Why do all the questions come to mind when you should go to sleep?

Why do all the questions and play ideas come to mind when you should go to sleep?

Aino Selamo, 7

Evening when school comes, hobbies and playing with friends stop. In this case, everyday situations and their demands do not strongly guide thinking. The mind can relax, and the imagination can run wild.

In the evening, the brain often goes through things experienced during the day. Fresh memories combine with previous memories and information, which can form insightful questions and play ideas.

In the evening, tiredness can also contribute to the emergence of new ideas, as creativity, i.e. the ability to produce something new and original, may increase.

It is due to the fact that the activity of the brain areas that control rational thinking in particular decreases when tired. Thoughts may combine in a variety of ways and sensitivity to different emotional states increases. It’s as if the mind has free space to create even wacky ideas.

Approaching bedtime may also cause a slight feeling of urgency. The knowledge that you should soon take a break from pleasant and interesting thoughts can speed up the flow of thoughts for a moment.

Sometimes the children may also try to stretch the time together with their parents or siblings with their questions, so they may be reminded of them a lot.

However, good questions and play ideas often come to mind at other times of the day as well, when you give yourself time and your mind to relax.

Risto Halonen

psychologist, PhD, university lecturer

University of Helsinki

Why can’t you see the other side of the Moon from Earth?

Linda Lappi, 9

Main rotates around itself in the same time as it rotates around the earth. The rotation and rotation time is 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes.

When the moon rotates and goes around the same time, we always see the same side of it when viewed from Earth. This phenomenon is called tidal lock.

The tidal lock was created because the Moon was not perfectly round billions of years ago. In this case, the Earth’s great attraction had a better grip on the heavier parts of the Moon.

If the Moon had been perfectly round and thus its weight, i.e. mass, had been perfectly distributed, it would still rotate on its own, and the Earth’s gravity would not have been able to affect it. In that case, we too would see the other side of the Moon.

Minna Palmroth

professor of space physics

University of Helsinki

What would the earth be like without animals?

Zechariah Pyo, 10

Animals there are millions of species on earth. In addition to animals, plants, fungi, protozoa and other species have their own important tasks in nature. Without animals, some other group of organisms might have taken their place.

Herbivores, predators and various parasites regulate, among other things, the populations of their prey. For example, the absence of herbivores would greatly affect the composition of the vegetation. Some plant species could become excessively abundant.

Many animals are also important sources of food not only for other animals, but also for plants and fungi after they die. Animals also break down dead organic matter such as plants and pollinate, i.e. help plants reproduce.

Without animals, the earth would be very different than it is today. In addition to animals, for example countless animal-pollinated flower plants would be missing here. A large part of the fruits and berries would also be missing.

If the current animals were to disappear for some reason, there would remain on the surface of the earth for a long time a huge amount of smelly biological matter like dead animals. We humans are animals too, so there wouldn’t be us either.

Without animals, the earth would likely be a less diverse place. However, some things could also be easier: without people in particular here, the rest of nature’s diversity would do better, because humans cause climate change and the impoverishment of nature through their activities. Of course, people also have the ability to solve those problems.

Ilari E. Sääksjärvi

professor of biodiversity research

University of Turku

Is it dangerous for the eyes if you put them crooked?

Oliver Arponen, 10

Our eyes turn towards each other while looking at a nearby object. So the eyes go astray.

Thanks to that approach movement, near vision becomes sharper. If the viewing object is close to our nose, we see two images, while the images transmitted by the left and right eyes appear separately. It is a double image that is part of the normal functioning of the eyes, called physiological diplopia.

You can also make your eyes crooked on purpose, for example by looking at the end of your nose. Even such a momentary squinting is not at all dangerous, although it may seem like a strain on the eyes. You can’t keep your eyes in a crooked position for long.

Strabismus refers to an eye position error where one eye is turned inward, outward or vertically and the person is unable to correct the position themselves.

In strabismus, the eyes are as if crooked towards the nose. In this case, you can constantly see things disturbingly as two. The aim is to eliminate such double vision by treating its cause, i.e. strabismus.

Laura Lindberg

ophthalmology specialist, strabismus surgeon

HUS

Send the question, the questioner’s full name and age to [email protected]. The column is provided by Touko Kauppinen.