The full moon is famed for everything from spookiness to magic to downright insanity. (Ever wonder where the term “lunatic” came from?) But new French research suggests it may not be all folklore: Fewer E.R. visits for anxiety disorders occur in the last lunar quarter—when only the left side of the moon is visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
Unsurprisingly, researchers don’t have a concrete answer for the connection (besides the fact that a million other factors could be at play). But they’re not the only ones who have made crazy connections between the weather and the world around us. Here are three other strange astrological or meteorological findings that we couldn’t help but share. Just believe them at your own risk.
Score Big During the New Moon
Need to make a quick buck? Forget a financial advisor—just invest your money toward the end of the month during the new moon! According to research in the Harvard Business Review, your annualized daily returns—how much you made each day extrapolated out to a year—are up to eight times greater when you invest on a new moon instead of a full one. Even freakier: The results have held across stock markets in all but one of the world’s 25 most industrialized countries (Norway)—in some cases up to 100 years. Study authors speculate people become more pessimistic and risk averse around the full moon, leading to a weaker stock market. The better plan: Invest when you’re happy. Harvard research has shown that feeling down can result in raking in 60 percent less than when you’re happy.
Watch Your Back in the Summer
Do criminals enjoy an ice cream cone during the hot summer months? According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, both a city’s crime rates and ice cream consumption peak during warmer periods. But the ice cream shops aren’t harboring thieves—it’s the weather that’s to blame. Assaults more than triple between 0-degree and 80-degree temperatures, researchers say. Summer breeds crime more so than a frigid winter: more people are outside, people often leave their homes unattended, and you’re more likely to bring easily stolen items like bikes outdoors.
Blame Stormy Weather for Your Mood
Russian scientists report that solar storms may be behind your mood swings. The researchers looked at solar activity records dating between 1948 and 1997 and found stormy periods matched up with the number of suicides in a Northern Russian town throughout that period. And researchers in the field will tell you Russians aren’t the only ones suffering: A South African study showed a 34 percent increase in the number of hospital admissions for depression in the second week after large solar storms. So if you’re sick of blaming your bad mood on work, friends, or your husband’s complaining, you could always side with the researchers and blame your pineal gland, which releases melatonin and acts as your body’s internal clock. It’s sensitive to magnetic fields and thrown off by solar storms!
Image: Stockbyte/Thinkstock
More from WH:
Why Being Neurotic Might Be a Good Thing
How Your Mood Affects Your Wallet
Are Monthly Mood Swings from Your Period a Myth?
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