The Full Moon: Is It Messing With Us?

People swear that weird stuff goes down on a full moon. In fact, even SERIOUS folks like the nerds who work in ERs will tell you that something is off about those nights. And what’s amazing is that science has actually looked at this. And … there is some weird stuff here! From animals to ERs to our circadian rhythms to our menstrual cycles, we’ll find out — is something afoot during a full moon? We talk to Emeritus Prof. of emergency medicine Dr. Wendy Coates and circadian rhythm researchers Prof. Horacio de la Iglesia, Prof. Kristin Teßmar-Raible, and Prof. Charlotte Helfrich-Förster. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsFullMoon 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) What do people think the full moon is doing to us?

(03:54) How the moon influences animals

(07:47) Does the full moon make ERs busier?

(15:09) Does the full moon affect our sleep?

(22:11) HOW is the full moon messing with us?

(31:05) Does the full moon affect our menstrual cycles?

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Fact checking by Marlowe Starling. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Bobby Lord, Emma Munger, So Wylie, and Peter Leonard. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Dr. Ron Flick, Dr. Michael Smolensky, Michael Bevington, Dr. Laurel Symes, Professor Laura Prugh, and Dr. Maarten Nijsten. Special thanks to Kevin Walsh and all the folks who chatted with me about the full moon. 

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