The moon

[Gribble]

You know, I think I'm going to swim across the English Channel. 94% of my body is water so I figure it'll just float along. Therefore only 6% of my body has to actually do anything. It'll be a breeze.

[IndiReloaded]

Tell me, does the moon pull on water more than it does any other fluid?

Also, don't you think the moon would pull more on things that are lighter and less dense than water?

There is no direct connection between the moon and water. If the moon manages to pull on water, than it also is pulling on everything else on the Earth. The trees, grass, air, animals (us), buildings, everything. The moon's gravitational pull would not be selective towards water, considering air is even more fluid than water.

Have you considered any of this?

The moon *does* exert a minor gravitation force on our bodies, which includes the water in them. However, the effect is not worth thinking about. Its like spitting in the ocean.

The gravity between two objects is related to their mass and their distance. The building you are sitting in right now has more effect on you than the moon. This is why astrology is not a true science. All its effects are explained by Gribbles 'selective memory', he describes.

A much more interesting subject would be to describe the nature of gravity itself. How is it manifested in our physical universe.

[ecojeanne]

it's a full moon today.....ooo! watch out people. tread carefully today

EDIT: as an experiment, any doctors or nurses on LF that think that the wards increased in patients today or had weird happenings today...ooo let us know

[ecojeanne]

for all you pregnant women out there.....

[url]http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Moons-...birth&id=70253[/url]

[doppelgaenger]

I turn into a werewolf tonight.

I'm goin' on the prowl!

[Junket]

Contrary to popular belief, however, the frequency of these behaviors will probably be no more significant tonight than on any other night of the year, according to scientific reviews of the theory that the full moon alters the way humans and wildlife behave.

"My own opinion is that the case for full moon effects has not been made," said Ivan Kelly, a Canadian psychologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Kelly has published 15 papers on the topic and reviewed more than 50 others, including one that covered some 200 studies. He concludes that there is not strong evidence of an effect.

"The studies are not consistent," he said. "For every positive study, there is a negative study."

Loony Dogs?

Case in point: Two separate studies published in the December 23, 2000 issue of the British Medical Journal contradict each other on the question of whether animals bite people more during a full moon.

Chanchall Bhattacharjee and colleagues at the Bradford Royal Infirmary in Bradford, England, reviewed 1,621 patients admitted to the infirmary's emergency room between 1997 and 1999 for animal bites and found that the chances of being bitten were twice as high on or around full-moon days.

But Simon Chapman at the University of Sydney in Australia compared dates of admission for dog bites to public hospitals in Australia with dates of the full moon over a 12-month period and found no positive relation between the full moon and dog bites.

In fact, Chapman found that full-moon days were associated with slightly lower admissions—4.6 compared with 4.8 per day. Of the 18 days with more than 10 admissions, the maximum peak centered on the New Year holiday. Full moons coincided with none of the peaks.

Chapman, who said the study was a "one-off curiosity driven exercise," has no idea why the full moon appears to cause animals in England to bite more humans but has no bearing on when dogs in Australia bite.

Similar contradictions can be found when comparing many other studies as well, such as whether or not violence, police arrests, or self poisoning increase during a full moon, according to Eric Chudler, a psychologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Regardless of what the studies say, the power of the moon is often used to explain a wide range of events, from human insanity, violent crimes, and traffic accidents to putting people in a celebratory and romantic mood.

Why? "One reason is that people have selective memories," said Chudler. "When something unusual happens and there is a full moon, people might notice the moon and assign blame."

Another mistake, according to Chudler, is failing to make the distinction between correlation and causation. He notes that just because a study finds a relationship between a full moon and certain behavior, it does not mean the moon caused this behavior.

"These are correlational studies," he said.

Kelly suggested that people who conduct studies on the relationship between the full moon and human behavior often do not collect data throughout the entire month to see if the behavior is more elevated at full-moon time compared to the rest of the month.

Another problem, suggests Kelly, lies in media coverage.

"Journalists pay too much attention to finding sensational news or news that will support interesting results," he said. "Hence [they] ignore the findings of studies and tend to prefer stories or anecdotes from policemen or nurses."

Or studies purportedly backed by a tequila manufacturer.

According to a report in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph Mexican tequila distiller Jose Cuervo sponsored a psychiatrist at Kings College in London to study the association between the full moon and strange behavior as portrayed in literature.

The psychiatrist, Glenn Wilson, found that the full moon has been portrayed in folklore and legends for centuries as cause for celebration, particularly in the times before modern lighting.

"There is good reason to believe that people's personalities do change around the time of the full moon, not because of any astronomical force, but because it creates the optimum lighting conditions for feeling carefree and mischievous," Wilson told the paper.

The full moon has been linked to crime, suicide, mental illness, disasters, accidents, birthrates, fertility, and werewolves, among other things. Some people even buy and sell stocks according to phases of the moon, a method probably as successful as many others. Numerous studies have tried to find lunar effects. So far, the studies have failed to establish much of interest. Lunar effects that have been found have little or nothing to do with human behavior, e.g., the discovery of a slight effect of the moon on global temperature,* which in turn might have an effect on the growth of plants. Of course, there have been single studies here and there that have found correlations between various phases of the moon and this or that phenomenon, but nothing significant has been replicated sufficiently to warrant claiming a probable causal relationship.

Ivan Kelly, James Rotton and Roger Culver (1996) examined over 100 studies on lunar effects and concluded that the studies have failed to show a reliable and significant correlation (i.e., one not likely due to chance) between the full moon, or any other phase of the moon, and each of the following:


-the homicide rate
-traffic accidents
-crisis calls to police or fire stations
-domestic violence
-births of babies
-suicide
-major disasters
-casino payout rates
-assassinations
-kidnappings
-aggression by professional hockey players
-violence in prisons
-psychiatric admissions [one study found admissions were lowest during a full moon]
-agitated behavior by nursing home residents
-assaults
-gunshot wounds
-stabbings
-emergency room admissions [but see]
-behavioral outbursts of psychologically challenged rural adults
-lycanthropy
-vampirism
-alcoholism
-sleep walking
-epilepsy

If so many studies have failed to prove a significant correlation between the full moon and anything, why do so many people believe in these lunar myths? Kelly, Rotton, and Culver suspect four factors: media effects, folklore and tradition, misconceptions, and cognitive biases. A fifth factor should be considered, as well: communal reinforcement.

I'm guessing you also believe in astrology.

[IndiReloaded]

Sigh. I can't believe *any* public money was wasted on even doing those studies. Its a complete non-issue. Astrology & the like is entertainment, not science.

[misombra]

i know several people who work in hospitals and they all agree that the place is packed on full moons.

imagine if we were like jupiter and we had a whole bunch of moons. that would be awesome.

[Junket]

i know several people who work in hospitals and they all agree that the place is packed on full moons.

But, it's never packed at any other time, right?

[misombra]

mikey says it is extra ****ing crazy on full moons.

[IndiReloaded]

i know several people who work in hospitals and they all agree that the place is packed on full moons.

Sure, and it might even be true. But I can easily think of several *valid* reasons that don't involve the moons gravity.

Like, its lighter outside at night so more ppl go out & do stuff they might not if it were darker.

[misombra]

well my friend, who works in the ER, came over today and said, "i had an extra-crazy ****ing day today at work." that was 7am to 7pm.

[IndiReloaded]

Ummm, okay. Its still very light at night for the several nights up to the actually full moon.

Perhaps ppl are out more/can't sleep or whatever during this time. Making them more accident-prone during the daylight hours.

Whatever. I'm just saying its NOT due to gravity. There is a difference between an observation (increased accidents--which might be true) and explanation (moon's gravity--which is NOT true).

[misombra]

lol whatev!

[IndiReloaded]

lol whatev!

Is that^ how I'm supposed to say it?