More or Less

What percentage of our brain do we actually use?

02 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On this week’s episode of More or Less we interrogate a widely circulated myth relating to how much of our brain power we can access and engage. Eve...

HS2 and electric cars, UK vs China emissions & massive maths errors

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Can you really buy an electric car for everybody in the UK for the cost of HS2? That claim was recently made on Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme...

How safe is the release of Fukushima nuclear plant water?

26 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Water used to cool nuclear reactors at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan is being released into the Pacific Ocean by Japanese author...

How many butterflies are there in the world?

19 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Butterflies are a much-loved feature of summer in many parts of the world. But how many of them are there on Earth? That’s the question a young list...

Why is it so hard to predict the outcome of competitions like the Premier League?

12 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Football competitions are kicking off all around Europe in the coming days and weeks, including the world’s most watched division: The English Premi...

Are the media exaggerating how hot it is in the Mediterranean?

05 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Reports on heatwaves across the globe have dominated our newsfeeds over the last few weeks, with temperatures said to have soared over the 40C mark in...

Data, extreme weather and climate change

29 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Recent global headlines have been dominated by record temperatures across Europe, North America and parts of Asia. As extreme weather events have happ...

Ukraine war: A new way of calculating Russian deaths

22 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Official information on the numbers of dead and injured in the Ukraine war has been in short supply. Little has come from either the Ukrainian or Russ...

Are more adult nappies sold in Japan than baby ones?

15 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Japan has one of the highest rates of life expectancy and one of the lowest birth rates. But does that mean that a widely circulated claim – that mo...

Does it take 10,000 litres of water to make a pair of jeans?

08 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Various claims have been made about how much water is used in the production of a pair of jeans, that cornerstone of casual clothing. With growing wor...

Immigration: A More or Less Special Programme

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

More than 1.2 million people came into the country to stay for more than 12 months in 2022. As only 560,000 left the country, this means net migration...

Will there be just 6 grandchildren for every 100 South Koreans?

01 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An article on the UK’s Telegraph newspaper website claimed that there would be just 6 grandchildren for every 100 South Koreans today. We ask whethe...

Halving inflation, Scottish tidal power and have 1 in 3 women had an abortion?

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One of Rishi Sunak's five priorities for 2023 is to halve inflation. Given prices are still rising, we discuss whether it's going be possible. Also do...

US National Debt: is $32 trillion a big number?

24 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

‘This episode was updated on 26th June to remove an error in how we quantified 32 trillion dollars’ The level of US government debt has just s...

Mortgages, birth rates and does space contribute 18% to UK GDP?

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mortgage rates have risen to 6%. But are things as bad as when rates were much higher in the 1970s and 80s? We look at just how much pain today's rise...

Is breastfeeding the key to exam success?

17 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A new study by researchers at Oxford University has linked better exam results at school with being breastfed as a baby. But how much faith can we put...

Electric vehicles, 600 million bottles and does oral sex cause cancer?

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There's been a lot of coverage about the risks electric cars may pose to infrastructure like bridges and car parks. We look at how much heavier EVs ar...

Counting Hunger in India

10 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How prevalent is hunger and malnutrition in India? With Indian data journalist Rukmini S, we interrogate recent claims that hunger has worsened dramat...

Lib Dem ambulance claims, affordable rent and goat meat

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Liberal Democrats say 120 people a day in England died last year whilst waiting for an ambulance. We investigate whether the claim stands up to s...

A short history of data

03 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We live in a world where data is everywhere – informing if not governing our lives. But this wealth of data didn’t just turn up overnight. Tim Har...

Food prices, net migration and beef about beef

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Does Britain really have the most affordable food in Europe? That's a recent claim of the President of the National Farmers' Union. We ask if it's tru...

Are young people more single than ever before?

28 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the definition of being single – and how easy is it to measure? There’s a perception that young people today are more single – in a rel...

NHS waiting lists, Voter ID and measuring divorce

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The government has trumpeted a big fall in those waiting over 18 months for hospital treatment in England. But total numbers on waiting lists have hit...

Detecting Bad Science with Data

20 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For more than a decade there’ve been longstanding concerns about the credibility and reliability of science research. This “bad science” has oft...

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

13 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Portugal has a divorce rate of 94% and India just 1%, according to a social media post about divorce in 33 countries that has gone viral. But how are ...

Why is life expectancy falling in the USA?

06 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The average life expectancy of Americans is shrinking at an alarming rate. Between 2019 and 2021, a staggering 2.7 years has been shaved off, leaving ...

How much is the Coronation crown worth?

29 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Consisting of 2 kilograms of gold and 444 gemstones, the iconic St Edward’s Crown will play a central role in the coronation of King Charles III, as...

The Pentagon Leaks and Fox News

22 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The leaking of US intelligence documents and the arrest of a 21 year old airman who authorities believe to be responsible has caused a media and diplo...

How accurate is baby's due date?

15 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Connolly is expecting his second child, and the due date is just under two weeks away. In hopes of easing his anxiety every time the phone rings ...

How to better understand and explain numbers

08 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The covid-19 pandemic has brought the use of statistics into everyday life in a way never seen before. Tim Harford talks to Professor Oliver Johnson, ...

A groundbreaking new proof for Pythagoras’ Theorem?

01 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pythagoras’ Theorem, explaining the relationship between the three sides of a right angled triangle, is one of the most famous in maths. It’s been...

Covid vaccines and false claims about miscarriage

25 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Misinformation around covid-19 and vaccines is rife and as the data available increases, so do often misleading and even wild claims. This week More o...

Silicon Valley Bank: a very modern bank run

18 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent jitters through the financial system, Duncan Weldon explains how it’s just the latest in the long his...

Do fungi kill three times as many people as malaria?

11 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The smash hit TV show and video game ‘The Last of Us’ has spawned lots of curiosity about how worried we should be about the relatively unknown wo...

Does your jewellery contain stolen Brink’s-Mat gold?

04 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Brink’s-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain’s biggest and most audacious heists. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonne...

UK vs European energy prices, falling excess deaths and is 5 grams of cocaine a lot?

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Does the UK really have by far the highest domestic energy bills in Europe? We debunk a viral social media claim suggesting just that. Also the number...

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

25 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How environmentally destructive is our thirst for coffee? Tim and the team investigate a claim that 29,000 coffee pods end up in landfill globally ev...

Reoffending rates, Welsh taxes and the menopause

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Justice Secretary Dominic Raab says crime reoffending rates in England and Wales have fallen significantly since the Conservatives came to power. ...

Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data

18 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Florence Nightingale became one of the icons of Victorian Britain for her work as a nurse during the Crimean War and the public health improvements sh...

Nurses' pay, ambulance times and forgotten female economists

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How much do nurses in the UK earn compared with those elsewhere in Europe? Tim Harford and the team investigate. Also we have an update on ambulance r...

Spreadsheet disasters

11 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The UK’s Office for National Statistics recently published some dramatically incorrect data - all because of a spreadsheet slip-up. But that’s jus...

The IMF and the UK economy, NHS staff shortages and British vs English

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The International Monetary Fund says the UK will be the only major economy to shrink in size this year. We ask how much faith we should put in the IMF...

Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer

04 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A new study led by Imperial College in London suggests that data from loyalty card spending in supermarkets and pharmacies could be used as a way of d...

Brexit and trade, pensioner millionaires and Hannah Fry on loyalty cards and cancer

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Has trade with the EU increased since Britain left the European Union? Tim Harford and the team look at a claim suggesting just that. There’s a row ...

Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?

28 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A widely respected and cited study says humans and livestock account for 96% of all mammals on Earth. We ask how the study was carried out and what ho...

Coffee with the Chancellor, inflation measures, GP numbers and toilet paper

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Hunt has pledged in a new social media video to halve the UK’s high rate of inflation. Tim Harford and the team fact check the Chancellor’s...

Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?

21 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A British company has claimed that the production and use of toilet paper is responsible for 15% of deforestation globally. We investigate the claim a...

Ambulance response times, teacher pay and Irish pubs

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance? Tim Harford and the team examine in detail the sheer scale of delays in respon...

How we shook the world of very large numbers

14 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did an edition of More or Less from 2017 end up influencing the choice of official names for extremely large numbers? We tell the tale of how an i...

A&E delays and deaths, religious identity in N Ireland and naming the monster numbers

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford and the team return for a new series of the number crunching show. With the huge pressures facing the NHS we ask how many people may be dy...

Can China's data on covid deaths be trusted?

07 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When the pandemic took hold, the Chinese government imposed a zero-Covid policy that aimed to contain the virus through mass-testing and strict lockdo...

Irish pubs - a global numbers game

31 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's possible that the question we focus on in this week's programme occurred to you as you were sipping on an Irish Coffee in Bubbles O'Leary's in Ka...

Numbers of the Year 2022

24 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford discusses the numbers that help explain some of the biggest stories of the year, including the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and a bre...

Qatar World Cup: the pressure of penalties

17 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The World Cup in Qatar is drawing to a close. Penalties and penalty shootouts have provided some of the biggest moments of the tournament. We analyse ...

Why are data so important in determining how we live?

10 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why are good data so important to policymakers – whether they know it or not – and what happens when good data is missing? Presenter Tim Harford ...

The World Cup: how many migrant workers have died?

03 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Qatar has been fiercely criticised over its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom have been employed to build stadiums and other infrastructure i...

When do food shortages become a famine?

26 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Somalia is experiencing its worst drought for 40 years and there are warnings that millions of people need food assistance urgently. The UN body taske...

A $220 billion World Cup?

19 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As the FIFA World Cup in Qatar gets underway, and the newly built stadia, lavish hotels and transport networks come to life, More or Less investigates...

Bonus Episode: Understand the Economy

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford brings you the first episode of his new podcast, Understand the Economy. If you’ve been missing his dulcet tones, here’s a chance for ...

Improving the numbers in the news

12 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How can journalists improve their use of statistics in their reporting of the world around us? It’s a question US academics John Bailer and Rosemary...

Lula’s “zero deforestation” plan for the Amazon

05 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lula Da Silva has pledged “zero deforestation” in the Amazon as he prepares to become Brazil’s next president, in contrast to the policies of ou...

Can China’s GDP data be trusted?

29 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, China released its third quarter GDP figure. At 3.9%, its rate of economic growth is better than many analysts expected, but still signific...

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

22 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A US government lawyer recently caused a stir in the publishing world when he said during a high profile legal trial that half of all new trade titles...

Ben Bernanke and the magic of banking

15 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The former head of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke is named as one of three winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on h...

Catching Chess Cheats with Data

08 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A cheating scandal is currently rocking the world of chess, as World Champion Magnus Carlsen accuses the young American Hans Niemann of cheating. A bo...

Teens and antidepressants, stamp duty savings and earthquake probabilities

07 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A survey from a mental health charity suggested that more than a third of British teenagers had been prescribed antidepressants. We debunk the figure....

NASA’s asteroid collision: how many asteroids are really out there?

01 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week NASA slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid in the hope of diverting its course. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test or DART mission will he...

Falling pound, the Queen’s funeral and is 0.5 on the Richter scale a big number?

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The value of the pound against other currencies has been incredibly volatile ever since the Chancellor’s ‘mini-budget’. We ask how much we shoul...

Ukraine’s progress in numbers

24 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine has reportedly recaptured nearly 10,000 square kilometres of territory that had been occupied by Russia. We ask where the numbers come from an...

Ukraine offensive, weak pound & how much do women really exercise

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine has reportedly recaptured nearly 10,000 square kilometres of territory that had been occupied by Russia. We ask where the numbers come from, w...

How bad is fashion for the environment?

17 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is fashion really the second most polluting industry after oil and does it account for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions? Sustainable fashion journalis...

Energy crisis plan, imperial measures survey, gardens v national parks

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of Liz Truss's first acts as Prime Minister was to announce a giant plan to protect domestic energy users from huge rises in wholesale gas and ele...

Is a third of Pakistan really under water?

10 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Pakistan is battling a huge natural disaster as a result of heavy monsoon rains. It’s been widely reported that a third of the country is under wate...

Pakistan flooding, UK power prices and Boris’s broadband claim

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Devastating floods have wreaked havoc across Pakistan after the heaviest monsoon rains in at least a decade. But is a third of the country really unde...

Can we use maths to beat the robots?

03 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Daily advances in the technology of artificial intelligence may leave humans playing catch-up – but in at least one area we can still retain an edge...

Energy prices, excess deaths and the race to count to 200

31 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With energy prices in the UK spiralling, Tim Harford asks whether there is an easy and realistic way for bills to be cut. Also the number of excess de...

Kenya’s Election Rounding Error

27 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When the official figures were announced in Kenya’s presidential election, it looked like the total percentage share of the vote for each candidate ...

The numbers behind “natural” birth control

20 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Videos on TikTok have been claiming that so-called “natural” birth control methods can be 99% effective. We examine what we really know, and how w...

Is opinion polling broken?

13 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The opinion polling industry’s reputation has taken a battering in recent years, as high profile slip-ups in the US presidential election exposed fr...

Debunking the Liverpool FC Conspiracy Theory

06 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ahead of the opening of the new season of the English Premier League, baseless rumours and dodgy statistics circulating online have implied that Liver...

How our world measures up

30 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why do we measure the world around us in the way we do? There is a rich history to be explored - from measuring the depth of the Nile in Ancient Egypt...

Does the World Athletics Championships have a false start problem?

23 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

US athlete Devon Allen has made global headlines this week after being disqualified from the 110m hurdles final at the World Athletics Championship in...

Is Uganda about to become a middle income country?

16 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In his State of the Nation address in early June 2022, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said that Uganda was on the cusp of becoming a middle inco...

Does it take 10,000 litres of water to make a pair of jeans?

09 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Various claims have been made about how much water is used in the production of a pair of jeans, that cornerstone of casual clothing. With growing wor...

How many American women will have an abortion in their lifetime?

02 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling on Roe vs Wade - the case which guaranteed a constitutional right to a legal abort...

Covid climb, childcare costs and why can’t the French count properly?

29 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Covid cases are rising once again – how accurately are official figures picking up the new wave and how worried we should be? We discuss inflationar...

Ed Sheeran and the mathematics of musical coincidences

25 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After beating a plagiarism claim in court, musician Ed Sheeran said that musical coincidences were inevitable with only 12 notes to choose from… but...

Rail strikes, tyre pollution and sex statistics

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do rail workers really earn £13,000 a year more than nurses? As rail strikes severely hit services we look at some of the claims being made around pa...

How often do people have sex?

18 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Magazine articles and advice columns are commonly littered with spurious statistics about how much sex we’re having. So how much do we really know –...

Maternity litigation, stars, bees and windowless planes

15 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says that the cost of maternity litigation claims in England is now more than the cost of salaries for materni...

Hannah Fry: Understanding the numbers of cancer

11 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

British mathematics professor and broadcaster Hannah Fry has spent many years trying to explain the world through numbers. But when she was diagnosed ...

Employment puzzle, pyramids and triplets

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The UK has a low unemployment rate, and a large number of people who are not working right now – we look at how both of these are true with the help...

Are girls starting puberty earlier?

04 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1980s, Dr Marcia Herman-Giddens was one of the first people to notice that girls were starting puberty earlier than expected. We talk to Dr Ma...

Jubilee costs, fuel poverty and imperial measures

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is the government really spending a billion pounds on the Jubilee, as some have claimed? We investigate some of the facts and figures around this week...

Noisy Decisions

28 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nobel memorial prize winner Daniel Kahneman is one of the world’s most famous psychologists, known particularly for his work identifying the role of...

Germany’s excess deaths, Eurovision and teacher shortages

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Some recent, and surprising, estimates from the World Health Organisation suggested that the UK fared better than Germany in the pandemic. But did the...

Are just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions and how stressed are South Africans?

21 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the fight against global warming we’re constantly told to do our bit to reduce green house gas emissions. However, a claim circulating that just ...

Did the WHO get some of its excess death estimates wrong?

14 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The World Health Organisation recently released some new estimates of the global death toll of the pandemic. But the figures for a few countries have...

Have the oceans become 30% more acidic?

07 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Although the climate-changing effects of Carbon Dioxide emissions are well known, they are changing our oceans too, making them more acidic. But how m...

Sweden’s polarising pandemic response

30 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When much of Europe went into lockdown at the start of pandemic, Sweden’s lighter touch strategy got lots of attention. Fans of the approach say it ...