Bobby recently reviewed a laptop stand that claims to protect against the effects of WiFi, but we were skeptical since there was no way to prove or disapprove those claims. We’re still skeptical, and I have no plans to buy the stand, but chalk a recent MSNBC article (published 3 days after Bobby’s review) up to strange coincidence. According to the article, a study from Argentinian scientists found that the electromagnetic radiation generated during wireless communications caused harm to sperm in a laboratory study. But before you panic, read on for some of the details.

Here are some of the pertinent details of the study:

• Semen samples from 29 health men were used;
• The samples were placed under an internet-connected laptop, that was downloading wirelessly;
• A separate test was done with a laptop that was powered on, but not wirelessly connected;
• Four hours later, a quarter of the sperm under the internet-connected laptop weren’t swimming around, compared to 14% from a sample stored separately away from the computer;
• 9% showed DNA damage, which was four times the amount of the comparison sample.

It is important to note that the test didn’t exactly replicate real-world conditions. Perhaps most importantly, the sperm were not in the human body during the test, so there is no way to know if the effects would be the same on a person. We also don’t know how many times the test was repeated, if at all. If it was only done once, one could wonder whether the results would be different on subsequent tests.

Is the possibility enough that you’ll think about how you use your laptop, if kids are in your future?

Wifi-enabled laptops may be nuking sperm – MSNBC [via ExtremeTech]