The Price of Preemies
And other news from the techno-frontier.
Item: A woman has given birth to her own grandchildren.
Outlet: Washington Post, Dec. 29
Gist: A Virginia woman couldn't bear children, so her 55-year-old mom accepted her IVF embryos and carried triplets to term.
Positive spin: It's the greatest gift a mother can give to her daughter.
Negative spin: Yuck. 1) The kids' gestational mom is their genetic grandma, and their genetic mom is their gestational sister. 2) The grandma may think of herself as the kids' real mom, and if she goes to court, some states will agree with her.
Quote: The dad says watching his mother-in-law carry his child was "surreal." ... 11:53 a.m. PT
Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005
DEATH
Item: We're going to live longer than Social Security administrators expect.
Source: "many population experts"
Outlet: New York Times, Dec. 31
The Never-Before-Seen Memoir of a Guantánamo Detainee
Who Said It: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford or Simpsons Mayor Diamond Joe Quimby?
Is Wal-Mart in Trouble? Is Amazon to Blame?
Will Saletan covers science, technology, and politics for Slate and says a lot of things that get him in trouble.