Watts Up With That?

About two weeks ago I published this story about the loony idea that was proposed by some researcher in Europe about “cell phone radiation may be killing bees”. I pointed out that it was garbage then, as it is now. Here’s a portion of the original post I made:

There’s an article on UK’s The Independent website about a most unusual scientific theory: “Cell Phones kill bees.”

Well today in the LA Times, it seems that UC San Francisco researchers have uncovered what they believe to be the real cause, and its not loony ideas like cell phones. Its fungus.

From the article:
A fungus that caused widespread loss of bee colonies in Europe and Asia may be playing a crucial role in the mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder that is wiping out bees across the United States, UC San Francisco researchers said Wednesday.

Other researchers said Wednesday that they too had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in affected hives from around the country — as well as in some hives where bees had survived. Those researchers have also found two other fungi and half a dozen viruses in the dead bees.

The researchers caution that the results are preliminary, and data sampling represents just a fraction of hives, but they are encouraged by the findings. Hopefully they’ll be able to come up with a solution.

Yet it appears that the “Cell Phones kill bees” lunacy has caught on, since there’s a comment today in the ER’s “Tell it to the ER” that furthers that nutball idea. What a public disservice that column is.

Thanks to Lon Glazner for the tip.