00:03A full moon shows up to Earthly viewers when the Moon's orbit takes it around to the point where Sun,
00:08Earth and Moon line up.
00:10And the onrushing sunlight fully splashes the Earth-facing face of the Moon.
00:15But does that cause any special weirdness here on Earth?
00:31The full Moon is more than just a passing phase. During the full Moon, and also at the completely dark
00:36New Moon phase, gravity of the nearby Moon lines up in phase with gravity of the far away but hugely
00:43massive Sun to cause higher tides in Earth's oceans.
00:46Now, could all that crazy gravity slosh around the liquids inside our living bodies, and what could happen if they
00:52did?
00:53Well, people have long speculated, but turns out the idea that exposure to the full Moon causes insanity is, well,
01:00just sheer lunacy.
01:02Study after study has found no statistical correlation between observed psychotic episodes, or crime statistics, or animal bites.
01:10Really, you're not any more likely to hideously mutate into your werewolf form on the night of the full Moon
01:15than you are on any other night.
01:19Some species of real wolves do seem to like to howl at the full Moon, but researchers are not quite
01:25sure yet just why.
01:29Buddhism teaches that all full Moon days are holy.
01:33Judaism marks at least three significant yearly holidays by the full Moon.
01:38And many cultures around the Earth give a pet name to each passing full Moon.
01:43Buck Moon, Oak Moon, Milk Moon, Pink Moon, Hay Moon, Green Moon, Old Moon, Cold Moon, Egg Moon.
01:52And once in a blue Moon, we get two full Moons in a month, which is really just a trick
01:56of the calendar we picked.
02:03Shannon, Shannon, August, Moon Moon, Pink Moon.
02:12With the Moon, the Earth, and even the Sun constantly in motion, there's actually only one infinitely short instant, when
02:19the Moon is truly full.
02:22At that one moment, the far side of the moon actually is the dark side of the moon.
02:33And finally, here's a tip.
02:35The full moon is the very worst time to observe the moon.
02:39The harsh lighting is too bright and too flat to show you the true beauty of Earth's magnificent natural satellite.
02:48So that's the full moon.
02:50This is your Two Minute Universe, and I'm Dave Brody.
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