Does the full Moon make us act oddly?

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2017

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Listener Paul Don asks: "I'm wondering what's the feasibility of terraforming another planet ie Mars and if it is possible to do the same thing with something like the moon? Or, why isn't there already a moon-base? Surely that is easier."

Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry consider moving to another planet, and discover what challenges they would need to overcome to live in space. They consult engineer Prof Danielle George from the University of Manchester and Dr Louisa Preston, UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellow in Astrobiology. Adam also hears about attempts to recreate a Martian base on a volcano in Hawaii. He calls Hi-Seas crew member Tristan Bassingthwaighte, who has just emerged from a year of isolation.

The Bad Moon Rising “A teacher I work with swears that around the time of the full moon kids are rowdier in the classroom, and more marital disharmony in the community," says Jeff Boone from El Paso in Texas. “Is there any biological reason why the moon's phases could affect human moods and behaviour?”

Our scientific sleuths sift through the evidence to find out if the moon really does inspire lunacy. They consider Othello's testimony, a study on dog bites and homicides in Florida before coming to a conclusion based on current scientific evidence. Featuring neuroscientist Eric Chudler from the University of Washington and health broadcaster and author Claudia Hammond.

If you have any Curious Cases for the team to solve please email [email protected].

(Photo: A full moon. Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Thank you for downloading from the BBC.
0:03.0	The details of our complete range of podcasts and our terms of use,
0:07.0	go to BBCworldservice.com slash podcasts.
0:10.0	Welcome to episode 3 of the curios. broadcasts. are about the moon. Yes we've got two episodes, two separate ideas about the moon. The
0:27.2	first is well basically could we live there? Yeah, does it make a better place
0:32.0	to live than Mars say?
0:34.6	And actually, what do we have to do to make it habitable?
0:37.3	A lot is the answer, is the short answer.
0:40.3	spoiler alert.
0:41.3	It's true.
0:42.3	You know what though, there aren't like real people whose actual jobs
0:45.0	are to try and work out how to make this happen.
0:48.0	Indeed there are and in just a few minutes we're going to be talking to some of them. Hannah, do you know what's wrong with this planet?
0:58.0	No, what?
1:02.0	Well, it's all the oceans and the trees, they're just a bit boring, aren't they?
1:06.0	The waterfalls and the rainbows.
1:08.0	Oh my God, yawn so boring.
1:10.0	Well, don't worry, because questioner Paul Don has the following proposal.
1:15.0	I'm wondering what's the feasibility of terraforming another planet, i.e. Mars.
1:20.0	And if it's possible to do the same thing with something like the moon. Yes exactly
1:24.0	dusty gray cold and atmosphereless that's what I'm talking about. Well that dream
1:28.8	may one day be a reality Adam and it's called terraforming.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.