In utero Ipods

There are several devices on the market now for pregnant women to wear around their bellies and attach to their MP3 player, so they can pipe in Mozart*, or Barry Manilow, or heavy metal, or whatever the mother likes.

One of them also plays fake heartbeats, I guess in case the mother's heartbeat is in Japanese or Urdu. You'd think they'd just let the kid listen to a real heartbeat. The heartbeat speeds up over the weeks, presumably to induce ADHD in the fetus. Others claim to teach languages.

The intent of some of the "educational" stuff they pump through the MP3s is to focus the attention of the child and, in theory (no that's too strong; in conjecture is more appropriate) prevent autism and ADHD. The article points out that since fetuses sleep most of the time, this is like blasting a boom box at a baby in a crib while it's trying to sleep. Thanks to SD for the tip.

*Mozart's name as an adult was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. As a child, it was Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart. Theophilus is Greek for "lover of god." Amadeus is the Latin translation.