What is the smallest bone in the human body? The kids’ quiz

1. Anhad, 10, asks: what is the name of the smallest bone in the human body?

   1. Schaphoid – in your wrist

   2. Stapes – in your ear

   3. Femur – in your thigh

   4. Cranium – in your head

2. Keir, 8, asks: what happens if two black holes collide?

   1. They cancel each other out and cease to exist

   2. They become one bigger black hole

   3. Nobody knows!

   4. They become a white hole

3. Esme, 7, asks: what is the oldest language in the world?

   1. Sumerian

   2. Egyptian

   3. Chinese

   4. Hebrew

4. Betty, 10, asks: why is an X classed as a kiss, when it makes more alphabetical sense to write K?

   1. When you kiss someone, it sounds like saying X

   2. It may come from a practice in the middle ages, when people who couldn’t read or write signed documents with an X

   3. X is the shape lips make when you kiss someone

   4. The ancient Greeks drew an X on things they loved

5. Ottilie, 6, asks: how do you learn how to drive?

   1. You have to write 10 essays on how to drive a car before you can drive

   2. Anyone can learn to drive but they have to build the car themselves

   3. You get put in a car and have to figure it out on your own

   4. You have to be 17 or older, have a provisional licence, and learn with a teacher

Solutions

1:B - The stapes is a small bone measuring about 2mm to 3mm found in the middle ear (towards your eardrum)., 2:B - If two black holes collided, they would become one black hole. This process would produce a huge amount of energy and emit gravitational waves – ripples of distortion in the space-time fabric of the universe., 3:A - It’s hard to know for sure, but Sumerian writing was found on a limestone tablet in Iraq, which has been dated as more than 5,000 years old., 4:B - Researchers aren’t sure where the use of an X as a kiss comes from, but it may come from its use in the middle ages. Back then, many people could not read or write, so would sign their name with an X. It’s said that sometimes they would then kiss the X to show their agreement with whatever they were signing., 5:D - In the UK you need to be 17 or older to learn how to drive, you have to apply for and receive a provisional licence, and you have to pass a driving test. Everyone learns at different speeds, and most people get driving instructors to help them.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.