Latest news with #genius
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
2-Year-Old Boy with ‘Formidable Intellect' Becomes the Youngest-Ever Member of Mensa
A 2-year-old U.K. boy just became the youngest person ever to be accepted into Mensa The toddler, named Joseph Harris-Birtill, said his first word at seven months and read his first book out loud from cover to cover at 21 months Joseph knows the Greek alphabet and is currently learning Morse codeA toddler from England just became the youngest person ever to be accepted into Mensa. Joseph Harris-Birtill, who was born on Nov. 23, 2021, was admitted into the organization — which accepts people with IQs in the top 2% of the general population — at 2 years and 182 days old, per Guinness World Record. His parents, Dr. Rose Harris-Birtill and Dr. David Harris-Birtill, who are both lecturers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, told Guinness that Joseph began showing signs of being advanced for his age quite early on. 'It soon became clear that he was an exceptional little being,' Rose told the outlet. 'He first rolled over at five weeks, said his first word at seven months and read his first book out loud from cover to cover at [21 months].' 'By 2-and-a-quarter years old, he was reading out loud fluently for 10 minutes at a time, could count to 10 in five languages and could count forwards and backwards to well over 100,' she continued. Rose told Guinness that Joseph knows the Greek alphabet and is currently learning Morse code. He also has recently become interested in the periodic table. 'His interests are vast and varied, and he is always keen to learn more,' the proud mom explained. Rose said that Joseph, who is 'very kind and loving, confident and curious,' doesn't yet seem to know that he is more advanced than his peers, and noted that he loves giving hugs and sharing his toys with other kids. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. She added, 'He loves a challenge and is really exhilarated by complexity, whether learning chess or poring over new words and concepts that he hasn't come across before.' Joseph's parents told Guinness that they initially reached out to Mensa in an attempt to find guidance on raising a highly-abled child. 'I searched online for any further support available, and saw that Mensa offers resources and membership for highly able children,' she explained. Rose added, 'It is a common misconception that everything is super easy for gifted children. But everyone needs appropriate stimulation and understanding throughout their lives, and highly able learners can sadly have their unique talents dimmed by the pressure to fit into environments that simply haven't been properly designed for them." She noted that while Joseph is 'fortunate enough to attend a brilliant nursery [school],' she and her husband hope that Mensa will provide their son with 'a community of peers as a source of further support as his formidable intellect continues to grow and develop.' The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! The second-youngest member of Mensa is currently Isla McNabb of Kentucky, who was 2 years and 195 days old when she joined. Read the original article on People
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Six-year-old N.S. genius becomes Mensa Canada member
There's a young genius taking the world by storm in his hometown of Bedford, N.S. Elijah 'Kodjo' Motey may only be six years old, but he's already thinking far beyond his years. 'He rolled over from tummy to back really early, like before four weeks. And I remember looking and thinking, 'Well, that's interesting because kids don't typically roll over that early,'' says his mother Mercy Mutale Motey. Little did his parents know it would be just one out of a long list of things Elijah would do so early. 'Between 10 and 12 months…he was walking and so he's just always been reaching these milestones very early. Before he was around a year old, he had a fascination with numbers. He loved numbers. He was counting all of the time,' says his mother. 'He actually had more numbers than words at that point.' From there, Elijah's parents started thinking of ways to harness his November 2024, Elijah was accepted into Mensa Canada at the age of five. 'It's only the top two per cent of the population, so you would have to have 98 percentile to belong to Mensa,' says Millie Norry, Mensa Canada's vice president of membership. Elijah was too young for Mensa to test him, so his parents arranged a private test and his results were stunning. 'His scores were found to be in the top one per cent of the population for his age,' says his mother. It made Elijah one of eight children under 14 years old in the Atlantic region to become a Mensa member. 'I remember (Elijah's mom) crying when the documents came in,' says Delali Motey, Elijah's father. 'It wasn't a surprise. It became an expectation at that point, and it was just a matter of time just to go through that process…but it was still really, amazing to get that confirmation.' Nowadays, Elijah spends his time juggling his passion for numbers and his love for soccer. 'My favorite team in the country is Chelsea. My favorite one in the Champions League is Munich,' says Elijah. Elijah plays at the U9 level and earlier this month participated in a kids tournament for the Halifax Wanderers. 'I made it all the way to the finals, but I lost,' he says. In many ways, he's just like any six-year-old. His favourite food is pancakes and he loves playing with his friends. With undeniable talent running through his veins, his parents say the sky is the limit for Elijah, and his two older siblings. 'What we hope for all our kids, including Elijah, is to flourish where their interests and their strengths are,' says Elijah's father. Encouraging their children everyday is one of many jobs Mercy and Delali Motey take pride in. Mercy is from Zambia, and Delali is from Ghana. They've made it a point to pass along their African identity and their faith to their children. 'Every morning and every evening we're telling them, you know, how amazing they are, how special and unique they are, how they're so talented, and they're going to do amazing things in this world,' says Elijah's mother. Elijah 'Kodjo' Motey Elijah 'Kodjo' Motey, centre, is now a member of Mensa Canada. (Source: Vanessa Wright/CTV News Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Meet Britain's smartest siblings: 11-year-old brother and sister join Mensa - he's already smarter than Einstein, she's a poet who leads a rock band and they have a combined IQ of 314
A pair of genius twins might be Britain's smartest siblings having been accepted into Mensa with a combined IQ of 314. Krish and Keira Arora, both aged 11, have been enrolled into the exclusive international society after scoring incredibly highly on the IQ test. To qualify for membership at Mensa you have to score in the top 2 per cent of the general population on a recognised intelligence test. Maths genius Krish has an IQ of 162, which is believed to be higher than Albert Einstein's estimated score of 160. He was the first of the pair to join Mensa after getting accepted last November at age 10, while his twin sister Keira - with an IQ of 152 - followed in his footsteps earlier this month, aged 11. 'Its a very proud feeling. Sometimes you think about it and you feel they've done something impossible because they're so young, so it's remarkable - we never thought that something like this would happen,' the twins mother, Mauli told My London. The siblings, who attend their local state primary school in Hounslow, are both musically talented, as well as being academically gifted including being able to programme robots and write author-level poetry. Keira says singing makes herself feel 'happy and confident' and performs as the lead in her school rock band. 'It makes me feel good. I don't think I've ever experienced stage fright,' shesaid. Krish is a talented piano player who is said to have a 'perfect pitch'. 'I really like playing music. It makes me feel calm and peaceful - music is something I really enjoy,' Krish said. Despite their young age, Krish and Keira have a clear idea of where they want their careers to go. 'I'd like to be a lawyer when I grow up,' Keira said. She even highlight commercial law as an area of expertise as she believes she is 'very good at negotiating with people'. After completing Year 9 maths before even getting to secondary school, Krish wants to pursue a job as a mathematician or an actuary. 'Sometimes at school when we do maths I put my hand up they say Krish, not you, don't answer. But I still have a lot of things to learn, I haven't done A Levels yet but I'm very privileged to know I'm really smart - smarter than Einstein,' he said. While allowing Krish and Keira to follow their passions, engineer parents Mauli and Nischal revealed there are some rules they believe have helped nurture their children's academic talent. In the evening, the family turn their lights off at 9.30pm ready for an early nights sleep. They also put restrictions on video games as well as closely monitoring what they are watching and closely follow age ratings. Their routine after school consists of coming back and eating before doing 'something productive for an hour - French or economics, something where they are learning'. The parents added that they then have an hour of down time, giving them time to spend of their iPads, go out with their friends, or practice on the piano. Later this year, Keira will start her studies at Tiffin Girls' School, a highly-rated selective school in Kingston. Meanwhile, Krish will begin his secondary studies at Queen Elizabeth, in Barnet, one of the UK's best grammar schools Can you make it into Mensa? Take our IQ quiz and add up your score to find out 1. In the space provided place a three-letter word which can be attached to the beginning of the given words to form six longer words. What is the three letter word? Which three-letter word which can be attached to the beginning of the given words to form six longer words? 2. What numbers should replace the question marks in the fourth triangle? The logic puzzles are able to deduce what your IQ is compared to the rest of the population: What numbers should replace the question marks in the fourth triangle in this puzzle? 3. What letter should appear next in this sequence? C H K P S ? 4. Rearrange the letters of TINSEL to give four other words. What are they? 5. What have the following words got in common? YARN HURT LONE ARMY 6. If RM = 5, XK = 13 and JC = 7, what does SP=? 7. In a supermarket, the first 25 customers of the day purchased an average of two items each. After a further 15 customers, the average number of items purchased by each customer rose to eight. What was the average number of items purchased by the last 15 customers only? 8. Replace the blanks in this sentence with two words. The same nine letters must be used for both words. What are the words? The employee's actions BLANK BLANK until he was caught on a security camera. PRL CRL JD TPZ PL PRDT 10. On each row place a letter that can be substituted for the second letter of the words either side. When completed a word will be read downwards. What is it? On each row place a letter that can be substituted for the second letter of the words either side. When completed a word will be read downwards 11. Use the letters given to complete the star so that two five-letter words, one four-letter word and two words of two letters can be read. A C E I M N S S U What are the words? Use the letters A C E I M N S S U given to complete the star so that two five-letter words, one four-letter word and two words of two letters can be read 12. What number is missing from the following sequence? 4 9 16 25 ? 49 64 81 13. In each of the following what number should replace the question mark? In each of the following puzzles, what number should replace the question mark? 14. Rearrange the letters of UPRIGHT PARANOIA to give three musical instruments. What are they? 15. Find a word to fit the first clue. Add one letter to this word to give a word to fit the second clue. Add another letter to give the word to fit the third clue and finally another letter to give a word to fit the fourth clue. What are the four words? NOT OFF OFFSPRING IN A SHORT WHILE 16. On each row place a word to fit the clue given, if the correct words are chosen a word will be read down the shaded column. What is it? On each row place a word to fit the clue given, if the correct words are chosen a word will be read down the shaded column 17. What number should replace the question mark? By looking at the other squares, can you work out what number is missing? 18. Vincent lives at house number 106, Claire lives at number 151 and Olivia lives at number 57. Does house number 60 belong to Alan or Alex? For Rearrange the letters of DUE CROP to give a word with a similar meaning. What is it? 19. For each of the following find a word beginning with H that has an opposite meaning to the given word. a) Clear b) Resolute c) Welcoming 20. Replace the blanks in the following sentence with two five-letter words. The same five letters must be used for both words. What are the words? The BLANK told his class that he had been BLANK fishing during the holiday. The answers... how well did you do? 1. Car. 2. Eight in the bottom left corner and 27 at the top. Bottom left numbers divide by 3. Bottom right numbers increase by 4, then 5, then 6. Left plus right gives top. 3. X. The sequence takes the third letter of the alphabet, then the fifth letter after that, then the third again and then the fifth again and so on. 4. Listen, silent, inlets and enlist. 5. When rearranged they all give a name – Ryan, Ruth, Noel and Mary. 6. Three. The difference between the two alphabetical places gives the number. 7.18. 8. Continued and unnoticed. 9. Answer: Pearl, coral, jade, topaz, opal and peridot. 10. Almond. 11. Panic, amuse, onus, am and is. 12. 36. They are all square numbers. 13. a) 288 The square of the number is multiplied by 2. b) 306 Each number is multiplied by one more than itself. 14. Harp, guitar and piano. 15. On, son, soon and spoon. 16. Lawns. The words are polar, brass, rowan, bingo and basin. 17. Seven. Add together the two numbers at the top of each square to give the two digit number at the bottom of the square. 18. Alex. The Roman numerals in each name are totalled to give the house number. 19. a) Hazy b) Hesitant c) Hostile 20. Tutor and trout. Scoring: 1 – 5 correct answers Try again 6 – 9 correct answers Average 10 – 12 correct answers Good
