Study debunks full-moon injury beliefs By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 31, 6:21 PM ET



Ever whacked your thumb with a hammer, or wrenched your back after lifting a heavy box, and blamed the full moon? It's a popular notion, but there's no cosmic connection, Austrian government researchers said Tuesday.

Robert Seeberger, a physicist and astronomer at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said a team of experts analyzed 500,000 industrial accidents in Austria between 2000 and 2004 and found no link to lunar activity.

"The full moon does not unfavorably affect the likelihood of an accident," Seeberger said.

The study, released Tuesday by the General Accident Insurance Office, said that on average there were 415 workplace accidents registered per day. Yet on days when the moon was full, the average actually dipped to 385, though the difference was not statistically significant.

The lunar influence theory dates at least to the first century A.D., when the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder wrote that his observations suggested "the moon produces drowsiness and stupor in those who sleep outside beneath her beams."

Seeberger, who advises the Austrian government on accident prevention, said he and fellow researcher Manfred Huber decided to take a closer look because the full moon theory kept surfacing "again and again."

They also checked for a possible interplay between the rate of accidents and the position of the moon relative to Earth, theorizing that gravity might have some effect in tripping people up at work.

But the moon orbits the planet in almost a perfect circle, and there was also no statistically significant relationship between the accident rate and the moon's closest proximity to Earth.

There were an average 400 accidents on days when the moon nudged closest, the study found, compared to an average 396 per day at other times.

Past studies have differed on whether the full moon affects humans by subtly influencing "biological tides."

A landmark study published in 1984 in the British Medical Journal examined the incidence of crimes reported to police from 1978-82 in three locations in India — one rural, one urban, one industrial — and found a spike in crime on full moon days compared to all other days.

But another study, done in Canada in 1998 by University of Saskatchewan researchers, looked at nearly 250,000 traffic accidents that caused property damage or nonfatal injuries over a nine-year period and found no relationship to the lunar phase.

Most scientists agree that at nearly 239,240 miles away, the moon is simply too distant — and human beings too small — for it to have any significant effect.

"There's no real reason why it should," said D. John Hillier, a professor of astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh who was not involved in the Austria study.

"It's often probably just cases of people remembering that there happened to be a full moon when something occurred," he said. "When nothing special happens, they tend not to notice what the moon is doing. So this selective memory just keeps the legend going."




Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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I wonder how many other things such as this are untrue.
and this now puts a damper on our explanation for last night...
hmmm...
lol

But they closed in on accidents, not strange behavior.
Plus their research seemed to be a little all over the place...

Iv never blamed an accident or injury on the full moon...why that would be "Loony"
but i do fell a bit more antsy during full moons...

I've never blamed a injury on the moon either, but I have heard stories of hospitals filling up on full moons. I guess that'd imply moon related injuries.

*slaps knee from Sammy's pun*
ahahahahahahahaha....
anyways...
yes, one of my friend's mom is a nurse and my mom works at a health insurance company (She just certifies people, she isn't the mean "rip off" people) but they claim that hospitals get more full on a full moon.
That'd be an intresting theory to test out.

There's another thread about this....
where i mentioned there's always more Violence reported during full moons..
especially during the hot august month....

What thread?
and August is a quite peculiar month : D

Yes... and i blae you for it Lily!

I believe the hot summer months such as August brings on irritation and short tempers just because humans are so uncomfortable in hot weather.
Power outages and no air conditioning and people cooped up under these conditions brings out the worst in everyone.
I of course have also heard this on News Reports.

you're so right, Rosemary!
it's a similar example to people living in North, like Swedish or citizens of Alaska...
many of them suffer from depression and high percentage of suicides is being recorded there every year,
and that's simply because of lack of the sun during the year
and the same story with the forecast,
when they always provide us information about favourable or unfavourable influence of weather conditions on our condition
maybe moon phases have no influence indeed, i'm not quite sure about it, but certainly we are very dependent on weather!

Although the moon's light is just a reflection from the sun.

Ah, it states that the moon is so far away that it would have no effect on us. It does, it effects our oceans due to the gravitational pull due to how close it is.
Also, where I work my co-workers and I have noticed that on and close to a full moon that people get crazy. The phone calls increase and clients come in alot more for crazy things.
Maybe if the moon has such an impact on our bodies of water that maybe it impacts us due to the fact that:

A significant fraction of the human body is water. This body water is distributed in different compartments in the body. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water. Blood contains 83% water, body fat contains 25% water and bone has 22% water

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_water

Now THAT is an awesome theory Cheryl!
I've never heard that before but when i read that, I said out loud "Huh! That makes sense!"
I completely agree with that theory!

hahaha Cheryl, this is nuts....but DOES make sense indeed!

The article mentioned we were too tiny to be affected by the moon. I agree that we're mostly water and everything, and that the moon does affect the oceans. But seventy-one percent of the Earth's surface is ocean. Were just these tiny little ants walking around compared to the size of the ocean. It'd be like saying the moon affects swimming pools/hot tubs, or is affecting my bowl of soup and is pulling it towards one side of the bowl. If we drained all the water out of everybody on the planet and put it all together, maybe it would be big enough for the moon to have an affect on. Nobody would be left around to see it though

That's just my outlook on it anyways

HHmmm.....But!....the liquid in our bodies inter-react with Our nervous system
which inter-reacts with our brain...and maybe Thats.. what makes us humans.. get all weirded out ..
And..lets not forget about the Electro Magnetic Field
that's generated from the magnetic pull from the full moon...< hope that made since >

It did make sense,
And does the moon in fact effect the pools and ponds?
Do we know... I mean just the slightest bit.

Ah yes, ever heard that the full moon makes people more aggressive?

Like Luna hit on....a smaller body of water probably isn't enough to measure in scientific ways,
but i wonder... .during a full moon...if someone was to take a long soothing bath in a bathtub..
especially if it was someone who already has some kind of heightened sense in any way
may feel more relaxed or have even more heightened sciences ...?

Hmm, interesting thought Sammy.

hmmm...it reminds me of Archimedes and his law of upthrust
according to the legend, he formulated the law while stepping into the bathtub full of water, thereupon ran into the street naked shouting Heureka!

...soooo, do you think it happened during the full moon?

Haha.....maybe iwona...maybe...

Well Chupa, I think anybody who saw him as he ran past would defintely agree that there was a full moon out and about that night

Funny pic Luna!

That was funny!

I found that they did a study and the moon effects fish: (and they are way smaller then people)
http://www.bobberstop.com/mooneffects.html

I found the moon does effect lakes/rivers:

In addition to rivers, lakes are also affected by the lunar tide action. These are effects usually easier to detail. Lake high tides are opposite the Moon when the Moon is below the horizon. If the Moon is up, the water of the lake follows the Moon around the shore. Low tide goes along the opposing shore. Lake Michigan, for example, has a tidal difference of 1and 3/4 inches.

http://www.thespaceguy.com/moontides.htm