We all know about the social and educational pressures on children at younger and younger ages. This can make them feel like they are being robbed of their play and enjoyment of just being children! On the other hand, we also know that the younger children are exposed to the sounds of other languages, the more chance there is of them distinguishing between all those different sounds and languages as they get older.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have developed a new prenatal blood test that accurately detected Down syndrome and two other serious chromosomal defects in a small study of 18 pregnant women. If confirmed in larger trials, they say, the test would offer a safer and faster alternative to invasive prenatal tests such as amniocentesis that pose a small risk of miscarriage.