On the record

“Who wants an ugly, stupid kid? I mean, come on.”

Jennalee Ryan, head of 'embryo brokerage' the Abraham Center of Life, which offers test-tube embryos created from attractive and intelligent egg and sperm donors, and which is being investigated by US officials.

Scorecard

Human drugs

The US Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to just 18 new drugs in 2006, an eight-year low...

Dog drugs

...although it has just approved Slentrol, the first drug to battle canine obesity.

Number Crunch

50% is the reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions over the past five years claimed last week by budget airline Ryanair, the selfstyled “greenest, cleanest airline”.

50% is the emissions reduction that the airline was originally going to claim per passenger, as revealed by an earlier leaked version of the same press release.

300% is the actual increase in the airline's overall missions, owing to vastly increased passenger numbers.

Showbiz news

Christmas visits to the American Museum of Natural History shot up 20% relative to the previous year, after the release of Ben Stiller comedy vehicle Night at the Museum.

Sources: AP, Bloomberg, FDA, Science Blog, BBC Newsnight