This is scientific American 60 second science.

I'm Christopher in D'Artata.

Got a minute?

Astronologists have long contended that the stars profoundly influence people here on Earth.

And it looks like they may have stumbled on to the truth,

at least when it comes to one star, the sun.

Because a new analysis of Norwegian birth records

suggests that children born during periods of high solar activity lived five years less on average than did their counterparts born during periods of low solar activity.

And women born during solar maxima appear to have been of Researchers analyzed more than 8,600 births from 1676 to 1878,

while controlling for other factors like socioeconomic class.

And indeed, higher solar activity at birth appeared to cut lifespan.

The reason the researchers say could be exposure to increased ultraviolet radiation during

periods of high solar activity, because that UV light can degrade an expectant mother's stores of folate,

a b-vitamin essential to a baby's healthy development.

It's unclear whether the effect would still hold today

as many pregnant women take supplements of the vitamin.

And despite the sun's potentially harmful effects, we still need it to synthesize ample vitamin D.

A lot of media knowledge being that you should if you're pregnant or

planning to become pregnant then you should avoid sun or it should not go south in

winter to get a lot of sun. Especially if you're very pale.

Study author Frut of Asoe, an evolutionary biologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

We also need some to get vitamin D, so it's a delicate balance. There's an expression in

...