[NatureNS] Bees, Cell Phones, and CCD (yet again)

References: <46981238.17345.F1F799@jtimpa.ns.sympatico.ca>
From: c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca
Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2007 12:21:57 -0300
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects



--Apple-Mail-116--39112400
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset=WINDOWS-1252;
	delsp=yes;
	format=flowed

Hi Jean,

On 14-Jul-07, at 12:00 AM, Jean Timpa wrote:

>  I don't think he is very convinced about the cell phone theory =20
> just  yet, but a study in England, for what it is worth, was quite =20
> adament about its unhealthy qualities.

No, no, no, no, no ... ! :-> This cell-phone-CCD connection has now =20
morphed into an urban myth. None of the above is true.

There was an small pilot study (in 2006) conducted in Germany (not =20
England) by four scientists (Stefan Kimmel, Jochen Kuhn, Wolfgang =20
Harst, and Hermann Stever at University of Koblenz-Landau) who =20
examined a specific type of cordless signal base station (DECT) =20
(nothing to do with cell phones which use a different technology and =20
different radio frequencies). The put the DECT base station right =20
inside a hive, paralyzed the bees with CO^2, marked them with red =20
dots, took them .5 km away and released them, and then waited 45 =20
minutes to see what proportion of them returned to radiated, =20
partially-irradiated, or non-radiated bee hives. The overall =20
proportions of returning bees were 54%, 56%, and 63% (respectively) =20
and the differences between them were not statistically significant =20
(Kruskal-Wallis H test) over 52 paired trials conduced in June and =20
July, 2006.

Two British reporters (Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross) who knew =20
nothing about what was involved (and seeming failed to understand =20
what "statistically not significant" means) jumped on the story as a =20
potential explanation for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). They got a =20
guy who wrote a best-selling book on how cell phones are killing =20
people to go along with the theory, wrote a story about it which was =20
published in The Independent, a British newspaper (not a scientific =20
journal) on March 16, 2007 and presto =96 this explodesd across the =20
Internet, is repeated over and over (often without any proper =20
attribution) and, viola, bogus science is born! :->

Stefan Kimmel, the lead author of the study, wrote to The Associated =20
Press to say that there is "no link between our tiny little study and =20=

the CCD-phenomenon ... anything else said or written is a lie."

Douglas Yanega of the Department of Entomology Research Museum at the =20=

University of California, who is an outstanding entomologist and an =20
authority on bees has written: "All kidding aside, this is an =20
appalling manipulation of junk science to create junk fact, resulting =20=

in REAL fear and REAL misinformation."

So in summary there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to link cell-=20=

phone transmissions within anything to do with the behaviour of bees, =20=

let alone Colony Collapse Disorder, and even Kimmel et al.'s (2006) =20
study on cordless signal base stations inside bee hives shows no =20
statistical significance of these on the homing behavior of bees.

As far as I'm concerned, the best take on this whole story is a =20
parody news site on the Internet that blames rapper Kevin Federline, =20
Britney Spears' ex-husband, and his concerts for the disappearance of =20=

bees! ;->

All the best!

Chris

If anyone is interested in the actual results of Kimmel et al. (2006) =20=

study it is available at:

http://agbi.uni-landau.de/material_download/preprint_IAAS_2007.pdf

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._
Christopher Majka                       <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>
Electronic Resources on Coleoptera, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
http://chebucto.ca/Environment/NHR/coleoptera.html

"Whenever I hear of the capture of rare beetles, I feel like
an old warhorse at the sound of a trumpet"  - Charles Darwin
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._


--Apple-Mail-116--39112400
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset=WINDOWS-1252

<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Jean,<DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On =
14-Jul-07, at 12:00 AM, Jean Timpa wrote:</DIV><BR =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">=A0I don't think he is very convinced about the cell =
phone theory just<SPAN class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0=A0yet, but a =
study in England, for what it is worth, was quite adament about its =
unhealthy=A0qualities.=A0</SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV><DIV>No, =
no, no, no, no ... ! :-&gt; This cell-phone-CCD connection has now =
morphed into an urban myth. None of the above is true.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>There was an small pilot =
study (in 2006) conducted in Germany (not England) by four scientists =
(Stefan Kimmel,=A0Jochen Kuhn, Wolfgang Harst, and Hermann Stever at =
University of Koblenz-Landau) who=A0examined a specific type of cordless =
signal base station (DECT) (nothing to do with cell phones which use a =
different technology and different radio frequencies). The put the DECT =
base station right inside a hive, paralyzed the bees with CO^2, marked =
them with red dots, took them .5 km away and released them, and then =
waited 45 minutes to see what proportion of them returned to radiated, =
partially-irradiated, or non-radiated bee hives. The overall proportions =
of returning bees were 54%, 56%, and 63% (respectively) and the =
differences between them were <B>not</B> statistically =
significant=A0(Kruskal-Wallis H test) over 52 paired trials conduced in =
June and July, 2006.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-style-span">Two British reporters (Geoffrey Lean and =
Harriet Shawcross)=A0who knew nothing about what was involved (and =
seeming failed to understand what "statistically not significant" means) =
jumped on the story as a potential explanation for Colony Collapse =
Disorder (CCD). They got a guy who wrote a best-selling book on how cell =
phones are killing people to go along with the theory, wrote a story =
about it which was published in The Independent, a British newspaper =
(not a scientific journal) on March 16, 2007 and presto =96 this =
explodesd across the Internet, is repeated over and over (often without =
any proper attribution) and, viola, bogus science is born! =
:-&gt;</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Stefan Kimmel, the lead =
author of the study, wrote to The Associated Press to say that there is =
"no link between our tiny little study and the CCD-phenomenon ... =
anything else said or written is a lie."=A0</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Douglas Yanega of =
the=A0Department of Entomology Research Museum at the University =
of=A0California, who is an outstanding entomologist and an authority on =
bees has written: "All kidding aside, this is an appalling manipulation =
of junk science to create junk fact, resulting in REAL fear and REAL =
misinformation."</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-style-span">So in summary there is absolutely no evidence =
whatsoever to link cell-phone transmissions within anything to do with =
the behaviour of bees, let alone=A0Colony Collapse Disorder, and =
even=A0Kimmel <I>et al.'s</I> (2006) study on=A0cordless signal base =
stations inside bee hives shows no statistical significance of these on =
the homing behavior of bees.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>As far as I'm concerned, =
the best take on this whole story is a=A0parody news site on the =
Internet that blames rapper Kevin Federline, Britney Spears' ex-husband, =
and his concerts for the disappearance of bees! ;-&gt;</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>All the best!</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Chris</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-style-span">If anyone is interested in the actual results =
of Kimmel<I> et al. </I>(2006) study it is available =
at:</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A =
href=3D"http://agbi.uni-landau.de/material_download/preprint_IAAS_2007.pdf=
">http://agbi.uni-landau.de/material_download/preprint_IAAS_2007.pdf</A></=
DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV> <P =
style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" =
style=3D"font: 12.0px =
Times">_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._=
._</FONT></P> <P style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT =
face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Times">Christopher Majka =
<SPAN class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 </SPAN>&lt;<A =
href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca">c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca</A>&gt;</F=
ONT></P> <P style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times"=
 size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Times">Electronic Resources on =
Coleoptera, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada</FONT></P> <P style=3D"margin: =
0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: =
12.0px Times"><A =
href=3D"http://chebucto.ca/Environment/NHR/coleoptera.html">http://chebuct=
o.ca/Environment/NHR/coleoptera.html</A></FONT></P> <P style=3D"margin: =
0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times; min-height: =
14.0px"><BR></P> <P style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT =
face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Times">"Whenever I hear =
of the capture of rare beetles, I feel like</FONT></P> <P style=3D"margin:=
 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: =
12.0px Times">an old warhorse at the sound of a trumpet"<SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN>- Charles Darwin</FONT></P> =
<P style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" =
size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px =
Times">_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._=
._</FONT></P>  </DIV><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>=

--Apple-Mail-116--39112400--

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects