Showing posts with label Earth-Moon-Sun system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth-Moon-Sun system. Show all posts

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Sunspots, Lunar Cycles and Weather Cycles | Louis M. Thompson

The occurrence of an 18- to 20-year cycle in weather in the U.S. Midwest is no longer controversial. The controversial issue is the cause. This article will present both sides of the issue, and will indicate why we will know more about the cause after the 1990s.


[...] The sunspot cycle has been associated with the “20-year drought cycle” in the western U.S. since about 1909, when A.E. Douglass started publishing his tree-ring studies. This scientist became so well known that he was able to establish the Laboratory for Tree Ring Research in Tuscon, Arizona, in 1938. 
 

[...] The sunspot cycle has averaged about 11 years since 1800. As the sun rotates on its axis, it makes a complete turn in about 27 days. Large and persistent spots appear to move from left to right for about two weeks, disappear, and return after about two weeks. The leading edges of spots or clusters of spots have a negative charge in one 11-year cycle and a positive charge in the next cycle. Hence, the term “double sunspot cycle.”


The conventional wisdom is that the drought cycle of about 20 years occurs near the end of the negative cycle and at the time of low solar activity. The drought periods of the 1910s, 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s occurred at the end of the negative cycle. The drought periods did not consistently follow that pattern from 1800 to 1900, although the severe droughts of the 1820s and 1840s occurred at the end of the negative cycle.

Quoted from:
Louis M. Thompson (1989) - Sunspots and Lunar Cycles: Their Possible Relation to Weather Cycles.
In: Cycles, September/October 1989, Foundation for the Study of Cycles.
 
See also:
William Stanley Jevons (1875) - Sunspots and the Price of Corn and Wheat.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Sun - Earth - Man | Theodor Landscheidt

The unanimous message of mystics of all ages that all entities in the universe are interconnected and constitute an indivisible whole is proven now by unequivocal physical experiments that have been replicated again and again. From this undeniable unity, connectedness, and inseparability follows that any action or configuration in any distant part of the universe can influence processes in the Solar System inhabited by Man. This is also valid for the interrelations of Sun and planets within the Solar System and especially the Earth's connections with other cosmic bodies in the solar environment.

 » The whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. 
We have assumed that each stellar system in evolution throws off electric corpuscles into space. 
It does not seem unreasonable therefore to think that the greater part of the material 
masses in the universe is found, not in the solar systems or nebulae, but in 'empty' space. «
Kristian Birkeland, 1913.

To look at the solar system and its constituent parts as a whole that embraces a complex web of holistic interrelations, is a premise of traditional astrology, which seemed antiquated, but turns out to be trend-setting. Thus, it appears promising to subject the astrological thesis of an influence of celestial bodies on the Earth and life on its surface to a new test. The quality of the astrological body of theses matches the holistic results of modern research, as it represents the archetype of an integrating science. Astrology of this brand was a historical reality in the era of Kepler, Galileo and Newton. It is well known that Kepler was both an astrologer and one of the creative founders of modern science. Book IV of his principle work Harmonices Mundi (1619) with the heading Book on Metaphysics, Psychology, and Astrology is evidence of this, as well as his papers De fundamentis astrologiae certioribus (1602) and De stella nova (1604). Those who pretend that Kepler was not really engaged in astrology should read these writings.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Physics of the Seasonal Cycle | Al Larson

Any grade-school pupil can tell you when the seasons begin. In the northern hemisphere, generally, spring begins March 21, while summer begins June 21. Autumn begins September 23, and winter begins December 21. Actual dates may vary by one day in a particular year. So step one is simple.
 
The physical reason behind the seasonal cycle is the tilt of the Earth's axis. The 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth's axis causes more direct heating of the northern hemisphere in the summer, when the Earth tilts toward the sun. It causes less heating in the winter, when the Earth tilts away from the sun. This change in heating and cooling causes the seasonal weather patterns that we are familiar with.

 Charged particles from the sun form a teardrop-shaped envelope about the globe called magnetosphere.
 
Not so well known is the effect of the seasonal variation on the Earth's geomagnetic field. As the sun emits energy, charged particles flow outward, carried by the solar wind. As these particles sweep past Earth, they form a teardrop-shaped envelope around the globe called the magnetosphere.

There is a seasonal variation in two important parts of the magnetosphere. When the Earth tilts toward the sun in the summer, the charged particles can more directly flow into the north pole, where they affect the Earth's magnetic field. This effect is lessened when the Earth tilts away from the sun in the winter.
 
The second magnetic effect is on the magneto-tail, that part of the magnetosphere which streams away from the sunny side of the Earth. As the Earth tilts toward the sun, this tail "rides higher." As the Earth tilts away from the sun, the tail "rides lower." This affects how our moon, which moves in and out of the magnetosphere, interacts with the Earth's magnetic field.


So what does this have to do with stocks and commodities? Scientific evidence suggests that these fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field affect humans. Studies show that magnetic field changes are linked to blood PH changes, which in turn cause mood swings. Perhaps the psychological mood swings of traders are also subject to these magnetic field changes.
 
More obviously, the seasonal cycle could be expected to affect crop prices, such as those of wheat, corn and other commodities. Similarly, with most businesses running on a quarterly profit cycle, seasonal variations in the buying and selling of materials and equipment can be expected. Thus, on both a fundamental and technical basis, a trader can expect season price variations in stocks and commodities.

To perform step 2, mark the dates of the cycle on a chart with solid dots, and place them above or below the price as you estimate that price is high or low relative to what it was approximately one-fourth cycle earlier. Points do not necessarily have to alternate between high and low. Now look for cycle "inversions." If two lows or highs occur in succession, the cycle has "inverted" between the points. A normal inversion point is halfway through the cycle.

Quoted from:
Al Larson (1991) - The Physics of the Seasonal Cycle.
 

Cosmic Regulation of Cycles in Nature and Economy | Theodor Landscheidt

Let us try to find cycles in nature that can be understood and predicted - and, in addition, that are connected with human behavior, especially the economy. Planetary tide-generating forces, acting on the Sun, are a promising candidate. Hence, we shall try to find dependable cycles in the tide-generating forces of the planets that are linked to energetic solar eruptions and terrestrial effects, especially in the economy. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Jupiter, the so-called tidal planets, can be expected to exert a realizable trigger effect.
 
 
» The golden section seems to be implanted in man, too. Dürer, the famous painter, made a thorough investigation of proportions in the human body and found as many as 25 realizations of the "divine proportion," as the golden section is also called, Is this why there is also psychic response to this proportion? According to H. Read, the golden section has, for centuries, been regarded as a key to the mysteries of art. Aesthetically speaking, it is considered to have the most pleasing proportions. « 
 
 
 
 
 » There is a growing body of circumstantial evidence that strong solar eruptions are linked to the tidal cycle. That energetic solar flares have a strong impact on important terrestrial cycles. Hence, the tidal cycle, with an average duration of  118.5 days - equaling 16.9 weeks, or 3.9 months - should have left marks in the records. «
 
 
» My example is a cycle in stock prices which averages 14-3/4 days long, but which proceeds m a hop-skip fashion in waves that are first shorter than the average and then longer than the average, alternately. On the average, the shorter waves run about 13-1/4 days long, the longer waves about 16-1/4 days long... it should be obvious that ... forecasts made on a 13-1/4-, 16-1/4, 13-1/4, 16-1/4-day basis would be vastly superior to those made on a rigid 14-3/4-day basis, even though both time intervals would come out to the same place in the end. You will doubtless have noticed that one long and one short wave together equal 29-1/2 days — the time interval from one new moon to the next. « 
 
 
Quoted from:
Theodor Landscheidt (1990) - Cosmic Regulation of Cycles in Nature and Economy.
In: Proceedings, February 1990, Foundation of the Study of Cycles.
 

Thursday, June 22, 2023

Energy Flow Theory & Financial Markets | Al Larson

As planets orbit the sun, they exert tidal forces upon the gases of the sun. These tidal forces cause swirling motions on the sun, creating sun spots, solar flares, coronal holes, and other energy events. All these effects combine to vary the amount of radiation that leaves the sun. That solar radiation is our sole source of energy. We are subject to every fluctuation in it. Solar radiation travels to the earth in two ways: as direct radiation, such as sunshine and radio waves, and as charged particles carried by the solar wind. This flow of charged particles forms a torrent of energy that blasts earth creating a bow wave and a wake, just as a boat going upstream would do. This bow shockwave forms a magnetopause between the earth and the sun. It interacts with the earth’s electromagnetic field, shaping and adding energy to it. At the poles, charged particles follow the magnetic lines of force into our atmosphere. This creates a charged layer called the ionosphere.


As this solar wind passes earth, it shapes our magnetosphere into a teardrop shaped envelope of trapped charged particles. As solar radiation varies so does the earth’s magnetic field, atmospheric ionization, and temperature. Scientists have tracked down a host of relationships between these events and a variety of earthly phenomena such as weather, climate, crime rates, plant growth rates, frequency of thunder storms, blood Ph levels, psychiatric emergencies, and many others.

As part of this activity the solar wind charges our ionosphere to a voltage of approximately +300,000 volts. This charged layer above the earth represents the positive end of a battery. When you stand on the ground you are standing on the negative end of this battery. This is the earth’s electric field that we all live in. When you stand erect, it places a voltage on the top of your head of about 240 volts. That is the same voltage as used by your oven element. Fortunately for us, this is not a high current power source. Otherwise, we would fry.
 
 
 
We are affected by this field. This voltage causes currents to flow through us as we live on earth. These currents are approximately 2000 times as strong as the biological currents that run our brain, our nervous system, our muscles, and our organs. All of our body’s electro-chemical systems are subject to the fluctuations in these currents. The ionosphere and the charges on it form a very dynamic system. Events such as solar flares can cause rapid and large changes in this voltage. Our biological circuits feel these changes. These changes can affect all our biological processes including our emotional moods. Scientific studies have shown that changes in ionization cause people to feel giddy to gloomy. These moods show up in the markets. It is well accepted that markets move in response to fundamental forces and investor psychology. A major finding of my work is that investor psychology is driven by the physical energy system. Those emotional rallies and declines are controlled by the currents that run through us. We call those currents emotions.


[...] I have related the timing and price level of market turns to these currents. I have exhaustively verified every link in this chain of cause and effect. I have developed a solid mathematical knowledge of how this energy flow controls pattern, price, and time in markets. While it is not possible in a chaotic system to make perfect predictions, I have been able to formulate a computer program called XGO which predicts markets with between 60% and 90% accuracy […] This S&P forecast has been running about 80% accurate over the past two months. It was computed over one year ago, and used no price data! It is simply a computation of the energy coming into the S&P. These forecasts can be made for any market, for any time in the future. This is a unique scientific technology.

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Physical Factors of the Historical Process | Alexander Chizhevsky

In 1924 Russian scientist Alexander Chizhevsky advanced a theory claiming that the solar activity cycles affected all of human history. He drew insight from the striking observation that two Russian revolutions of the early XX century (in 1905-07 and 1917) and several major European revolutions of the XIX century (in 1830, 1848, and 1871) occurred in the years of maximum solar activity. 
 

To justify his conviction, Chizhevsky scrutinized the available sunspot records and solar observations comparing them to riots, revolutions, battles and wars in Russia and 71 other countries for the period from 500 B.C. to 1922 A.D. He proposed to divide the eleven-year solar cycle into four phases:

  1. 3-year period of minimum activity (around the solar minimum) characterized by passivity and “autocratic rule”;
  2. 2-year period during which people “begin to organize” under new leaders and “one theme”;
  3. 3-year period (around the solar maximum) of “maximum excitability,” revolutions and wars;
  4. 3-year period of gradual decrease in “excitability,” until people are “apathetic.”
Chizhevsky found that a significant percent of revolutions and what he classified as “the most important historical events” involving “large numbers of people” occurred in the 3-year period around sunspot maximums. Through his further studies, Chizhevsky came to believe that correlations with the solar cycles could be found for a very diverse set of natural phenomena and human activities. In his book, he compiled a list of as many as 27 of them that supposedly fluctuated with the solar cycle, ranging from crop harvests to epidemic diseases to mortality rates. According to his studies, the periods of maximum solar activity were generally associated with negative effects such as lower harvests, intensification of diseases (including psychological ones), and higher mortality rates. However, Subsequent studies generally did not confirm the strength and scope of all the links between solar activity and various physical and social processes claimed by Chizhevsky.

Even as the link between solar activity and revolutions was not as strong as originally claimed by Chizhevsky, it appeared to be able to withstand a statistical test. In 1992 Russian scientist Putilov analyzed large samples of historical events mentioned in the chronology sections of two of the largest Soviet historical encyclopedias (numbering nearly 13,000 events in one book and 4,600 in another). He classified the events into four groups on the dimensions of “tolerance” (e.g., riot-reform) and “polarity” (e.g., civil war-external war). Putilov found that frequency and “polarity” of historical events increased in the year of the maximum of the sunspot cycle and in the next year after it, particularly when compared with the year of the minimum and the year before the minimum. The probability of revolution (the most polar and intolerant of historical events) was the highest during the maximum and the lowest in the year before a minimum of solar activity, with very high statistical significance. The results suggested that solar activity does impact historic events, particularly in the years of sunspot maximums. 
 
In Chizhevsky’s own words (translated):

Alexander Chizhevsky (1922) - The principles of modern natural science have urged me to investigate whether or not there is a correlation between the more important phenomena of nature and events in the social-historical life of mankind. In this direction, beginning in the year 1915, I have performed a number of researches, but at present I am submitting to the public only those which are directed towards determining the connection between the periodical sun-spot activity and (1) the behavior of organized human masses and (2) the universal historical process. The following facts are based upon statistics gathered by me while submitting to a minute scrutiny the history of all the peoples and states known to science, beginning with the V century B. C. and ending with the present day.

1. As soon as the sun-spot activity approaches its maximum, the number of important mass historical events, taken as a whole, increases, approaching its maximum during the sun-spot maximum and decreasing to its minimum during the epochs of the sun-spot minimum.

2. In each century the rise of the synchronic universal military and political activity on the whole of the Earth's territory is observed exactly 9 times. This circumstance enables us to reckon that a cycle of universal human activity embraces 11 years (in the arithmetical mean). The fluctuation's mean curves of the universal historical process on all the surface of the Earth during the period from V century B.C. till XX century A.D. (along the abscissa axis are marked the years, along the ordinate axis – the quantity of important historical events. Dots mark the pretelescopic and later – astronomical data of the sun-spot maximum. Hyphens mark its minimum):
 

Parallelism of the curves of sun-spot activity (below) and the universal human military-political activity (above) from 1749 till 1922:
 

3. Each cycle according to its historical psychological signs is divided into 4 parts (periods):

I. Minimum of excitability: 3 years;
II. Growth of excitability: 2 years;
III. Maximum of excitability: 3 years;
IV. Decline of excitability: 3 years;
 

The number of historical events in each cycle is distributed approximately according to the data for 500 years (XV—XX cent.) in the following manner (in the mean):

I  period: 5%;
II  period: 20%;
III  period: 60%;
IV  period: 15%.

Schematic Summary of Properties of a Complete Historiometric Cycle:


4. The course and development of each lengthy historical event is subject to fluctuations (periods of activity and inactivity) in direct dependence upon the periodical fluctuations occurring in the sun's activity. Formula: the state of predisposition of collective bodies towards action is a function of the sun-spot periodical activity.

5. Episodic leaps or rises in the sun's activity, given the existence in human societies of politico-economical and other exciting factors, are capable of calling forth a synchronic rising in human collective bodies. Formula: the rising of the sun-spot activity transforms the people's potential energy into kinetic energy.

My studies in the sphere of synthesizing historical material have enabled me to determine the following morphological law of the historical process:

6. The course of the universal historical process is composed of an uninterrupted row of cycles, occupying a period equaling in the arithmetical mean 11 years and synchronizing in the degree of its military-political activity with the sun-spot activity. Each cycle possesses the following historio-psychological peculiarities:

a. In the middle points of the cycle's course the mass activity of humanity all over the surface of the Earth, given the presence in human societies of economical, political or military exciting factors, reaches the maximum tension, manifesting itself in psycomotoric pandemics:  revolutions, insurrections, expeditions, migrations etc., creating new formations in the existence of separate states and new historical epochs in the life of humanity. It is accompanied by an integration of the masses, a full expression of their activity and a form of government consisting of a majority.
b. In the extreme points of the cycle's course the tension of the all-human military-political activity falls to the minimum, ceding the way to creative activity and is accompanied by a general decrease of military or political enthusiasm, by peace and peaceful creative work in the sphere of state organizations, international relations, science and art, with a pronounced tendency towards absolutism in the governing powers and a disintegration of the masses.

7. In correlation with the sun-spot maximum stand:

a. The dissemination of different doctrines political, religious etc., the spreading of heresies, religious riots, pilgrimages etc.
b. The appearance of social, military and religious leaders, reformists etc.
c. The formation of political, military, religious and commercial corporations, associations, unions, leagues, sects, companies etc.

8. It is impossible to overlook the fact that pathological epidemics also coincide very frequently with the sun-spot maximum periods.

9. Thus the existence of dependence between the sun-spot activity and the behavior of humanity should be considered established.

One cycle of all-human activity is taken by me for the first measuring unit of the historical process. The science concerned with investigating the historical phenomena from the above point of view I have named historiometria.

At present I am working on a plan of organizing scientific institutes for determining the influence of cosmic and geophysical factors upon the condition of the psychics of individuals and collective bodies, and devising a working method for them.

A. Chizhevsky
November, 1922; 10 Ivanovskaia st., Kaluga, Russia.

Translation:
Sergey Smelyakov (2006) - Chizhevsky's Disclosure: How the Solar Cycles Modulate the History.
 
This article was adopted from:

Monday, October 10, 2022

Lunar Phases and Stock Returns | Kathy Yuan et al.

Kathy Yuan, Lu Zheng & Qiaoqiao Zhu (2002) - This paper investigates the relation between lunar phases and stock returns for a sample of 48 countries. We find strong global evidence that stock returns are lower on days around a full moon than on days around a new moon. Constructing a lunar trading strategy, we find that the magnitude of this return difference is roughly 4.2 percent per annum.  
 
 
Since lunar phases are likely to be related to investor mood and are not related to economic activities, our findings are thus not consistent with the predictions of traditional asset pricing theories that assume fully rational investors. The positive association we find between lunar phases and stock returns suggests that it might be valuable to go beyond a rational asset pricing framework to explore the psychological effects of investor behavior on stock returns. 

Figure 1 - Average Daily Return of the Global Portfolio by Lunar Dates

Figure 2 - Average Daily Stock Returns of Global Portfolio by Lunar Windows

Figure 3 - Distribution of Full Moon Days on Days of Week

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Playing the Field | Lunar Effects on Mood and Biology

Michael Bevington (2015) - The Earth’s magnetosphere is formed by the Sun’s wind passing the Earth. It surrounds the Earth but is much larger on whichever part forms its local ‘shadow’ or ‘night’ side, where it forms a tail, or magnetotail. The magnetotail extends over 6,300,000 km. 
 

 
[...] Every month, at full moon, the Moon crosses the magnetotail for 6–7 days at about 348,000 km from the Earth. As revealed by recent space exploration, when the Moon traverses the magnetotail’s electromagnetic plasma sheet, it attracts a large electrical charge, thus disturbing the plasma sheet. Ions from the Moon’s surface transfer to the Earth’s magnetosphere. This in turn can influence the Earth’s electric and magnetic field by a form of magnetospheric feedback, since the thin current sheet of the magnetotail has an earthward electric field.
 

[...] The Moon affects the Earth’s magnetosphere differently at new moon compared with full moon. At new moon, on the Sun’s side of the Earth, the Moon does not cross through the magnetosphere. Instead its lunar wake, formed from the solar wind, is blown downstream towards the Earth’s magnetosphere in a relatively narrow pathway, but in a varied way because of the Sun’s 11-year sun-spot cycle and the Sun’s rotating magnetic field. The latter has two effects. Firstly, Earth experiences reversed solar polarity when crossing sectors in the interplanetary magnetic field, typically twice in about 27 days. Secondly, the solar wind travels in a spiral, so the lunar wake is not usually in direct alignment from the Sun. The new moon effect from the lunar wake on the Earth’s magnetosphere can be considered comparable to magnetotail effects at full moon, with evidence of electric fields, and magnetic fluctuations of up to 5 Hz from the plasma of the penumbra surrounding the lunar wake."

The greatest change in the electric field potential occurs as the moon crosses into and out of the magnetotail plasma, which occurs 2-3 days before the full moon and 3-4 days after the full moon.

Some of the reported effects of the full moon on animal and plant biology: tree diameter variation reflects a lunar rhythm; reproduction; changes in the stress hormone; epileptic seizures and unexpected deaths increase during full moon; increase of violent and acute behavioral disturbances during full moon, etc.

References: