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 ... ! :-> 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! = :-></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! ;-></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><<A = href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca">c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca</A>></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