Albert Einstein prophecy

Vanishing Bee Colonies, Doomsday Scenarios and SunspotsAlbert Einstein once said : "If the bee disappeared off the surfaceof the globe then man would only have four years of life left. Nomore bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, nomore man."Apocalyptic for sure. We haven't reached that point yet, but someworrisome indicators suggest dramatic drops in the bee population ofthe US are likely to impact crop production. This is not a smallagricultural sector that is being impacted either. In the US beespollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops each year.The disappearing bee phenomena isn't restricted to the US. In Europecountries are experiencing varying degrees of what investigatorsdescribe as "colony collapse disorder" (or CCD). Countries effectedinclude Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.However the most serious losses have occurred in the US. On the WestCoast keepers have seen bee population losses in the 30 to 60 percentrange. On the East Coast and Texas it gets as high as 70%. These arecatastrophic drops for an industry that considers around a 20%population decline to be an off-season norm.There are a number of different theories about why this is happening.After looking at a cross-section of scientific opinion I tend towardthe view that the decline in the bee population is being triggered bya variety of factors, rather than a single overriding cause.There is evidence that the immune system of bees has been adverselyeffected by modern agricultural practices. These range from use ofinsecticides to the controlled raising of bees in order to have anarmy of pollinators ready to service crops on schedule. Someresearchers take the view that genetically modified crops are acontributing factor in bee population decline. Stress figures into ittoo, given that increased pressure is being placed on colonies astheir habitat is squeezed each year due to urban development.Parasites are also an issue. The varroa mite introduced from Asia hasproved to be problematic.The decline in the health of the colonies can be demonstrated byresearch data. You know the problem has reached crisis levels when aguy like Dennis van Englesdorp with the Pennsylvania Department ofAgriculture uses an Aids analogy in an attempt to underscore theseriousness of the threat to bee populations.Researchers have discovered multiple infections co-existing in somecolonies, many of which were also infected with fungi, an indicatorthat the bees' immune systems were seriously compromised. Thiscompromised immune function may be related to genetically modifiedcrops and scientists are currently working to try to determine anypossible links. When you look at the stats though, on the surfacethere does seem to be a generalized cause and effect pattern. In theUS, which has experienced the most severe bee losses, 40% of the cornis now a GM insect-resistant strain. By contrast in Germany we areonly talking about 0.06%, mostly grown in the Mecklenburg-WesternPomerania and Brandenburg regions.A number of earlier studies investigated whether or not GM crops werehaving a negative impact on bees. One such study took place at theUniversity of Jenna from 2001 to 2004. The researchers used a GMmaize variant named "BT corn" that includes a gene from a soilbacterium in order to make it insect-proof. At first the study seemedentirely positive. No discernible negative effects were detected inthe bees from the BT corn. Then researchers discovered that when thebees were attacked by a parasite, the portion of the colony exposedto the BT corn had a much lower ability to fight off infection andshowed much more rapid levels of decline.There is a second set of factors though that raises concerns aboutquantum-mechanical effects related to magnetic fields andelectromagnetic waves. The majority of losses have been occurring asa result of bees being unable to navigate back to their hives. Beeshave been expiring singly, in a seemingly disoriented state far fromthe hive and this can't simply be attributed to immune system issues.There are two possible causes. One being our high-tech gadgetry,particularly mobile phone technology. The other cause odd though itmay seem, relates to so-called "sunspots" - the effect of solaractivity.At first glance it seems a bit far-fetched to make a connectionbetween the life of bees and mobile phones. However research suggeststhere may indeed be something to this theory. German research hasdetermined that bees showed a marked change of behavior when in thevicinity of power lines, and a study conducted at Landau Universityfound that bees avoided returning to the hive when mobile phones wereplaced nearby.A study by the mathematician Barbara Shipman, provides one of themore fascinating … one might even say `esoteric' theories. A criticalaspect of bee activity hinges obviously upon finding pollen sourcesand returning to the hive. According to Ms Shipman this routine isfacilitated by the dance the bees perform. She indicates that thedance is influenced by factors such as the polarization of the lightof the sun and variations in the earth's magnetic field.She goes further though and suggests bees are capable of identifyingquarks. I think it's a leap to suggest that bees can `perceive' thequantum field or even use it as a type of frame of reference. Myhunch is that their activity is pretty much instinctual, based upontheir highly specialized circuitry. Questions about whether or notthey can perceive quarks seems almost a moot point, especially sincethere is no way of proving it.Where the sunspot theory does hold up is that bees appear to be verysensitive to energy fluctuations. One study exposed a colony tobursts from a high-intensity magnetic field and concluded that thebees' reactions revealed a high sensitivity to nuclear magneticresonance, or NMR. This occurs when an electromagnetic wave altersthe orientation of the nuclei of atoms.Some scientists take the view that the next solar maximum may be oneof the most intense ever. Mausumi Dikpati, an astronomer with theNational Center for Atmospheric Research predicts a solar maximum for2012, a phenomena that last occurred in 1958. The sunspot generatesintense magnetism that can be felt on the earth. Dikpati evenbelieves that it is possible electronics will be effected, forexample GPS and mobile phone technology. Since solar cycle 24 beganin 2007 according to Mausumi's estimate, it's possible that thebehavior of bees is already being effected to some degree.The dramatic declines in the bee population appear to be due to acombination of factors. Insecticides, crop engineering, shrinkinghabitats and parasites have impacted the overall health and immunesystem of bees. The other factor contributing to bee decline relatesmost probably to side-effects of technology and solar activity.