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Comment by simonsarris | Hacker News Reader

People offering human-centric explanations like cell phones: Note also that the sperm quality of dogs has decreased 30% since 1988.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2016/08/09/ciencia/1470755907_2432...

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31281

This suggests its more environmental, chemical, diet-based, etc.

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Dogs often mimic the lifestyles of their owner, therefore building off of rsync's comment it would suggest that could also be linked to rising obesity rates. Although chemical and environmental causes likely also play a factor. I'm thinking along the lines of "all of the above"; poor health regardless of what causes it will lead to lowered fertility

I dunno. Just on the face of what you're saying, it's probably worth pointing out that dogs also spend a lot of time around devices used by humans. So what about e.g. wild dogs?

laptops can make your balls overheat and cause problems, I remember that being an actual problem.

Do people actually put laptops in their laps?

My 12" ultra-portable sits on my desk at home/office. When commuting if I'm using it, it will sit on my backpack on my lap.

My 17" laptop that is heavier than my desktop, stays on the kitchen table.

Mine is currently right on top of my bits & pieces, so yes?

Yes, people do. I use my laptop on the couch all the time.

You should use a cushion or wood tablet in that case, e.g. Ikea has them for a couple bucks.

You never take your laptop to the couch?

Sure, but if I'm on the couch, I use a throw pillow.

My dog won't use a laptop

Yeah, they're traditionally Mobile

To expand upon diet-based -- how about food preservatives from processed foods. For example: Propyl parahydroxybenzoate[0][1]

[0] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Propyl_4-hydroxybe...

[1] The dirt: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12419695

Perhaps global warming could play a role. It affects reptiles a lot (limiting fertility, making it so that there are more females than males, turning males into females, etc.)

From the article:

>In contrast, no significant decline was seen in South America, Asia and Africa.

Presumably on average these regions are also seeing similar temperature increases. I'd think that whatever the cause is, it's not something that is affecting people on a global scale.

Also, temperature-dependent sex determination is only seen in a few species, and not in mammals as far as I know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature-dependent_sex_dete...

But aren't there human inhabited parts of the world which are warmer than the western world...

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