Objective –To check the association of the lunar cycle with the number of births Design – Retrospective cohort analysis Setting – Federal statistical office of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany Subjects – 4.071.669 lifeand stillbirths from January 1966 to December 2003, recorded on a daily basis Main outcome measure – Height of peaks in the spectrum of the time series at five different lu...

Living in the tidal zones of the sea requires synchronization with the dominant environmental influences of tidal, solar, and lunar periodicity. Endogenous clocks anticipate those geoclimatic changes and control the respective rhythms of vital functions. But the underlying mechanisms are only partly understood. While the circadian clocks in animals are investigated employing neurobiological, mo...

We measured downwelling spectral vector irradiance (from 350 to 800 nm) during evening civil and nautical twilight (solar elevation down to -12°). Nine sets of measurements were taken to cover the first half of the lunar cycle (from the new to full moon) and were also used to calculate chromaticity (CIE 1976 u'v'). The lunar phase had no consistent effect on downwelling irradiance until solar e...

The lunar semidiurnal influence is already known for tidal rivers. The moon also influences inland rivers at a monthly scale through precipitation. We show that, for some non-tidal rivers, with special geological conditions, the lunar semidiurnal tidal oscillation can be detected. The moon has semidiurnal tidal influence on groundwater, which will then export it to streamflow. Long time series ...

It is well established that the lunar cycle can affect the behaviour of nocturnal animals, but its potential to have a similar influence on diurnal species has received less research attention. Here, we demonstrate that the dawn song of a cooperative songbird, the white-browed sparrow weaver (Plocepasser mahali), varies with moon phase. When the moon was above the horizon at dawn, males began s...

Introduction: In the context of resumed lunar exploration , the existence of water ice at the lunar poles has become a pressing question. In support of human return to the moon, the confirmation of the water ice signature detected from orbiting spacecraft [1,2] is a high-priority task that can only be accomplished in situ. Therefore, a landed mission to the permanently shadowed lunar polar crat...

Using one-night sleep recordings from 852 subjects all living in Uppsala, Sweden, the present study represents one of largest polysomnography investigations into association 29.53-day long lunar cycle with among men and women across a wide age range (22–81 years). Following day after new moon until full (also named waxing period), moon's illumination increases, timing meridian is gradually shif...