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Can video games make kids more violent? A new study employing state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology says that the answer may be yes.

brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal – and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition and attention.

he does think that the study should encourage parents to look more closely at the types of games their kids are playing.

How video games are good for the brain Concerns about violent programs persist, but researchers are discovering that playing can boost cognitive function and foster positive behavior

In his speech to America’s schoolchildren last month, President Obama had a clear directive about video games: Put them away.

But the latest science shows that there’s a lot more to video games than their dark reputations suggest.

Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to suffer employment problems, abuse other drugs, and commit criminal and violent acts once they reach young adulthood, according to a RAND Health study.

"Early alcohol use is a signal that someone is likely to have more problems as they transition into adulthood."

Underage drinking is a major national problem, with estimates suggesting that by the 8th grade one-fourth of all adolescents have consumed alcohol to the point of intoxication.

Research is mounting that playing games can make you smarter.

At the 2009 MI6 conference, he pointed out that games engage the same brain machinery that’s used when one is learning.

Is it a coincidence that “nerds” often possess an interest in computer games, as well as have an aptitude for subjects like maths and science?

adolescent anorexics and their parents conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine found that 39% of the kids were visiting pro-ana forums.

The adolescents in Peebles' and Wilson's study who entered pro-ana websites tended to do so without their parents' knowledge and, compared with their peers who didn't visit the sites, to spend less time on homework, more time on the Internet and more time in the hospital. But the study did not find major differences in body weight, duration of eating disorders, number of missed periods or bone density between anorexics who visited the sites and those who didn't.

when action is taken upon the frustration and stress, and the action is taken out in anger and aggression, the results may be very harmful to both the aggressor and the person being aggressed against, mentally, emotionally, and even physically.

, violent video games were considered to be more harmful in increasing aggression than violent movies or television shows due to their interactive and engrossing nature.

Although there have been studies that have found video game violence to have little negative effects on their players,

As the level of violence in video games has increased, so has concern for the effects on those who play - especially those who play a lot. Many are quick to point out that most school shootings in recent years have been carried out by avid gamers, and their games of choice were always dark and violent.

But it begs the question: Which comes first? Can aggressive and violent behavior be attributed to violence in video games? Or do those who play already have violent tendencies which draw them to violent games? It's a type of "chicken or the egg" debate that has strong advocates on both sides.

The more lifelike they've become, the more interest there has been in the correlation between violent games and violent behavior.

Demand for that crucial ingredient has led to the killing of a median of about 38 million sharks a year, according to a new study that offers what may be the first reliable estimates of the number of sharks killed for their fins.

Some conservationists, however, put the number at closer to a hundred million

To make matters murkier, most fisheries-management groups give little attention to sharks, because they are often considered bycatch—fish caught by accident—given their low value per pound.

Shark finning is not illegal. Taiwan has no law against fins taken from international waters coming into its ports. However, Taiwan does have what it calls a "plan of action" that requires the bodies of the sharks the fins came from to be accounted for and not dumped into the sea.

but identifying them and monitoring them and having a regulated fishery is virtually impossible."

Taiwan is not alone. Shark finning thrives off weak regulations around the world and only a few countries demand that sharks arrive in port with fins attached.

Advertisers often emphasize

he importance of physical attractiveness in an attempt to sell products

In recent survey by Teen People magazine, 27% of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body

They found that women were less happy with their bodies and more likely to restrict their eating after seeing pictures of competitive women

because people in the west tend to gain weight as they get older, they have come to equate thinness with youth and attractiveness, and competitive advantages in general.

Media that show excessively thin women therefore send our competitive instincts into overdrive

Report on North Korean Nuclear Program by Siegfried S. Hecker, November 15, 2006 Richard L. Garwin and Frank N. von Hippel, "A Technical Analysis of North Korea’s Oct. 9 Nuclear Test," Arms Control Today, November 2006. North Korea’s Bomb: A technical assessment, FAS Strategic Security blog, October 16, 2006 Statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on the North Korea Nuclear Test, ODNI news release, October 16, 2006 Korea and US Nuclear Weapons, FAS Nuclear Information Project, September 28, 2005 North Korea's Nuclear Program, 2005, Nuclear Notebook, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May/June 2005. Visit to the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in North Korea, Testimony of Siegfried S. Hecker, Los Alamos National Laboratory, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, January 21, 2004

The Nuclear Threat Initative's North Korea nuclear profile Report of U.S. Congressional Delegation Visit to North and South Korea, May 30 - June 2, 2003 led by Rep. Curt Weldon North Korea's Nuclear Program, 2003, Nuclear Notebook, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2003 North Korean Nuclear Weapons, CIA Estimate for Congress, November 19, 2002 North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program, Congressional Research Service North Korean Nuclear Program, U.S. State Department release, October 16, 2002 Text of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Text of the Agreed Framework

North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program Larry A. Niksch, Foreign Affairs and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, October 9, 2002 STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE U.S.-DPRK FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT Thomas L. Wilborn, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College -- April 3, 1995 [40 pages, 125 kb PDF] Assessing the U.S.-North Korea Agreement Masao Okonogi Joint Forces Quarterly Spring 1995 [215 kb PDF] The North Korean leadership is attempting to sell its outmoded baggage of the Cold War. Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) The Nuclear Potential of Individual Countries Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons Problems of Extension Appendix 2 Russian Federation Foreign Intelligence Service 6 April 1995 Nuclear Nonproliferation: Implications of the U.S./North Korean Agreement on Nuclear Issues (Letter Report, 10/01/96, GAO/RCED/NSIAD-97-8). N Korean Nuclear Arsenal By Lee Wha Rang, April 27, 1996 Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., "Exposing North Korea's Nuclear Infrastructure--Part One," Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 February 1999, p. 38 Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., "Exposing North Korea's Secret Nuclear Infrastructure, Part II," Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 August 1999 Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., "North Korea's Nuclear Infrastructure" Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 February 1994, 74-79