Learning! Does the moon affect our actions?

Short answer: no.

Okay, I know that a lot of people already knew/accepted the fact that the moon doesn't affect our actions, but I'm still a little bummed about another new study that has come out confirming this fact.  I don't know, I guess growing up with a mom who worked in a hospital gave me enough stories about people acting crazy on full moons (as well as packed-full maternity wards) to believe that there might be something to this full moon business.

This study looked at kids' sleeping patterns to see if sleep was at all disrupted in different phases of the lunar cycle.  They looked at almost 6,000 kids in many different countries.  The only change they found was that kids slept about 5 mins less (a 1% change) at the full moon, and more likely explained by their sample size and not the moon itself.

Well, phooey.

Fine then.

The researcher, Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput, did say that, "Folklore and even certain instances of occupational lore suggest that mental health issues or behaviors of humans and animals are affected by lunar phases. Whether there is science behind the myth or not, the moon mystery will continue to fascinate civilizations in the years to come."

So at least I can get my hopes up every once in a while when a new study comes out.

Source: Science Daily