Correlation between Television Watching and Sperm Count

• Men who sit around and watch a lot of television have lower sperm counts than more active men. In a study of 189 healthy young men, British researchers found that those who watched more than 20 hours of TV a week had sperm counts 44 percent lower than those who watched no TV. Also, men who carried out moderate to vigorous exercise on a regular basis had 73 percent higher counts than men who were less active. (Science News, Feb. 23, 2013; British Journal of Sports Medicine, Feb. 4, 2013)

• A recent study compared 55 autistic children (ages 5-16) with 44 normal children of similar age and sex. The goal of the study was to evaluate blood and urine samples for the presence of toxic metals that might have contributed to the presence of autism. Compared with the control group, higher average levels of lead were found in the red blood cells of the autistic group. Also, higher average levels of thallium, tin, and tungsten were found in the urine of autistic children. Further, the amounts of these toxic metals were higher in individuals with more severe autism. (Science Daily, Feb. 26, 2013; Adams et.al., 2012, Biol. Trace Element Res., vol. 151, #2)

• The common pesticide chlorpyrifos (manufactured by Dow Chemical) was first marketed in 1965 under the names “Dursban” or “Lorsban.” Chlorpyrifos belongs to the organophosphate group of chemicals, most of which are related to neurotoxic nerve gases developed for chemical warfare. It is amazing that a chemical like chlopyrifos continues to be marketed 35 years after the government banned it for home use, even though there is much evidence that organophosphates are deadly, especially to infants and young children.

Recently, researchers studied brain scans (MRIs) of 20 children from mothers who had been exposed to chlorpyrifos when it was used indoors as a bug spray. The brains of these children, ages 7 – 10, were found to be slightly misshapen, with protuberances in some regions of the cerebral cortex and thinning in other regions. The long-term effects of these changes remain to be determined. By the way, chlorpyrifos can be purchased on amazon.com for $39.95 a bag of water soluble, pre-weighed packets. (Scientific American, July, 2012; pmep.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet)

• Dung beetles are unusual in that they eat poop and have their own GPS system. About mating time, both male and female beetles dig a lot of holes. They then return to the dung pile (those from large mammals are favorites) and begin molding pieces of it into balls, sometimes larger than themselves. Next they roll their dung balls to holes they made and drop them in. A fertilized female enters each hole and deposits her eggs in dung balls. Much of this is done at night. If a beetle prepares dung balls at some distance from the holes it dug, how does it roll the dung balls in a relatively direct path to the holes? Being so close to the ground it cannot easily use landmarks like trees and rocks. It turns out that they can orient themselves to the Milky Way overhead. To confirm this, a little dirt village was set up for the beetles in a planetarium. When the planetarium was darkened, the beetles fumbled around and pushed their balls in circles, but when the Milky Way projection was turned on they pushed toward holes in fairly direct paths. (Science News, Feb. 23, 2013)