Horoscopes
Horoscopes
[Above the frame:] Horoscopes With an actual basis in fact [A list with the name of each astrological sign in the first column (in gray) and a horoscope for each sign in the second column. Here given in table form]
Aries • You may have been conceived after a 4th of July fireworks show Taurus • You may have been conceived on a hot August day Gemini • You may have been conceived as the leaves began to change Cancer • You may have been conceived by people trying on costumes Leo • You may have been conceived during Thanksgiving Virgo • You may have been conceived while a Christmas song played Libra • You may have been conceived after a New Year's Eve party Scorpio • You may have been conceived by people stuck inside after a long winter Sagittarius • You may have been conceived during March Madness Capricorn • You may have been conceived during a sexy Easter egg hunt Aquarius • You may have been conceived on Mother's day Pisces • You may have been conceived at someone's wedding

Horoscopes purport to predict someone's personality or future, based on the position of planets and stars at the time of their birth and at present. Horoscopes commonly group people into twelve groups based on zodiac signs . The names of the horoscope Zodiac signs are based on the names of twelve constellations that were the backdrop for the path of the sun in the ancient times when the rules of settings horoscopes were originally developed. Today, due to precession of the Earth's axis of rotation (and to a lesser degree due to the modern formal definitions of constellations), the Zodiac signs do not correspond fully to the names of actual constellations in the path of the Sun. One's zodiac sign is determined by the position of the sun on their birthday, with each sign representing a specific 30.4 day period (1/12th of a year), starting from the First point of Aries .
Modern science has found no basis for horoscopes , which is why the comic jokes about the fact that its horoscopes at least may be true. Actual horoscopes are typically so vague that they could be true for almost anyone regardless of their sign. Note that this horoscope mainly makes sense for people living in the northern hemisphere (as mentioned in the title text) and it is especially tailored for an audience in the United States , as most cultural references are centered on "Western" or even specific "American" culture, several won't even work in Europe, for example. However, with the principle understood, it is easy to apply local traditions for more accuracy in non-Western cultures.
The 12 category zodiac signs in horoscopes are based on birth dates.  The average length of pregnancy, culturally considered to be nine months, is actually given as the 40 weeks (9.2 months) after the last menstrual period. However, what is relevant here is that it is only 38 weeks after conception (8.75 month). The first two weeks of the 40 week period is before Ovulation , and the conception cannot occur before that.
Based on this knowledge Randall can do some informed guessing about the context of someone's conception (apart from the obvious ), depending on the sign. For example, people of the sign Virgo have been born between August 23 and September 22. This makes it most likely that they are conceived during December the year before. Given contemporary holiday music preferences, Christmas songs were likely to be playing the day they were conceived.  This leads to the guess "You may have been conceived while a Christmas song played". See detailed description of all the signs and explanation of the horoscopes in the table below.
Randall phrases his "predictions" as possibilities ("you may have") rather than declarations, acknowledging that it is a guess, and that it, unlike actual horoscopes, doesn't necessarily apply to everyone.
The title text refers to the Coriolis effect which applies to a body that is moving relative to an object that is spinning. Since the Earth is rotating, a force (the Coriolis force) causes moving objects to be deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere . This effect is the reason that weather systems (most clearly seen for hurricanes ) spiral in one direction in the northern hemisphere and in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere.
There is also a common misconception that the Coriolis force in respect of the Earth affects objects on a much smaller scale, such as the direction water will spiral down a drain in the two hemispheres (see also 843: Misconceptions ). In reality, the relative rotational speed of the Earth (one rotation per day) is insufficient to affect anything but large-scale, relatively slow movement, such as prevailing winds and ocean currents .
Randall plays on this type of misconception to make a joke involving reversing the flow of time. So whereas babies are born nine months after conception in the northern hemisphere (clockwise) the Coriolis effect is the reason why babies are being born nine months before in the southern hemisphere (counterclockwise). Note that unlike these horoscopes, which are declared to have an "actual basis in fact", it makes no sense for the conception of a baby to happen after its birth [ citation needed ] .
Here below is a table with data and explanation of the individual horoscopes:
[Above the frame:] Horoscopes With an actual basis in fact [A list with the name of each astrological sign in the first column (in gray) and a horoscope for each sign in the second column. Here given in table form]
Aries • You may have been conceived after a 4th of July fireworks show Taurus • You may have been conceived on a hot August day Gemini • You may have been conceived as the leaves began to change Cancer • You may have been conceived by people trying on costumes Leo • You may have been conceived during Thanksgiving Virgo • You may have been conceived while a Christmas song played Libra • You may have been conceived after a New Year's Eve party Scorpio • You may have been conceived by people stuck inside after a long winter Sagittarius • You may have been conceived during March Madness Capricorn • You may have been conceived during a sexy Easter egg hunt Aquarius • You may have been conceived on Mother's day Pisces • You may have been conceived at someone's wedding
