"Hey baby what's your sign?"
SCIENCE.
GET OUT OF MY VIDEO TRACE.
Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews.
Astrology is based on the premise that celestial bodies (like the sun, the moon, planets, and
constellations) have an effect on what happens on earth, who you are as a person, and how
people behave -- based on when they were born.
Not to be confused with ASTRONOMY, which is the study of those celestial bodies themselves
-- their properties and placement and such.
Now I have a lot of friends, and my adorable little sister particularly, who are REALLY
INTO ASTROLOGY.
It's how they start their day and the foundation for their relationships with other people,
the foundation for understanding themselves.
As much as I love them, the scientist within me is cringing.
Nah man, naaahhhhhh.
Why does astrology make scientists cringe?
I mean, it seems scientific enough what with all the tracking of planetary movements, star
charts, and complicated formulas.
But astrology isn't an actual science because...wellll (1) It's not based on evidence, (2) it's conclusions
aren't testable, (3) it isn't open to review by other scientists and...my favorite, number
(4): it's un...fals..ifiable...
Astrology can't be proven wrong...and that's the heart of what science is.
The assertions of astrology are so general and open to interpretation that we can always
find a way to see it in a factual light.
We saw this effect in James Randi's famous "Astrology Test".
Participants were given specific horoscopes based on when and where they were born.
After reading, they ALL rated their horoscope as "very" or "extremely" accurate.
Then, they were passed their neighbor's horoscope--and learned that they all had the same exact one.
Other scientists have also looked at astrology's claims about careers.
The idea is that being born under Mars, a supposedly warlike planet, produces more soldiers
and athletes, whereas Venus produces more artistic types.
In a study of 25,000 Frenchmen in the 60's, psychologist Michel Gauquelin found no correlations.
He also did a study where he mixed up the birth charts of 10 murderers with 10 citizens
and invited astrologers to identify which was which based on the charts.
They failed miserably.
A similar but larger study was published in 2007 and they found that the astrologers were
EVEN MORE WRONG THAN RANDOM CHANCE.
Youch.
Yet another study at the University of Manchester in 2001 looked at love compatibility by astrological
sign to see if there were any trends.
They had the data of 10 million couples from Census of Britain and Wales and found not
a single sign pairing that showed a greater or lesser chance of romantic success.
There's also the fact that the sun is no longer in a given zodiac constellation during it's
designated time anymore.
Although the sun is supposed to be in Aries right now, that's based on an outdated model
-- it's actually in Pisces until April 18th.
This is because of precession, a phenomenon where the earth wobbles on its axis every
25,800-year-cycle.
Most peoples' signs that they believe they have...are actually wrong.
Mine, for instance, isn't actually Libra, it's Virgo.
And the description still manages to fit!
Does this all mean astrology is good for nothing?
Well, no, of course not...it's good for entertainment!
It's all good fun.
My concern is that a recent report by the NSF that found almost half of Americans think
Astrology is a real science.
AMERICA...DUZ U KNOW HOW TO SCIENCE?
We still don't.
The struggle continues.
Thanks for joining me for DNews my fellow science geeks.
We'll see you next time with more science updates.