In early discussions about what's important for Jacob's development 1, I've been told many times that it's very important to act early (it's often called "early intervention"), because the plasticity of the brain diminishes quite a lot after the 4-ish first years.

Now, I'm reading this article (in Swedish, sorry) that talks about how the brain works and how it changes quite a lot during the teens an beyond, not really setting before the age of 25, all according to american neuroscientist Jay Giedd. According to the article, Jay Giedd didn't believe his eyes when he saw how much change is going on in the teens.

Googling a bit, I found some more articles telling the same story (in English):

• Jay Giedd explains
• In depth (make sure to read the cautionary words in this one...)

Reading this is interesting, and reassuring in a way.

A friend recently posted a link in his blog to an article about the new Fusion Reactor in France. A real one this time. I'm quite happy to see it's finally happening, and in my life time.