A dog can be more than a man’s best friend. Sometimes, a cat, too.

A recent study shows that having pets in a household can actually help babies get a jump-start on good health.

The study published in The Journal of Pediatrics finds that children who lived with dogs or cats during their first year of life got sick less frequently than kids from pet-free zones.

In the past, we’d reported that older dads may make kids with lower IQs, and that the male biological clock is set to 41. Well, Captain Science is at it again, and this week’s news is that older fathers might make healthier kids – and grandkids.

These findings were presented in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (we know, we know…you get it in the mail along with The New Yorker) by Dan T. A. Eisenberg, M. Geoffrey Hayes and Christopher W. Kuzawa. The researchers found that although these little biological things we have in our DNA called telomeres shorten as we get old, men who wait to have kids until they’re older tend to bestow longer telomeres to two generations of descendents.

After trying CrossFit at the beginning of last year, I wrote about how CrossFit dads turn their kids into beasts, using daily Workout of the Day (WOD) exercises from CrossFit and CrossFit Kids. I’ve been off-and-on with my own CrossFit exercise routine, but I check in regularly to the “main site” and keep a log with my wife, who holds me accountable and I appreciate that.

The CrossFit main site usually features a cool image of an athlete performing some awesome feat of strength from the CrossFit repertoire, but lately I’ve noticed lots of images creeping into the mix of men with their children, who are also attempting some similar exercise as their daddy. I thought it was pretty cool, and began saving a few of the images to show here on 8BitDad:

A few of these came up at the main site, but the rest I culled off the internets, where I also bumped into this cool dad’s blog: CrossFit Dad’s Blog. I’ve even bumped into one creative CrossFitter who has designed WOD toys that are fun and safe for budding athletes three years old and older.

Are you a CrossFit dad? If so, holler back at us, or feel free to send us a photo of you doing epic feats of strength with your kids. We’ll post it here at 8BitDad.

Recently, we pointed you to a study that said that older fathers create a genetic situation that can create children with lower IQs. Now, more news for men considering fatherhood in their later years: the gears in your biological clock might be losing function past the age of 41.

Paula Fettback, a researcher at the Huntington Medicina Reproductiva clinic in Brazil, reported that there’s a 60% chance of pregnancy with a 41 year old male, and 35% with a 45 year old.

Men continually make “fresh” sperm (try reading that without getting particular sensory nastiness in your head), but all the internal junk that makes sperm gets older too. Just like grandpa’s a little off when you play catch with him now, his chefs are also a little off now when they cook their man-chowder. Yeah, I just said that. Webby, here I come.

Of course, this shouldn’t stop older men from fathering if they feel they’re up for the job. There are many factors that impact pregnancy and researches admit that a viable egg is more important than viable sperm. But, with more and more evidence pointing to lower chance of reproduction and higher rates of defects when sperm comes from an older man, this might be what some men need to scare themselves into serious commitment earlier. Hey, fear’s not always a bad thing.

Don’t shoot the messenger here – but Times of India reports that, as their article is titled, “Older dads father kids with lower IQ’s.” Sorry dudes.

Here’s the non-scientific description: scientists analyzed the prevalence of rare “copy number variations,” or basically, screwed-up DNA, in roughly 3,500 people with intellectual disabilities between 2006 and 2010. And narrowing it down (read the TOI sauce to see how), they found that basically – the age of the father was a determiner in intellectual disability.

The article doesn’t mention a “cut-off” age. So you’re safe for now.

The study appears in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

This isn’t the first time, BTW, that science has said older age is associated with abnormality. According to this New York Times article, there’s been a lot of talk lately about the “Male Biological Clock.” And I suppose that’s a good thing – better to know than to have something catch you off-guard later with the health of your child.

Condoms and vasectomies. If a guy like you (and you, and you!) doesn’t want a kid, those are your two options. Well, three if you count keeping your soldier out of the killing field. The sweet, sweet killing field.

Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance, or RISUG, is back in the news. We covered RISUG in June, so it only seems fit for PBS to cover the story now, if for no other reason than making 8BitDad look ahead of the curve. PBS also took a look at a male pill that – wait, look at this – 8BitDad covered back in March. Damn we’re good.

So, if you want to learn more about peter pills and nut-shots that we’ve already told you about, head on over to PBS’ slowpoke news site, and read it all again.

News for those living under a rock: if you’re an expectant father, it might not be an amazing idea to be smoking around your pregnant wife.

A “new” study by University of Nottingham researchers showed that – now get this – secondhand smoke increased the risk of stillbirth. Allow 8BitDad to be the one to say - this is breaking news! Breathing smoke – that is, carbon-filled air – is bad for the vulnerable and tender being that is growing inside of a pregnant woman!

This study, of course, is slated for April to show up in everyone’s favorite journal: Pediatrics.

While sexually-active people in the United States still rely heavily upon men sticking their penises in colored bags and women finding a way to ovulate as few times a year as possible, Indonesians are working on a new method sure to create a new era of oopsies and panicked mornings-after: a male birth control pill.

Head of Indonesia’s state-run National Family Planning Coordination Board, Sugiri Syarief, says that this baby could be ready to roll at the end of the year, but will more likely be available in early 2012.