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Big Numbers

More Or Less finds out why computers struggle to process big numbers, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trending talks to Sweden’s fake policeman and the Why Factor looks at the power of television.

More Or Less asks why many computers struggle to process big numbers. Tim Harford talks to technology journalist Chris Baraniuk, who explains how a simple software bug can cause havoc. And good news – two mothers who asked what the chances would be of them giving birth on the same day have had their babies – we reveal how far apart.

In ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trending Anne-Marie Tomchak finds out why Abdishakour Mohamed Ali dresses up in a Swedish police uniform from the 1970s on a mission to call out racism in the police force and she asks why a one day protest in Iran been amplified online with pictures of a burning hotel under the hashtag IranOnFire.

And in the Why Factor, Mike Williams explores our obsession with television. How has it grown from being tightly controlled into something that changes our societies in unimaginable ways?

55 minutes

Last on

Thu 21 May 2015 08:05GMT

Broadcast

  • Thu 21 May 2015 08:05GMT

Podcast