Behavior: Moonstruck Scientists

The staff at Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque comprises solid, pragmatic scientists and engineers whose work consists largely of developing military and peaceful nuclear devices for the Atomic Energy Commission. That makes even more surprising the contents of a newly released Sandia publication with a formidable title: "Intriguing Accident Patterns Plotted Against a Background of Natural Environment Features." Compiled by a group of Sandia scientists, the 44-page report cautiously suggests what astrologers, mystics and charlatans have long been claiming: accident rates —and presumably other manifestations of human behavior—are influenced by phases of the...