大象传媒

Do half of new books really sell fewer than twelve copies?

We look into a claim that 50% of new books in the US sell just a handful of copies.

• 9 mins

Can China鈥檚 GDP data be trusted?

Are China鈥檚 most recent figures for economic growth wrong?

• 9 mins

Lula鈥檚 'zero deforestation' plan for the Amazon

How much of the rainforest has been lost? And can Brazil鈥檚 new president save it?

• 9 mins

Improving the numbers in the news

Tim Harford discusses the role statistics should play in the reporting of the news

• 9 mins

A $220 billion World Cup?

Has hosting the Fifa football World Cup really cost Qatar $220bn?

• 9 mins

When do food shortages become a famine?

With Somalia in crisis, we ask how data is used to officially declare a famine

• 9 mins

World Cup in Qatar: How many migrant workers have died?

Examining the wildly varying estimates of deaths in the run-up to the tournament in Qatar

• 9 mins

Why is data so important in determining how we live?

Tim Harford on how good policies depend on the availability of reliable statistics

• 9 mins

Qatar World Cup: The pressure of penalties

We analyse World Cup penalty data to ask what boosts the chance of scoring from the spot

• 9 mins

What are the numbers of 2022?

Tim Harford and guests on the numbers that help tell the big stories of the year.

• 9 mins

Irish pubs - a global numbers game

Are there more Irish pubs in Ireland than in all other countries combined?

• 9 mins

Can China's data on Covid deaths be trusted?

Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?

• 9 mins

How we shook the world of very large numbers

How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers

• 9 mins

Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?

We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world鈥檚 forests.

• 9 mins

Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?

We examine a study that says humans and livestock dominate mammal life on Earth

• 9 mins

Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer

The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.

• 9 mins

Spreadsheet disasters

The long and costly history of spreadsheet mistakes

• 9 mins

Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data

Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician鈥檚 groundbreaking diagrams

• 9 mins

Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?

We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee

• 9 mins

Does British jewellery contain stolen Brink鈥檚-Mat gold?

We ask what happened to the 3 tonnes of pure gold after the infamous robbery of 1983

• 9 mins

Do fungi kill three times as many people as malaria?

We investigate the claim that fungal infections are a much bigger killer than malaria.

• 9 mins

Silicon Valley Bank: A very modern bank run

How do bank runs happen?

• 9 mins

Covid vaccines and false claims about miscarriage

We debunk viral claims that incorrectly link covid-19 vaccines with a risk of miscarriage

• 9 mins

A groundbreaking new proof for Pythagoras鈥� Theorem?

Two high school students say they鈥檝e discovered a new trigonometric proof for the theorem

• 9 mins

How to better understand and explain numbers

Professor Oliver Johnson discusses the use of statistics in the pandemic and in life.

• 9 mins

How accurate is baby's due date?

This week we investigate how a baby's due date is calculated

• 9 mins

The Pentagon leaks and Fox News

Why did Tucker Carlson say far more Ukrainian troops than Russian are dying in the war?

• 9 mins

How much is the Coronation crown worth?

King Charles will be anointed with the St Edward鈥檚 Crown 鈥� but what is its true value?

• 9 mins

Why is life expectancy falling in the USA?

We ask why average life expectancy in America is falling so quickly.

• 9 mins

Do 94% of marriages in Portugal really end in divorce?

We examine a social media post that claims to outline rates of divorce across the world.

• 9 mins