Selection in molecular evolution.

Evolution requires selection. Molecular/chemical/preDarwinian evolution is no exception. One molecule must be selected over another for molecular evolution to occur and advance. Evolution, however, has no goal. The laws of physics have no utilitarian desire, intent or proficiency. Laws and constraints are blind to "usefulness." How then were potential multi-step processes anticipated, valued and pursued by inanimate nature? Can orchestration of formal systems be physico-chemically spontaneous? The purely physico-dynamic self-ordering of Chaos Theory and irreversible non-equilibrium thermodynamic "engines of disequilibria conversion" achieve neither orchestration nor formal organization. Natural selection is a passive and after-the-fact-of-life selection. Darwinian selection reduces to the differential survival and reproduction of the fittest already-living organisms. In the case of abiogenesis, selection had to be 1) Active, 2) Pre-Function, and 3) Efficacious. Selection had to take place at the molecular level prior to the existence of non-trivial functional processes. It could not have been passive or secondary. What naturalistic mechanisms might have been at play?

Comparison of the Efficacies of Dexmedetomidine and Clonidine in Preventing Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Paediatric Patients Undergoing Abdominal Surgeries.

Background Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common complication in paediatric patients undergoing abdominal surgeries. Dexmedetomidine and clonidine, both α2-adrenergic agonists, have been proposed as potential treatments for PONV due to their antiemetic properties. This study aimed to compare the efficacies of dexmedetomidine and clonidine in the prevention of PONV in paediatric patients following abdominal surgeries Methods Eighty patients, aged five to 12 years undergoing abdominal surgeries under general anaesthesia were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either a single intravenous dose of 0.5 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine (Group D; n=40) or 1 µg/kg of clonidine (Group C; n = 40) 10 minutes before extubation. PONV was recorded for the next 24 hours. Results The baseline characteristics of patients were comparable. A higher proportion of patients in the clonidine group developed PONV as compared to the dexmedetomidine group (27.5% vs 20.0%, p=0.189). The visual analogue scale (VAS) score of group C was higher than that of group D (1.38±1.55 vs 1.00±1.26) but was not statistically significant. The Paediatric Anaesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scale score or emergence agitation (EA) score was higher in group C during recovery time. The mean arterial pressures and the heart rates were comparable in both groups. No significant side effects were reported. Conclusion Our study concludes that dexmedetomidine and clonidine effectively control PONV in paediatric abdominal surgery, with no significant difference in incidence or severity. Dexmedetomidine significantly reduced PAED scale scores during recovery, indicating better control of EA. The two treatments showed comparable mean arterial pressures and heart rates without significant side effects.

The Bio-Restorative Concept for Implant-Supported Restorations.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to present the bio-restorative approach in implant dentistry, which combines biological and restorative concepts through digital planning. This concept combines periodontal, surgical, and prosthetic variables, aiming to reduce patient morbidity while achieving satisfactory esthetic and functional outcomes in implant-supported restorations in the long term. OVERVIEW: Implant dentistry evolved from a primarily surgical to a recent prosthetically driven approach. This evolution was partly due to advancements in bone reconstructive techniques and an increased demand for esthetic outcomes. Recently, digital planning has introduced a new paradigm that allows for the full integration of both approaches. The bio-restorative concept considers functional, esthetic, and biological variables in a virtual planning environment. This is achieved through the simultaneous digital assessment of (A) anatomical site characteristics and (B) implant restorative variables. These variables include digital tooth arrangement, soft-hard tissue conditions, implant variables, supra-platform components, and a surgical plan that respects or modifies peri-implant phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: The bio-restorative concept is intended to improve contemporary implant dentistry by integrating updated biological and prosthetic notions through digital planning. Adopting this paradigm has the potential to redefine the standards in implant dentistry, fostering a holistic and patient-centered approach. CLINICAL CONSIDERATIONS: It enhances patient and clinician satisfaction through more efficient and less invasive procedures. Significantly, it improves predictability, leading to successful implant-supported restorations in the long term.

An Exact Theory of Causal Emergence for Linear Stochastic Iteration Systems.

After coarse-graining a complex system, the dynamics of its macro-state may exhibit more pronounced causal effects than those of its micro-state. This phenomenon, known as causal emergence, is quantified by the indicator of effective information. However, two challenges confront this theory: the absence of well-developed frameworks in continuous stochastic dynamical systems and the reliance on coarse-graining methodologies. In this study, we introduce an exact theoretic framework for causal emergence within linear stochastic iteration systems featuring continuous state spaces and Gaussian noise. Building upon this foundation, we derive an analytical expression for effective information across general dynamics and identify optimal linear coarse-graining strategies that maximize the degree of causal emergence when the dimension averaged uncertainty eliminated by coarse-graining has an upper bound. Our investigation reveals that the maximal causal emergence and the optimal coarse-graining methods are primarily determined by the principal eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the dynamic system's parameter matrix, with the latter not being unique. To validate our propositions, we apply our analytical models to three simplified physical systems, comparing the outcomes with numerical simulations, and consistently achieve congruent results.

Multiple climate change stressors reduce the emergence success of gravel-spawning fish species and alter temporal emergence patterns.

Climate change, with its profound effects on stream sediment, hydrological, and temperature dynamics, will exacerbate impacts on habitat conditions for many species, particularly those with vulnerable early life stages relying on the hyporheic zone, such as gravel-spawning fishes. Due to the complex and interactive nature of multiple stressor effects, we employed large-scale outdoor mesocosms to systemically test how the reproductive success of three gravel-spawning fish species brown trout (Salmo trutta), nase, (Chrondrostoma nasus) and Danube salmon (Hucho hucho) was affected by individual and combined effects of warming (+3-4 °C), fine sediment (increase in <0.85 mm by 22 %) and low-flow (eightfold discharge-reduction). Fine sediment had the most detrimental effect on emergence rate and fry length in all three species, reducing the emergence rate to zero in brown trout, 9 % in nase, and 4 % in Danube salmon. The emergence mortality caused by fine sediment surpassed that of hatching distinctly, suggesting that negative effects due to hypoxia were considerably exacerbated by entombment. Warming had only minor effects as a single stressor, but low flow reduced emergence rates of the spring spawning species nase and Danube salmon by 8 and 50 %, respectively. In combined treatments including fine sediment, however, the emergence success of all three species responded strongly negatively, even in the cyprinid species nase, which showed little interactive effects between stressors regarding hatching success. Warming and fine sediment also led to the earlier emergence of fry, implying a risk of asynchrony with available food resources. This study dramatically shows that climate change can have deleterious impacts on the reproductive success of gravel-spawning fish species, irrespective of taxonomic or ecological traits.

Panpsychism and dualism in the science of consciousness.

A resurgence of panpsychism and dualism is a matter of ongoing debate in modern neuroscience. Although metaphysically hostile, panpsychism and dualism both persist in the science of consciousness because the former is proposed as a straightforward answer to the problem of integrating consciousness into the fabric of physical reality, whereas the latter proposes a simple solution to the problem of free will by endowing consciousness with causal power as a prerequisite for moral responsibility. I take the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) as a paradigmatic exemplar of a theory of consciousness (ToC) that makes its commitments to panpsychism and dualism within a unified framework. These features are not, however, unique for IIT. Many ToCs are implicitly prone to some degree of panpsychism whenever they strive to propose a universal definition of consciousness, associated with one or another known phenomenon. Yet, those ToCs that can be characterized as strongly emergent are at risk of being dualist. A remedy against both covert dualism and uncomfortable corollaries of panpsychism can be found in the evolutionary theory of life, called here "bioprotopsychism" and generalized in terms of autopoiesis and the free energy principle. Bioprotopsychism provides a biologically inspired basis for a minimalist approach to consciousness via the triad "chemotaxis-efference copy mechanism-counterfactual active inference" by associating the stream of weakly emergent conscious states with an amount of information (best guesses) of the brain, engaged in unconscious predictive processing.

Length control emerges from cytoskeletal network geometry.

Many cytoskeletal networks consist of individual filaments that are organized into elaborate higher-order structures. While it is appreciated that the size and architecture of these networks are critical for their biological functions, much of the work investigating control over their assembly has focused on mechanisms that regulate the turnover of individual filaments through size-dependent feedback. Here, we propose a very different, feedback-independent mechanism to explain how yeast cells control the length of their actin cables. Our findings, supported by quantitative cell imaging and mathematical modeling, indicate that actin cable length control is an emergent property that arises from the cross-linked and bundled organization of the filaments within the cable. Using this model, we further dissect the mechanisms that allow cables to grow longer in larger cells and propose that cell length-dependent tuning of formin activity allows cells to scale cable length with cell length. This mechanism is a significant departure from prior models of cytoskeletal filament length control and presents a different paradigm to consider how cells control the size, shape, and dynamics of higher-order cytoskeletal structures.

Validating Silent Gesture Lab Studies in a Naturally Emerging Sign Language: How Order is Used to Describe Intensional Versus Extensional Events in Nicaraguan Sign Language.

Languages are neither designed in classrooms nor drawn from dictionaries-they are products of human minds and human interactions. However, it is challenging to understand how structure grows in these circumstances because generations of use and transmission shape and reshape the structure of the languages themselves. Laboratory studies on language emergence investigate the origins of language structure by requiring participants, prevented from using their own natural language(s), to create a novel communication system and then transmit it to others. Because the participants in these lab studies are already speakers of a language, it is easy to question the relevance of lab-based findings to the creation of natural language systems. Here, we take the findings from a lab-based language emergence paradigm and test whether the same pattern is also found in a new natural language: Nicaraguan Sign Language. We find evidence that signers of Nicaraguan Sign Language may show the same biases seen in lab-based language emergence studies: (1) they appear to condition word order based on the semantic dimension of intensionality and extensionality, and (2) they adjust this conditioning to satisfy language-internal order constraints. Our study adds to the small, but growing literature testing the relevance of lab-based studies to natural language birth, and provides convincing evidence that the biases seen in the lab play a role in shaping a brand new language.

A case of opioid-induced rigidity requiring naloxone administration at the time of anesthesia emergence.

BACKGROUND: Opioid-induced rigidity is typically observed during rapid administration of fentanyl. Herein, we present a case in which rigidity occurred after reversal of rocuronium during emergence from anesthesia. CASE PRESENTATION: A 73-year-old man underwent video-assisted partial lung resection. General anesthesia was induced with propofol, remimazolam, remifentanil, and rocuronium. Fentanyl was administered early during anesthesia. The surgery was completed without complications, and sugammadex sodium was administered for rocuronium reversal. The patient became agitated, but spontaneous breathing was maintained; therefore, the intratracheal tube was removed after the administration of flumazenil. The patient developed stiffness in the neck and jaw muscles along with remarkable skeletal muscle contractions. Dramatic improvement was observed immediately after administration of naloxone. CONCLUSIONS: Even as the simulated effect site concentration of fentanyl decreases during anesthesia emergence, opioid-induced rigidity may still occur. Rapid reversal of remimazolam by flumazenil might have contributed to the rigidity in this case.

Data science's cultural construction: qualitative ideas for quantitative work.

Introduction: "Data scientists" quickly became ubiquitous, often infamously so, but they have struggled with the ambiguity of their novel role. This article studies data science's collective definition on Twitter. Methods: The analysis responds to the challenges of studying an emergent case with unclear boundaries and substance through a cultural perspective and complementary datasets ranging from 1,025 to 752,815 tweets. It brings together relations between accounts that tweeted about data science, the hashtags they used, indicating purposes, and the topics they discussed. Results: The first results reproduce familiar commercial and technical motives. Additional results reveal concerns with new practical and ethical standards as a distinctive motive for constructing data science. Discussion: The article provides a sensibility for local meaning in usually abstract datasets and a heuristic for navigating increasingly abundant datasets toward surprising insights. For data scientists, it offers a guide for positioning themselves vis-à-vis others to navigate their professional future.

Re-Emergence of DENV-3 in French Guiana: Retrospective Analysis of Cases That Circulated in the French Territories of the Americas from the 2000s to the 2023-2024 Outbreak.

French Guiana experienced an unprecedented dengue epidemic during 2023-2024. Prior to the 2023-2024 outbreak in French Guiana, DENV-3 had not circulated in an epidemic manner since 2005. We therefore studied retrospectively the strains circulating in the French Territories of the Americas (FTA)-French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique-from the 2000s to the current epidemic. To this end, DENV-3 samples from the collection of the National Reference Center for Arboviruses in French Guiana (NRCA-FG) were selected and sequenced using next-generation sequencing (NGS) based on Oxford Nanopore Technologies, ONT. Phylogenetic analysis showed that (i) the 97 FTA sequences obtained all belonged to genotype III (GIII); (ii) between the 2000s and 2013, the regional circulation of the GIII American-I lineage was the source of the FTA cases through local extinctions and re-introductions; (iii) multiple introductions of lineages of Asian origin appear to be the source of the 2019-2021 epidemic in Martinique and the 2023-2024 epidemic in French Guiana. Genomic surveillance is a key factor in identifying circulating DENV genotypes, monitoring strain evolution, and identifying import events.

Differential effect of training impure tacts versus pure tacts plus intraverbal on the emergence of new verbal operants: A conceptual and methodological study.

The aim of this research was to test the effect of training impure tact versus pure tact and intraverbals on the emergence of new verbal operants (impure tacts), thus establishing a conceptual and methodological differentiation on these operants. This was done by varying the training order of intraverbal or impure tact to analyze and confirm whether or not impure tact is the mere sum of pure tact plus intraverbal and therefore has different functions and consequences in learning. An experiment was conducted with 30 participants randomly assigned to three groups. In Group 1, pure tact plus intraverbal and then impure tact were trained. In Group 3 the training order of these operants was counterbalanced. Group 2 was the control group, training only pure tact plus intraverbal. After the training phases, the emergence of impure tacts was tested. The results of this research indicate that the training of impure tacts favors the emergence of new impure tacts to a greater extent than the training of pure tact plus intraverbal and that they therefore have different functions. It is also shown that variation in the order of presentation of the type of training influences the subsequent emergence of new operants (impure tacts), so that creating a previous history of learning in impure tacts favors emergence even when the intraverbal alone is subsequently trained. This has important implications at both conceptual and methodological levels as it would contribute to the development of more effective language training technologies.

Collective predictive coding hypothesis: symbol emergence as decentralized Bayesian inference.

Understanding the emergence of symbol systems, especially language, requires the construction of a computational model that reproduces both the developmental learning process in everyday life and the evolutionary dynamics of symbol emergence throughout history. This study introduces the collective predictive coding (CPC) hypothesis, which emphasizes and models the interdependence between forming internal representations through physical interactions with the environment and sharing and utilizing meanings through social semiotic interactions within a symbol emergence system. The total system dynamics is theorized from the perspective of predictive coding. The hypothesis draws inspiration from computational studies grounded in probabilistic generative models and language games, including the Metropolis-Hastings naming game. Thus, playing such games among agents in a distributed manner can be interpreted as a decentralized Bayesian inference of representations shared by a multi-agent system. Moreover, this study explores the potential link between the CPC hypothesis and the free-energy principle, positing that symbol emergence adheres to the society-wide free-energy principle. Furthermore, this paper provides a new explanation for why large language models appear to possess knowledge about the world based on experience, even though they have neither sensory organs nor bodies. This paper reviews past approaches to symbol emergence systems, offers a comprehensive survey of related prior studies, and presents a discussion on CPC-based generalizations. Future challenges and potential cross-disciplinary research avenues are highlighted.

Honey bee larval toxicity study designs: Applicability of the current study protocols and endpoints as a predictor of pesticide hazard for pollinators.

The assessment of pesticide risks to bees in North America currently relies in part on Tier 1 honey bee laboratory toxicity studies to support the registration and registration review processes for crop protection chemicals. For immature stages, the studies follow two standardized test designs recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD), evaluating acute (seven-day single-dose, TG OECD 237) and chronic (22-day repeated-dose, GD OECD 239) toxicity in bee larvae. In this article, we aim to evaluate the current approach for generating and interpreting honey bee larval toxicity data, enhancing pesticide risk assessment for pollinators. First, by considering that the repeated-dose larval study covers all stages of honey bee brood development up to adult emergence, we compared endpoints (larval LD/ED50 and LC/EC50 values) from seven-day acute exposure studies with the 22-day chronic exposure studies. Our goal was to identify the study design offering greater sensitivity in assessing pesticide toxicity to immature bees. Our second objective involved analyzing available weight data from emerged adults and comparing it to survival endpoints (e.g., NOEL and LD50) to determine if the weight after adult emergence would accurately represent a sensitive indicator of pesticide effects on developing honey bees. Our analysis determined that the use of a single 22-day chronic exposure study adequately covers all immature stages and that the toxicity values based on cumulative dose are more accurate and representative measures of exposure for immature bees than using endpoints based on estimated daily doses. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that measuring the weight of emerged adults was a more sensitive indicator than mortality of treatment-related effects in 22% of the compounds included in our analysis. Here we also discuss the importance of standardized protocols for proper collection of weight after emergence and the need for further discussion on the relevance of this parameter at risk assessment scheme. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;00:1-11. © 2024 SETAC.

Phenotypic variation in hypocotyl elongation among elite sand rice (Agriophyllum squarrosum) lines.

Sand rice (Agriophyllum squarrosum), widely distributed in Central Arid Asia and prevalent in the sand dunes of northern China, presents a promising potential as a climate-resilient crop. The plasticity of hypocotyl growth is the key trait for sand rice to cope with wind erosion and sand burial, ensure seedling emergence, and determine plant architecture. In this study, we assessed the overall hypocotyl phenotype of six sand rice elite lines, which were collected from different regions of northern China, and selected by our group over past decade through common garden trials. Significant phenotypic variations were observed in thousand-seed weight (TSW), seedling emergence percentage, hypocotyl length and diameter, and seedling fresh weight among the lines. The elite line Aerxiang (AEX) exhibited excellent agronomic performance with superior and synchronous emergence, and high survival percentage, distinguishing itself as a prime candidate for further large-scale cultivation. Contrastingly, the lines from the arid regions showed markedly lower performance. Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLSPM) was used to assess the impact of seed provenance climate factors, including annual mean temperature (AMT) and annual mean precipitation (AMP), on trait variability among lines. The findings indicate a significant correlation between climate factors and hypocotyl length, highlighting the intricate adaptation of sand rice to local climate. The comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms behind phenotypic variations offers valuable insights for sand rice de novo domestication and innovative germplasm resources, and lays the foundation for ecological restoration in sandy areas.

Documenting and defining emergent phenomenology: theoretical foundations for an extensive research strategy.

Meditation, psychedelics, and other similar practices or induction methods that can modulate conscious experience, are becoming increasingly popular in clinical and non-clinical settings. The phenomenology associated with such practices or modalities is vast. Many similar effects and experiences are also reported to occur spontaneously. We argue that this experiential range is still not fully described or understood in the contemporary literature, and that there is an ethical mandate to research it more extensively, starting with comprehensive documentation and definition. We review 50 recent clinical or scientific publications to assess the range of phenomena, experiences, effects, after-effects, and impacts associated with a broad variety of psychoactive compounds, meditative practices, and other modalities or events. This results in a large inventory synthesizing the reports of over 30,000 individual subjects. We then critically discuss various terms and concepts that have been used in recent literature to designate all or parts of the range this inventory covers. We make the case that specialized terminologies are needed to ground the nascent research field that is forming around this experiential domain. As a step in this direction, we propose the notion of "emergence" and some of its derivatives, such as "emergent phenomenology," as possibly foundational candidates.

Influencing factors and risk prediction model for emergence agitation after general anesthesia for primary liver cancer.

BACKGROUND: General anesthesia is commonly used in the surgical management of gastrointestinal tumors; however, it can lead to emergence agitation (EA). EA is a common complication associated with general anesthesia, often characterized by behaviors, such as crying, struggling, and involuntary limb movements in patients. If treatment is delayed, there is a risk of incision cracking and bleeding, which can significantly affect surgical outcomes. Therefore, having a proper understanding of the factors influencing the occurrence of EA and implementing early preventive measures may reduce the incidence of agitation during the recovery phase from general anesthesia, which is beneficial for improving patient prognosis. AIM: To analyze influencing factors and develop a risk prediction model for EA occurrence following general anesthesia for primary liver cancer. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of clinical data from 200 patients who underwent hepatoma resection under general anesthesia at Wenzhou Central Hospital (January 2020 to December 2023) was conducted. Post-surgery, the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale was used to evaluate EA presence, noting EA incidence after general anesthesia. Patients were categorized by EA presence postoperatively, and the influencing factors were analyzed using logistic regression. A nomogram-based risk prediction model was constructed and evaluated for differentiation and fit using receiver operating characteristics and calibration curves. RESULTS: EA occurred in 51 (25.5%) patients. Multivariate analysis identified advanced age, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade III, indwelling catheter use, and postoperative pain as risk factors for EA (P < 0.05). Conversely, postoperative analgesia was a protective factor against EA (P < 0.05). The area under the curve of the nomogram was 0.972 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.947-0.997] for the training set and 0.979 (95%CI: 0.951-1.000) for the test set. Hosmer-Lemeshow test showed a good fit (χ 2 = 5.483, P = 0.705), and calibration curves showed agreement between predicted and actual EA incidence. CONCLUSION: Age, ASA grade, catheter use, postoperative pain, and analgesia significantly influence EA occurrence. A nomogram constructed using these factors demonstrates strong predictive accuracy.

Immersive Virtual Reality Versus Video Distraction for the Management of Emergence Delirium in Children: A Randomized Controlled Study.

PURPOSE: Emergence delirium (ED) presents challenges for both parents and health care providers in pediatric surgical settings. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of immersive virtual reality (VR) distraction and video distraction combined with parental presence in reducing ED in preschool-aged children undergoing elective surgery. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted with 90 children ages 4 to 7. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: VR distraction (group V), tablet video distraction with parental presence (group T), and standard care (group C). The primary endpoints were the incidence of ED and Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium Scale scores, with secondary measures encompassing scores from the Parental Separation Anxiety Scale and the Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale. METHODS: Participants were assigned to one of the three intervention groups, and relevant scales were used to assess ED, parental separation anxiety, and postoperative pain. The immersive VR distraction and video distraction with parental presence interventions were compared against standard care. FINDINGS: Immersive VR distraction significantly reduced the incidence of ED (6.67% in group V vs 40% in group T and 60% in group C), and the incidence of ED in group V was notably lower than in the other groups (P = .023 vs group T and P = .004 vs group C). Children in group V displayed significantly lower FLACC compared with the other groups as well (P < .05). However, no significant differences between the 3 groups were observed in perioperative anxiety as assessed by the Parental Separation Anxiety Scale scores (P = .27). CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the potential of immersive VR distraction as an effective intervention for mitigating ED in pediatric surgical patients. The findings suggest that incorporating VR technology during the perioperative period can positively impact postoperative outcomes. Further research in diverse surgical contexts is recommended to validate these findings and explore the broader applicability of VR distraction in pediatric health care settings.

Quantifying the emergence of moral foundational lexicon in child language development.

Theorists have argued that morality builds on several core modular foundations. When do different moral foundations emerge in life? Prior work has explored the conceptual development of different aspects of morality in childhood. Here, we offer an alternative approach to investigate the developmental emergence of moral foundations through the lexicon, namely the words used to talk about moral foundations. We develop a large-scale longitudinal analysis of the linguistic mentions of five moral foundations (in both virtuous and vicious forms) in naturalistic speech between English-speaking children with ages ranging from 1 to 6 and their caretakers. Using computational methods, we collect a dataset of 1,371 human-annotated moral utterances and automatically annotate around one million utterances in child-caretaker conversations. We discover that in childhood, words for expressing the individualizing moral foundations (i.e. Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating) tend to emerge earlier and more frequently than words for expressing the binding moral foundations (i.e. Authority/Subversion, Loyalty/Betrayal, Purity/Degradation), and words for Care/Harm are expressed substantially more often than the other foundations. We find significant differences between children and caretakers in how often they talk about Fairness, Cheating, and Degradation. Furthermore, we show that the information embedded in childhood speech allows computational models to predict moral judgment of novel scenarios beyond the scope of child-caretaker conversations. Our work provides a large-scale documentation of the moral foundational lexicon in early linguistic communication in English and forges a new link between moral language development and computational studies of morality.