Are you curious about the human body? Here’s a list of 10 cool facts for kids, proving that our bodies are amazing. We also tell you about the tools scientists have discovered to help doctors take special pictures of the insides of our bodies, from the outside!

Fact 1: Children have more bones than adults do

Babies are born with about 300 bones in their bodies. As we grow older, some of our bones fuse together until most of us end up with 206 bones when we’re grown.

X-rays are very good at taking pictures of hard things in our bodies and are an excellent tool for doctors to see our bones.

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Fact 2: Your brain has ‘wrinkles’ to help you learn

The brain is made up of different parts that work like a team: each part has a different job but they all work together. A part of the brain called the “cerebral cortex” or “grey matter” helps you think and remember things. The folds in the grey matter give your brain more space to store information.

MRI (pictures we can take using a big magnet) is great for some soft parts of the body and is an excellent way to see the folds and other tiny details in the brain.

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Fact 3: The smallest bones in your body help you hear

The smallest bones in your body are in your ear, and can be smaller than a grain of rice. They help sound vibrations travel to your inner ear, where the vibrations become signals for your brain to understand.

We can use a CT machine, a type of X-ray machine that looks like a giant doughnut, to take pictures of the tiny insides of our ears.

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Fact 4: Your heart is a very hardworking muscle

Your heart is a strong muscle that beats more than 100 000 times a day. It’s like a pump that keeps about 5 litres of blood moving through your body all the time. As the blood moves through your body, it delivers oxygen and nutrients to all your body parts.

We can use CT scanners or MRI machines to take pictures of the heart. CT is great for taking pictures of the arteries and veins. MRI is great for taking pictures of the heart muscle.

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Fact 5: Your spine is holding you up!

Your spine is like a big “anchor pole” for your skeleton. It helps you stand up straight, bend, and move all around. It has between 24 and 33 little bones called vertebrae that protect your spinal cord. Your spinal cord connects your brain to the rest of your body.

When we need pictures of the spine, we use X-rays or CT to see the hard, bony vertebrae and MRI to see the soft spinal cord inside.

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Fact 6: Your belly is full of important body parts

Your tummy isn’t just filled with food. Your stomach has many “neighbours” living in your belly: the liver, intestines, kidneys, bladder, and spleen. They all have different jobs but work together to help your body absorb nutrients, create energy, clean your blood, and fight germs.

Doctors have special cameras that use sound waves to see inside your belly, from the outside. These sound waves are called ultrasound. They aren’t very good at taking pictures of hard things like bones, but they’re amazing at looking at soft things like muscles and organs.

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Fact 7: Your lungs aren’t the same size

Your left lung is slightly smaller than your right lung to make space for your heart. That is because your heart isn’t exactly in the middle of your chest. It tilts a little to the left.

To check if your lungs are healthy and full of air, we can take a chest X-ray that takes just about one second.

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Fact 8: You have hundreds of muscles with different jobs

Did you know your body has more than 600 muscles in total? Some, like the ones in your arms and legs, help you run and jump when you decide to run or jump. Others, like your heart, work all the time — even when you’re asleep and not thinking about it at all!

Ultrasound and MRI are both excellent tools for seeing soft body parts like muscles.

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Fact 9: One foot has more than 150 different parts

If you count them, a quarter of your bones are in your feet. Adults have 52 bones in their feet (26 in each foot). Each foot also has 33 joints and over 100 muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

Most of the time, a quick X-ray is the best way to take a picture of your foot.

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Fact 10: Some things are good for your whole body

Exercise, healthy food, water, and sleep are good for almost every part of your body! These things keep your heart and brain healthy, help your body fight against diseases, help you grow, and give you energy.

Even radiologists and radiographers, like us, know this and try to make healthy choices every day. We hope you try to make healthy choices too.

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Want to know more? Maybe you can become a doctor one day. In the meantime, stay curious and read as much as you can.