Mysteries of Moon

©copyright 2006 Robert Todd Carroll

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, 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...

Scientists believe that despite water being found on the moon it is still too dry to have ever supported life.A lack of hydrogen in the magma oceans during the moon"s formation would have meant very little water, far too little to support life. Contrary to recent reports aboutwater content in lunar rocks, the Moon may be quite dry, say scientists.

A study by US researchers, published in Science, analysed chlorine isotopes of the much-studied samples, brought to Earth by the Apollo space missions.

View: Full article | Source: BBCNews

New photographs of the moon have revealed a rare hole the size of a football field on the lunar surface. New photos of the moon have revealed the most detailed views yet of a rare hole in the lunar surface — a pit large enough to swallow an entire football field whole. The boulders anddebris resting on the floor of the cavity are partially illuminated and likely originated at the surface, falling through the pit opening during its collapse.

The hole is thought to be the result of a partially collapsed lava tube.

View: Full article | Source: Space.com

A new study of rocks returned by the Apollo missions has revealed that the moon has far more water on it than thought.Scientists found 100 times more water existed within the moon"s minerals than was previously believed and that there could be enough water on the moon to fill the Great Lakes two-and-a-halftimes over.

The Moon might be much wetter than previously thought, a group of scientists has said. A US-led team analysed the mineral apatite in lunar rocks picked up by the Apollo space missions and in a lunar meteorite found in North Africa.

View: Full article | Source: BBCNews