biochemical mechanistic themes impinge on molecular/cellular/tissue/organ-level functions. Chemical and quantitative views of the interplay of multiple pathways as biological networks are emphasized. Student work will culminate in the preparation of a unique grant application in an area of biological networks.

Anatomy and Physiology is a dynamic textbook for the two-semester human anatomy and physiology course for life science and allied health majors. The book is organized by body system and covers standard scope and sequence requirements. Its lucid text, strategically constructed art, career features, and links to external learning tools address the critical teaching and learning challenges in the course. The web-based version of Anatomy and Physiology also features links to surgical videos, histology, and interactive diagrams.

Most of the major categories of adaptive behavior can be seen in all animals. This course begins with the evolution of behavior, the driver of nervous system evolution, reviewed using concepts developed in ethology, sociobiology, other comparative studies, and in studies of brain evolution. The roles of various types of plasticity are considered, as well as foraging and feeding, defensive and aggressive behavior, courtship and reproduction, migration and navigation, social activities and communication, with contributions of inherited patterns and cognitive abilities. Both field and laboratory based studies are reviewed; and finally, human behavior is considered within the context of primate studies.

This course applies the tools of anthropology to examine biology in the age of genomics, biotechnological enterprise, biodiversity conservation, pharmaceutical bioprospecting, and synthetic biology. It examines such social concerns such as bioterrorism, genetic modification, and cloning. It offers an anthropological inquiry into how the substances and explanations of biology—ecological, organismic, cellular, molecular, genetic, informatic—are changing. It examines such artifacts as cell lines, biodiversity databases, and artificial life models, and using primary sources in biology, social studies of the life sciences, and literary and cinematic materials, and asks how we might answer Erwin Schrodinger’s 1944 question, “What Is Life?” today.

The lethal poison Ricin (best known as a weapon of bioterrorism), Diphtheria toxin (the causative agent of a highly contagious bacterial disease), and the widely used antibiotic tetracycline have one thing in common: They specifically target the cell's translational apparatus and disrupt protein synthesis. In this course, we will explore the mechanisms of action of toxins and antibiotics, their roles in everyday medicine, and the emergence and spread of drug resistance. We will also discuss the identification of new drug targets and how we can manipulate the protein synthesis machinery to provide powerful tools for protein engineering and potential new treatments for patients with devastating diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. Many instructors of the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars are postdoctoral scientists with a strong interest in teaching.

This course details the quantitative treatment of chemical processes in aquatic systems such as lakes, oceans, rivers, estuaries, groundwaters, and wastewaters. It includes a brief review of chemical thermodynamics that is followed by discussion of acid-base, precipitation-dissolution, coordination, and reduction-oxidation reactions. Emphasis is on equilibrium calculations as a tool for understanding the variables that govern the chemical composition of aquatic systems and the fate of inorganic pollutants.

This 12 session course is designed for the beginning or novice archer and uses recurve indoor target bows and equipment. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the basic techniques of indoor target archery emphasizing the care and use of equipment, range safety, stance and shooting techniques, scoring and competition.

This course explores the physical, ecological, technological, political, economic, and cultural implications of big plans and mega-urban landscapes in a global context. It uses local and international case studies to understand the process of making major changes to urban landscape and city fabric, and to regional landscape systems. It includes lectures by leading practitioners. The assignments consider planning and design strategies across multiple scales and time frames.