The Checkup: Americans Having Twins in Record Numbers

No, you're not seeing double.


Photo from iStockphoto

• The number of twins born in the US each year has more than doubled in 30 years, according to new figures released by the government, rising from roughly 68,000 in 1980 to more than 137,000 in 2009. Part of the reason, researchers say, is because women are waiting longer to have babies, and the older you are, the more likely you are to have twins. Another factor: the increase in the number of women getting fertility treatments, including in-vitro, which also ups your chances for multiples. NPR has more.

• The FDA banned the use of a popular antibiotic called cephalosporin for use in animals yesterday, amid fears that the continued exposure will make us humans—a.k.a. animal-product consumers—immune to the drug. Cephalosporin is used to treat pneumonia and skin and soft tissue infections, reports Reuters.

• And then there’s this—over a thousand bikes used for an art installation in Taiwan. It’s just pretty.