And not just in America: in Germany, where the long years of low birth rates will reduce the size of the pool over the coming decade, Kienbaum, the country's leading pay consultancy, recently set up a special unit to comb academe for youthful high-fliers.

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The vaccine differs from birth control pills not only in the size of its benefit to recipients, but also because the vaccine benefits more than simply the person who receives it.

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The researchers found that more traditional Amish have families of nine or 10 children, while comparatively progressive families are just over half that size, suggesting some are using birth control.

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In an interesting move, Euro RSCG, a mid-size global ad agency, announced recently that it will give birth to its French office, Euro BETC, as an independent mini global network.

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The relatively small size of the study means that some experts are likely to remain unconvinced that such apparently minor birth complications could cause such obvious difficulties later on.

BBC: Brain risk from birth oxygen shortage