Mobile phones are not for the birds (nor the bees)

Two recent studies, totally unconnected from each other, suggest that 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.