Ships in the 1960s were often coated in a chemical called TBT to prevent sea critters like snails from clinging to the hull. After researchers found that the toxic chemical caused female sea snails to grow penises (alongside equally frightening effects in other species) the stuff was banned in 2008. Now, six years later, things are starting to look up for the snails.
Fed Up With Fouling

Ship builders have long struggled with the problem of fouling, whereby mollusks and barnacles hitch onto a hull, causing boat damage and creating drag that drives up fuel costs. Starting in the 1960s, a chemical called tributyltin (TBT) was painted on ships to keep them free from aquatic hitchhikers. It was toxic and therefore did the trick, as described in a 2002 report [pdf] from the International Maritime Organization:

As a biocide in anti-fouling paint, it proved extremely effective at keeping smooth and clean the hulls of ships and boats. And when it was introduced into anti-fouling paints, it was considered less harmful than biocides used in anti-fouling systems at the time: such as DDT and arsenic.

But as the chemical began to leach off the ships and accumulate in marine environments, especially around shipping ports, scientists started seeing negative effects on aquatic plants and animals.

Shellfish and sea snail populations were hit especially hard. Female whelks, for example, started growing penises and vas deferens (the tubes that directs sperm from the testes). This left the snails sterile—a condition called “imposex.” In Australia in 2004, for example, between 43 and 100 percent of snails studied were found to be imposex.

Read more at Discover

Glen Davis

It seems that the United States taxpayers are not the only ones who pay for scientific studies that are full of poop. A research team of Czech and German scientists have finally discovered why dogs seem to gyrate wildly before they take a poop.

Apparently dogs try to align their bodies along the North-South axis in conjunction with their internal compass.

The study—published this week in Frontiers in Zoology—examined the daily habits of 70 dogs during 1,893 defecations and 5,582 urinations over the course of two years. Consistently, during times of calm electromagnetic “weather,” the dogs chose to eliminate while facing north or south.

While this might seem like a stinking study, it would explain that annoying feng shui that dogs exhibit before getting down to business.

There have been instances noted in the past that dogs exhibit unrest before an earthquake or other natural disaster. Thus it has long been suspected that dogs (horses, cattle and other animals, as well) are extremely sensitive to the most minor changes in the earth.

As a personal observation it seems as though my dog is a rebel. Or, perhaps, it is because he is a mixed breed. I have not tested the Poop theory since this study was released. My recollection, however, is that my dog seems to align West-to-East. Even unleashed. So you might want to check your dogs alignment before you decide to use his compass.

Live Science
C|Net
The Raw Story

Feb. 4, 2013 — A five-year study by researchers at three universities has established that providing tangible assistance to others protects our health and lengthens our lives.

This, after more than two decades of research failed to establish that the same benefits accrue to the recipients of such help.

Principal investigator Michael J. Poulin, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo, says, “This study offers a significant contribution to the research literature on the relationship between social environment and health, and specifically to our understanding of how giving assistance to others may offer health benefits to the giver by buffering the negative effects of stress.”

Poulin, along with colleagues at Stony Brook University and Grand Valley State University, produced the study, “Giving to Others and the Association Between Stress and Mortality,” which was posted online Jan. 17 by the American Journal of Public Health, which will publish the study in an upcoming print issue.

The authors point out that although it is established that social isolation and stress are significant predictors of mortality and morbidity, 20 years of studies and meta-analytical review have failed to establish that receiving social support from others buffers recipients against mortality after exposure to psychosocial stress.

Read more at Science Daily