Lunar Phases Essay

Lunar degree (or Moon phase) refers to the appearance of the illuminated ascribe of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, correspond to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. One half of the lunar surface is unceasingly illuminated by the Sun (except during lunar eclipses), and is hence bright, but the portion of the illuminated hemisphere that is visible to an observer can vary from degree centigrade% ( all-inclusive laze) to 0% (new lunar month). The boundary betwixt the illuminated and unilluminated hemispheres is called the terminator.The lunar cause is a theory which everywherelaps into sociology, psychology and physiology suggesting that in that respect is correlational statistics in the midst of circumstantial stages of the Earths lunar cycle and deviant behavior in world beings. It is a pseudoscientific theory, however. The claims of a correlation of lunar phases to human behavior do not hold up under scientific scrutiny.Over the past 30 years, even more(prenominal) evidence has emerged to sift that this is pseudoscience. The theory is sometimes also referred to as the Transylvanian hypothesis or the Transylvanian tack in scholarly literature.The notion behind the lunar effect has spell-bound many behavioralists and warranted many experiments and studies. Most experiments, however, impart found no correlation between the variables and, thus, confoundd the theory.There are some studies which have results the researchers claimed supported the theory. For example, a teaching concluded that schizophrenic patients show signs of deterioration, in terms of quality of smell and mental well-being, during the time of a wide of the mark moon. Some researchers have claimed that there were strong positive correlations between physiological changes such as generate seizures in epileptic and non-epileptic people and the full moon flow rate in st udies they conducted. One study concluded that a statistically significant correlations for GI bleeding among males in particular during this time. However, most of these findings are based on small-scale research.On the other hand, the majority of scientific research seems to refute the theory of the lunar effect. Psychologist Ivan Kelly of the University of Saskatchewan (with James Rotton and Roger Culver) did a meta-analysis of thirty-seven studies that examined relationships between the moons four phases and human behavior. The meta-analysis revealed no correlation. They also checked cardinal studies that had claimed to show correlation, and nearly half of these contained at least one statistical error. Kelly, Ronnie Martins, and Donald Saklofske evaluated twenty dollar bill-one studies of births related to the phase of the moon and found no correlation. The scientific data supports the view that there is no causal relationship between lunar phenomena and human behavior. (Dief endorf 2007113)A study of 4,190 suicides in Sacramento County over a 58-year period showed no correlation to the phase of the moon.A 1992 radical by Mar decennarys, Kelly, and Saklofske reviewed twenty studies examining correlations between Moon phase and suicides. Most of the twenty studies found no correlation and the ones that did report positive results were inconsistent with each other. Psychologist Arnold Lieber of the University of Miami reported a correlation of homicides in Dade County to moon phase, but after analysis of the data including that by astronomer George Abell did not support Liebers conclusions. Kelly, Rotton, and Culver point out that Lieber and Carolyn Sherin used inappropriate and misleading statistical procedures.When more appropriate tests were done, no correlation between homicides and the phase of the moon was found.Astronomer Daniel Caton study 70,000,000 birth records from the National Center for Health Statistics, and no correlation between births and moon phase was found. Kelly, Rotton, and Culver report that Caton examined 45,000,000 births and found a weak diadem around the third quarter phase of the Moon, while the full moon and new moon phases had an mediocre or s light-heartedly below middling birth rate.In 1959 Walter and Abraham Menaker reported that a study of over 510,000 births in spick-and-span York City showed a 1 per centum increase in births in the two weeks after full moon.In 1967 Walter Menaker studied another 500,000 births in New York City, and this time he found a 1 percent increase in births in the two-week period centered on the full moon. In 1973 M. Osley, D. Summerville, and L. B. Borst studied another 500,000 births in New York City, and they reported a 1 percent increase in births before the full moon. In 1957 Rippmann analyzed 9,551 births in Danville, PA and found no correlation between the birth rate and the phase of the moon.A fifteen month study in Jacksonville, Florida also revealed at le ast no lunar effect on crime and hospital room admittance. In particularThere was no increase in crime on full moons, according to a statistical analysis by the Jacksonville Police Department. Five of the fifteen full moons had a higher than average rate of crime while ten full moons had a lower than average rate.The higher-than-average twenty-four hour periods were during warmer months. statistical analysis of visits to Shands Hospital emergency room showed no full moon effect. Emergency room admissions consistently have more to do with the day of the week.The word menstruation is etymologically related to moon. The terms menstruation and flow are derived from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon) and to the roots of the face words month and moonreflecting the fact that the moon also takes refinement to 28 days to revolve around the Earth (actually 27.32 days). The synodical lunar month, the period between two new moons (or full moons), is 29. 53 days long. Some seeds guess women in traditional societies without nightlighting ovulated with the full moon and menstruated with the new moon.A some studies in both existence and animals have found that artificial light at night does influence the menstrual cycle in piece and the estrus cycle in mice (cycles are more regular in the absence of artificial light at night), though none have demonstrated the synchronization of womens menstrual cycles with the lunar cycle. One author has suggested that sensitivity of womens cycles to nightlighting is caused by nutritional deficiencies of certain vitamins and minerals. Other animals menstrual cycles may be greatly different from lunar cycles while the average cycle length in orangutans is the same as in humans28 daysthe average for chimpanzees is 35 days. Some take this as evidence that the average length of humans cycle is most seeming a coincidence.