Why is the fever at its highest in the evening?

Why is the fever at its highest in the evening? Are there separate morning, day, evening and night sicknesses?

Niilo Tuominen, 6

Fever is indeed often at its highest in the evening or late afternoon. This is especially the case if the fever is not very high.

During the day, the human body performs more muscle work and other activities such as metabolic reactions. Those activities produce much more heat, so a person’s body temperature is higher in the evenings than at night or in the mornings. If there is a lot of fever, the time of day often does not affect the body temperature as much.

The symptoms of some diseases get worse at night when you are lying down. The most typical of such nighttime illnesses in children is laryngitis.

In laryngitis, viral infection causes swelling of the mucous membranes in the walls of the trachea in the areas of the larynx in the supine position. In this case, you start to cough a lot and breathing in can become difficult and loud. Standing up often relieves symptoms quickly. Also, the nasal congestion associated with the flu is often more congested at night due to the swelling of the mucous membranes.

For example, headaches may occur in the morning. In a lying position, more swelling can accumulate inside the head than in an upright position. A prolonged headache that occurs in the morning for weeks can sometimes even be a symptom of, for example, a circulation disorder of the cerebrospinal fluid. Also in children’s rheumatism, joint pains and joint stiffness are most troublesome in the morning.

Marjo Renko

professor of pediatrics

University of Eastern Finland

Could a meteorite hit the space station? If it hits, what happens?

Kaarle Jaakkonen, 7

Meteoroid that is, a shooting star is called a meteorite when it hits the Earth’s surface. A star flight hitting the space station is possible.

At the time of the biggest flocks of shooting stars, i.e. the Perseids visible in August and the Geminids visible in December, up to 60 shooting stars are showered in the sky per hour.

However, the distance between meteoroids is at least 1,800 kilometers and the size is usually less than a centimeter. Collisions with the space station are indeed very rare.

A bigger threat is space junk, i.e. stuff left by humans in space.

If necessary, space agencies try to move the space station away from the collision course of meteoroids or space debris with the help of so-called transfer rockets.

Most of the surface of the space stations is also protected from collisions of small bodies with onion-shaped protective shields.

A couple of small traces formed by the collision of meteoroids and space debris have been found. The hit points in question, less than a centimeter in size, could be quickly patched up using, for example, a hardening gel.

If, for example, an object the size of an apartment building came towards the space station, the crew would move to rescue capsules, which would be launched at the right moment.

If the object came in front unexpectedly and the capsules could not be launched in time, the space station and its crew would be destroyed. Fortunately, however, such an occurrence is very unlikely.

Harry Lehto

docent of astronomy

University of Turku

Do bacteria sleep?

Eelis Ojaniemi, 9

Bacteria it is necessary to grow and multiply by division for them to be able to live. Some of them split in half in 20 minutes, others take much longer.

Bacteria need nutrients, heat and moisture to grow and divide. Bacteria have adapted to live in a wide variety of environments: for example, on glaciers, deep seas, hot springs, plant surfaces, and human skin and intestines.

Sometimes, however, the conditions for the bacteria become difficult: the environment can be, for example, too dry, hot, nutrient-poor or radiant. In this case, some of the bacteria are able to go into a dormant state.

In that sense, it could be compared to animal hibernation or hibernation, in which their activity, i.e. division and growth, for example, slows down or ends.

It is also typical for hibernating or hibernating animals that they thus save energy for a difficult period.

Some of the bacteria are also able, under unfavorable conditions, to transform into a completely different form, so-called spores.

It could also be compared to hibernation or hibernation in the sense that when the food and other conditions improve again, the bacteria emerge and start growing and reproducing again.

Unlike, for example, us humans, bacteria do not enjoy daily sleep.

Kirsi Gröndahl-Yli-Hannuksela

Docent of bacteriology, university lecturer

University of Turku

Do fish have ears, or where are they when once they are not visible at all?

Kerttu Hakala, 6

With fish there are really no outwardly visible ears, i.e. external ears. However, they have inner ears inside their heads. They are located at the back of the head, slightly behind the eyes.

Fish do not need external ears, because sounds travel to them as vibrations through the water.

The structure of the fish’s inner ear is similar to that of us humans. It includes three fluid-filled arch passages and bulges where the so-called auditory bones, or otoliths, are located.

With the help of the otoliths and the sensory cells below them, the fish senses sounds and balance. The sensations are successful when the otoliths, which are made of hard calcareous material, vibrate in a different way than other parts of the fish.

Different species of fish have a different sense of hearing. Some fish have special structures in their bodies that improve hearing.

Such are, for example, the Weber’s bones of roach, which connect the ear to the swim bladder. In this case, the swim bladder acts as an amplifier that improves hearing.

Hannu Huuskonen

University researcher in fish biology

University of Eastern Finland

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