Colony Collapse Disorder is the name scientists have given to the sudden and mysterious decimation of bee populations worldwide, and some given the task to seek an explanation for this dire situation have pointed the possible finger of blame to the global explosion of cell phone use over the last decade.

I wrote about this phenomenon over at Tech News Watch a few weeks back, and Steve wrote about it at usrbingeek’s musings more recently, but it seems more likely that these recent depletions in the bee population are due to fungal encroachment rather than cell phone signals.

Jia-Rui Chong and Thomas H. Maugh II of the Los Angeles Times report:

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.

Researchers have been struggling for months to explain the disorder, and the new findings provide the first solid evidence pointing to a potential cause.

But the results are “highly preliminary” and are from only a few hives from Le Grand in Merced County, UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi said. “We don’t want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved.”

That’s hardly a definite answer, but it’s probably a more tangible path toward finding a solution to the problem than assuming that humankind’s dabbling in technological forces beyond its ken is to blame… this time!