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Published online 1 September 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060828-13
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Pull of the Moon
Tales of the Moon's effects on animal behaviour are not just moonshine.
While werewolves are the stuff of folklore, the light and the gravitational pull of the Moon do have real effects on the behaviour and physiology of a host of earthbound organisms — including, perhaps, people.
One of the most obvious ways in which the Moon affects Earth is by pulling on the oceans and creating tides (the gravity of the Moon also creates a phenomenon called 'earth tides', a slight bulge in the Earth's crust that has been linked to volcanic eruptions).
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