Civilization, Unleaded.

To what extent are we responsible for our actions? Civilizations over thousands of years have struggled with this question while formulating their laws and moral standards. In general, it has been assumed that if you have poor impulse control, that is your problem to solve, and therefore it is the action of a responsible society to put you in prison or execute you if you are aggressive and unable to integrate socially.

The more we learn about the human brain, though, the more evidence we are gathering that indicates that how we behave relies greatly upon the development and health of that piece of gray matter between our ears. Poor impulse control appears now to be less a conscious decision, and more a result of irregularities in the formation of the brain. In particular, lead exposure has been shown to cripple the prefrontal cortex of growing children, resulting in a permanent loss of volume in that area of the brain. The prefrontal cortex is directly involved with executive function and, you guessed it, impulse control. Kids - in particular, boys - who are exposed to lead grow up to be, on average, much more aggressive.

Researchers have been puzzling for years over the precipitous drop in the U.S. murder rate over the past few decades. Can it be that phasing out leaded gas and paint has helped our young men avoid becoming aggressive? There are many other factors to consider as well, but I think the most important point is this: in our effort to create a civil society, an ounce of prevention is worth several tons of cure.

Read more here: The Crime of Lead Exposure via Wired.com

Underwater Aliens

Researchers are developing a system that will allow humans and dolphins to speak to one another. Can I get a "woah! dude!" please? This is straight out of Star Trek. We were supposed to have to wait another 300 years at least for this kind of technology.

This is incredibly interesting stuff. Much is made about the existence or nonexistence of extraterrestrial intelligence, but we've been sharing this planet with several other intelligent species the whole time - and we haven't been able to communicate with them much at all. Gorillas and chimpanzees have learned American Sign Language and given us some clues about what it's like to be a different kind of ape, and Alex the parrot helped prove that higher cognition isn't just the purview of mammals, but what kind of culture develops underwater? What differences in the development of mind does an aquatic environment make? What's it like not to have fire or opposable thumbs? Learning from the other inhabitants of this planet can give us a much better idea of how self-awareness arises in response to wildly differing environments.

Read more here: Underwater Translator May Finally Let Us Talk to Dolphins via Techland.Time.com