full moon fever

In studying 11,940 cases at the Colorado State University Veterinary Medical Center, researchers found the risk of emergency room visits to be 23 percent higher for cats and 28 percent higher for dogs on days surrounding full moons. The types of emergencies ranged from cardiac arrest to epileptic seizures and trauma, and the increase was most pronounced during the moon's three fullest stages—waxing gibbous, full and waning gibbous. This sounds entirely plausible to me.

I'm far more dubious of the guy who claims that the phase of the moon affects affects slot machines. “Gambling on or near days of the full moon, and by avoiding the casino on or near days of the new moon, over the long-term, gamblers may be able to boost their payout percentage by about 2 per cent,” writes Dr. Dean Radin.

Oh boy. I'm a skeptic on this one.