The American press may be ignoring the cell phone–sperm story, but not so physicist Robert Park. That slayer of voodoo science wants it dead and buried. [Disclosure: We have had vehement disagreements with Park over the years, especially when back in 2001, he called Microwave News a "fear merchant" based on little more than his own self-deceptions.] In the latest edition of his weekly e-mail, What's New, Park tries to apply the coup de grâce to what's left of the story: "There is not a chance that the reported sperm counts among heavy cell phone users... has anything to do with cell phone radiation," he declares. Park leaves no room for any uncertainty —it's simply an impossible finding. Once again, we are struck by the ease with which Park dismisses data that do not fit his mental constructs. For Park, theory, at least his theory, always trumps experience. We were taught that scientists had an open mind and would be moved by data. Clearly, that's not always the case.
