<em>Many animals can sense the Earth's magnetic field, so why not people, asks Oleg Shumilov of the Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems in Russia.</em>

<em>Shumilov looked at activity in the Earth's geomagnetic field from 1948 to 1997 and found that it grouped into three seasonal peaks every year: one from March to May, another in July and the last in October.</em>

<em>Surprisingly, he also found that the geomagnetism peaks matched up with peaks in the number of suicides in the northern Russian city of Kirovsk over the same period.</em>

<em>Shumilov acknowledges that a correlation like this does not necessarily mean there is a causal link, but he points out that there have been several other studies suggesting a link between human health and geomagnetism.</em>

Something else to worry about, over at <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn13769-does-the-earths-magnetic-field-cause-suicides.html?feedId=online-news_rss20" target="_blank">New Scientist</a>