#6. Fake Flipper
When a bottlenose dolphin got caught in a crab trap near Cape Canaveral, Fla.,
a handful of fisherman helped her escape, but they couldn't save
her mangled tailfin. This spring, prosthetic experts from Hanger Orthopedic Group in Bethesda, Md., designed a plastic tail for the baby dolphin and a new type of gel to
hold it in place. And to critics who pooh-pooh such efforts as a waste of resources, it's worth noting that the gel was later
used to help an Iraq War veteran attach his prosthetic legs more
comfortably.
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