Mobiles a threat to bees and humans

TWO RECENT studies, totally unconnected with each other, suggest mobile phones may be having a negative effect on wildlife. At first sight the notion seems a bit bizarre, or even paranoid, but the findings are interesting.

The first study was carried out in England by the British Trust for Ornithology, a much respected organisation. They were trying to find a reason for a decline in the numbers of house sparrows, particularly in urban areas. At the end of the survey they noticed a precise correlation between the absence of house sparrows and the presence of mobile phone transmission masts.

Nobody is quite sure why this should be. But it is known that the brains of birds are sensitive to electro-magnetic radiation, in a way that human brains are not, and that some species use this sensitivity to help them navigate, particularly on long distance migrations.