ATLANTA — The number of twins born in the U.S. soared over the last three decades, mostly the result of test-tube babies and women waiting to have children until their 30s, when the chances of twins increase. In 2009, 1 in every 30 babies born in the U.S. was a twin, an astounding increase over the 1 in 53 rate in 1980, according to a government report issued Wednesday. Read full article > >

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Older mothers, fertility treatments driving a big increase in twin births, new CDC report says

What are the chances of getting six double-yolk eggs?

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What are the chances of six double-yolkers?

After cautiously calibrating expectations about his chances in a state full of social conservatives, Mitt Romney is now playing to win the Iowa caucuses.

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Mitt Romney Shifts in Iowa, Playing to Win Quickly

President Obama , getting hammered by disenchanted Democrats and hyper-energized Republicans, at least can take solace — a la Stuart Smalley ’s affirmation mantra on “Saturday Night Live” — that “ doggone it, people like me .” Favorability is important, the experts say, because people generally tend to vote for candidates they like. Given the widespread unhappiness with Obama’s handling of the economy and low approval of his performance in office, it may be key to his chances in 2012. Read full article > >

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Obama needs to be liked

West Point, N.Y. — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates bluntly told an audience of West Point cadets on Friday that it would be unwise for the United States to ever fight another war like Iraq or Afghanistan, and that the chances of carrying out a change of government in that fashion again were slim. read more

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Gates Warns Against More Wars Like Iraq and Afghanistan

Clermont Auvergne enhance their chances of progressing to the last eight of the Heineken Cup with a 24-14 win over Saracens at Vicarage Road.

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Saracens 14-24 Clermont Auvergne

New York City Mayor Bloomberg wasn’t taking his chances this time: He declared a “weather emergency” at 9 p.m. Tuesday night, as a blizzard neared the city. It dumped seven inches of snow on the city, and the city’s early response appears to be good…

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Mayor Bloomberg Seeks Redemption

Doctors gave Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her supporters a beacon of hope Tuesday, rating her chances of survival at “101 percent.” Giffords has a long, unpredictable recovery ahead of her, but doctors say they are confident that she will not die from…

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Giffords’ Survival at ’101 Percent’

Gabrielle Giffords’ doctor said on Tuesday that her chances for survival are “100 percent” and that it’s likely that “she’s not going to be in a vegetative state.” She’s currently breathing on her own and is “progressing as expected” with “no issues or…

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Giffords Certain to Survive, Says Doc

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has reportedly survived her surgery after being shot in the head during a public event at a Safeway grocery store in Tucson on Saturday. A trauma surgeon says he is “optimistic” about her chances. Earlier reports…

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AZ Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Shot

A new screening technique to check the health of embryos could significantly increase the chances of having a baby from IVF.

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New test could boost IVF success

If you think your multitasking skills are improving your productivity, think again. Consistent with other multitasking research, a new working paper (ungated version) by Decio Coviello, Andrea Ichino and Nicola Persico analyzes a sample of Italian judges with different caseloads and finds that “task juggling, i.e., the spreading of effort across too many active projects, decreases the performance of workers, raising the chances of low throughput, long duration of projects and exploding backlogs.”

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Freakonomics: The Myth of Multitasking

The House may be all but lost, but Democrats are looking more likely to keep the Senate, says FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver. He says the chances of a GOP takeover are 16 percent, down from 19 percent over the weekend after polls showed Democratic…

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GOP’s Senate Chances Slipping

Women who take a popular hormone replacement drug after menopause not only increase their chances of getting breast cancer but also seem to face an increased risk of dying from the disease, according to new results of a landmark federal study.

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Hormones also raise death risk of cancer