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A new study finds that women who consume animal products, specifically dairy, are five times more likely to have twins than those who do not, and the reason may have to do with the growth hormones fed to cows. Meanwhile, other studies show that identical twins are not as identical as we once thought they were.

A growth protein called IGF is released from the liver of animals and humans in response to growth hormones. IGF circulates in the blood gets into an animal’s milk. When women drink milk or eat meat, the IGF increases ovulation and might also help embryos survive in the early stages of development. The concentration of IGF in the blood is about 13% lower in vegan women than in women who consume dairy.
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Babies that are born in the winter are bigger and do better. They may be smarter as well, since at the age of 7, children born in the winter months have larger heads. The season when you’re born can also determine whether or not you turn out to be an optimist or a pessimist.
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Will there ever be a united Iraq, or is this a dream that the West should give up on before there is even more loss of life? After the breakup of the Soviet Union, many of the countries they ruled with an iron fist divided into smaller, ethnically similar areas and seem to be very happy with that solution. We’re a country with many different races and religions, but that’s because this country was originally made up of immigrants. We may not be able to force our model of democracy onto the Iraqis.
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Life has come to a sad pass when something we generally think of as good–religion–becomes a force for evil. This has happened regularly throughout history–in fact, organized religion has committed some of the most heinous crimes that could be imagined by the human mind?but we like to think we’ve gotten too wise and civilized to let such atrocities happen again. Then every day we wake up to more news about the religious attacks in places like Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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