Stewart used IVF

Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster had to undergo in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to have another child.

The couple – who already have a four-year-old son, Alastair, together – were desperate to give their little boy a sibling but after trying unsuccessfully for two years, they decided to seek help from fertility experts.

After speaking to doctors, Penny, 39, cut fish out of her diet after being told she had very high levels of mercury in her body and after third attempt of IVF, she conceived.

Penny said: "A homeopathic doctor told me my mercury levels were really high, off the scale. I do love fish, and I thought it was healthy without understanding the high mercury levels that fish like tuna, swordfish and halibut can contain.

"My doctor said it was unhealthy to have so much mercury in my body, and also for conceiving babies.

"After two months of not eating fish, my mercury levels dropped by half, which is scary - I had no idea what the fish had been doing to my body."

Speaking about the moment she discovered she was pregnant, Penny admitted both she and the Maggie May hitmaker broke down in tears.

She recalled: "I couldn't believe it. I burst into tears. I called Rod when I was still sobbing. Rod said, 'I'm in the middle of a restaurant in Russia, crying.' I kept pinching myself. Neither of us could believe it."

Despite the gruelling IVF battle, Penny says seeing the joy on Alastair's face when he was told he was going to be a big brother made it all worthwhile.

She told Britain's Hello! magazine: "Our son's happiness made all the IVF treatments worthwhile."

Rod – who has six other children from previous relationships – admitted the process was quite stressful but they were determined to conceive.

The 65-year-old rocker said: "IVF can be stressful, especially for the woman with all the hormone injections and procedures. I said to Penny, 'Don't worry, we'll just keep trying.' "

First US “Test Tube Baby” Gives Birth to Child

29-year-old Elizabeth Comeau is the first person to have been born in the U.S. as a result of in-vitro fertilization. Yesterday, she gave birth herself to a 7-pound-12-ounce boy.

“He’s wonderful,” she told her hometown paper, the Virginian-Pilot, today via telephone.

Comeau doesn’t mind sharing her life with the public; she’s chronicled her journey from wonder baby to “regular mom” for the Boston Globe. She says, “I had a normal conception and pregnancy despite my abnormal childhood. And early yesterday, my husband and I had a baby boy “the normal way,’’ proving (I hope) that I’m just like everyone else.”

Comeau chose to write about her pregnancy and the birth of her son because if she didn’t do it, she knew someone else would. Comeau notes she no longer minds the constant attention, adding, “If my story helps couples or families learn about in-vitro fertilization, then the loss of privacy is worthwhile. People who have fertility issues deserve to know they can have healthy, normal babies.”

Inside the Popemobile: Glimpse of the holy customised Merc that will transport Benedict XVI around the UK

No papal tour would be complete without the sight of a Popemobile.

Yesterday saw the unveiling of the official vehicle to be used on Pope Benedict XVI's first official visit to the UK.

The Popemobile is a media-coined nickname for the specially customised motor vehicles used by the Pope during outdoor public appearances.

Before the advent of the Popemobile, popes were often carried by teams of bearers on an elaborate variant of sedan chair called the sedia gestatoria.

The Popemobile was designed to allow the Pope to be more visible when appearing before large crowds. There have been many different designs for Popemobile since Pope John Paul II first used a modified truck to greet the crowds on his first trip to Poland as Pope.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II requested that the media stop referring to the car as the Popemobile, saying that the term was 'undignified.'

Some Popemobile were open topped but the possibility of an assassination attempt led Vatican officials to adopt a new design with a bulletproof glass enclosure for the pontiff.

There are a variety of subtly different Popemobiles based in different territories but they all traditionally carry the papal numberplate SCV 1. SCV stands for either Stato della Città del Vaticano or Status Civitatis Vaticanae, depending on which cardinal you ask.

The Popemobile. which will be used during the British visit is a modified Mercedes-Benz M-Class 'green petrol' SUV with a special glass-enclosed cabin that has been built into the back of the vehicle.

Two have been flown in. Each costing more than £200,000, they are believed to have been donated to the Vatican by the manufacturer.

The Pope enters through a rear door and climbs several steps. After the Pope sits in his chair, it is elevated up into the glass 'turret' by a hydraulic lift, allowing the Pope to be more easily seen.

In addition to the driver, there is room for one passenger (usually a security agent) in the front of the vehicle. The glass-enclosed rear of the vehicle also has room for two papal aides who can sit in the area in front of the Pope's elevated chair.

The vehicle's security features include bulletproof glass windows and roof and reinforced, armoured side panels and chassis and it has a top speed of 160mph but while in on papal business in Britain the Popemobile. is expected to travel at a more sedate 6mph.

Dr Alberto Gasbarri, who is in charge of organising all the Pope's trips, said: 'The Holy See has two Popemobile but there are others scattered around the world.'

'The two for this trip were sent to Britain in a secure container by road and are currently in a secret location. '

'Both of them use green petrol and the driver will be British and chosen by the local authorities in Britain. He will have to be a competent driver and he will get a chance to accustom himself to the Popemobile.'

'Each Popemobile has about 5,000km on the clock which for an eight-year-old car is not bad at all and they are in perfect pristine condition and are serviced regularly.'

Drink Fresh and New Swiss Milk!

Due to fewer men drinking milk while drinking more beer; the Swiss government has introduced
A new packaging for Men. Naturally, it is a big hit!

The End of Privacy: Entire City to Track People With Public Eye Scanners

Imagine a public eye scanner that can identify 50 people per minute, in motion. Now imagine that the government install these scanner systems all across an entire city. Or don't imagine it, because it's already happening, right now.

The City of Leon, Mexico, is doing exactly that, installing real time iris scanners from biometrics R&D firm Global Rainmakers Inc. These scanners don't require people to stop and put their eyes in front of a camera. They work in real time, as people walk, like this:



There are different kinds of machines being installed across Leon, from large scanners—capable of identifying 50 people per minute in motion— to smaller ones—like the EyeSwipe in the hollywood video below—that range from 15 to 30 people per minute. These devices are being installed in public places, like train and bus stations, and connected to a database that will track people across the city.This is a scene from the movie Minority Report. Tom Cruise walks in the mall while his eyes are getting scanned by 3D screens. The screens call him directly by his name to get his attention.



City officials and proponents of the system are hoping that public retinal scans will stop crime and fraud. According to Jeff Carter, CDO of Global Rainmakers:

If you've been convicted of a crime, in essence, this will act as a digital scarlet letter. If you're a known shoplifter, for example, you won't be able to go into a store without being flagged. Certainly for others, boarding a plane will be impossible.
The retinal scanning of Leon's one million population has started already with its convicted criminals. Citizens with no criminal records have been offered the opportunity to "voluntarily" scan their eyes. This, however, is just the beginning. According to Carter, everyone in the planet should be connected to the iris tracking system in 10 years.

In the future, whether it's entering your home, opening your car, entering your workspace, getting a pharmacy prescription refilled, or having your medical records pulled up, everything will come off that unique key that is your iris. Every person, place, and thing on this planet will be connected within the next 10 years.

Of course, that would be good for Carter's business. For the best of the rest of us, I hope this never happens.

Human egg harvesting ring broken

Police in Attica on Saturday arrested five suspects, one of them a Greek doctor, in connection with a cross-border ring believed to have been exploiting immigrant women by harvesting eggs from their ovaries to give to Greek women interested in in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Two Bulgarian men, a Bulgarian woman and two Romanian men were detained as suspected members of the gang, according to Greek police who said they were assisted by their counterparts in Romania and Bulgaria.

The 47-year-old doctor was arrested at an Athens fertility clinic late on Friday as he was about to remove eggs from the ovaries of a 20-year-old Romanian woman, police said. Most of the women alleged to have been exploited by the gang had been brought to Greece, ostensibly for legitimate jobs, before being sold into prostitution and then being forced to agree to the removal of their eggs. One of the Romanian suspects, a 37-year-old woman, allegedly underwent the same procedure herself several times before bringing six of her compatriots into contact with the gang, police said.

The suspects face long jail terms if convicted.

Early puberty in girls may be linked to absent fathers in higher-income families

Girls are starting puberty earlier, studies show, and some researchers speculate that rising obesity rates might be a factor. A new study finds there may be a link between early puberty and girls living in higher-income households without a biological father.

The study, published this week in the Journal of Adolescent Health, looked at data on 444 ethnically diverse girls age 6 to 8, 80 of whom had no biological father living at home at the time of the study. Researchers noted the girls' onset of puberty (breast and pubic hair development), body mass index, ethnicity and income. Among the 80 participants, 21% had other men living at home, including stepfathers.

Not having a biological father at home was associated with earlier breast development, but only for girls who lived in families with incomes over $50,000. Not having a father at home was linked with earlier development of pubic hair among African American girls living in higher income homes. Factoring in BMI did not change the results.

The study offered some reasons for the link: higher-income families may have weaker support systems than lower-income families; mothers working outside of the home may put extra stress on family life and relationships; and having fathers leave while kids are young may indicate early familiarity with marital discord; and children living in higher-income households may have more exposure to environmental toxins that may have an effect on puberty.

"The hunt for an explanation to this trend is significant since girls who enter puberty earlier than their peers are not only at greater risk for reproductive cancers, they are also more likely to develop asthma and engage in higher risk sexual behaviors and substance abuse, so these studies have broader relevance to women's health," said senior author Dr. Robert Hiatt, professor and co-chair of epidemiology and biostatistics at UC San Francisco, in a news release.