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The doubling of life-expectancy
The story of how data helped extend our lives
The origins of Covid
How similar are the Covid strains?
Maths and the Mayflower
Are there really 35 million descendants of the Mayflower alive today?
Is Ivermectin a Covid ‘wonder drug’?
What do we know about the efficacy of Ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19?
Are there 40 million Nigerians on Twitter?
Recent reports have claimed that Nigeria has 40 million Twitter s – but is this true?
Long Covid and Vaccinating Children
The world watches as the UK lifts its remaining Covid restrictions
The Rise of Delta
Where’s this new Variant spreading and what can be done to stop it?
Breaking climate records
The odds and probability behind record-breaking temperatures
Jab fears explained: a base rate fallacy
Why increasing Covid infections amongst the vaccinated isn’t necessarily bad news.
How good were the performances at the Tokyo Olympics?
What can the data tell us about the quality of the Covid hit games?
The extraordinary life of Robert Moses
The life of mathematics educator and civil rights organiser, Dr Robert Moses
Reason, numbers and Mr Spock
What role do numbers play in helping us think more rationally?
The bill for Afghanistan
Did the war in Afghanistan cost the US $2 trillion?
Is immunity from vaccines waning?
How worried should we be about declining antibodies? Plus life-threatening hotdogs.
How many holes are there in a drinking straw?
Tim Harford talks to Jordan Ellenberg about the pandemic, geometry and drinking straws
Has the number of periods a woman has in her lifetime quadrupled?
A claim about how many periods a woman has and a suspicious stat on single-use face masks
The Gender Pay Gap
Can Machiavelli help women get a better deal in the workplace?
Vaccinating the world
How countries’ vaccination rates measure up – and the trickiness of comparing them.
The prize-winning economics of migration and the minimum wage
A look at the work of this year’s winners of the most prestigious prize in economics.
The numbers behind Squid Game
Could you survive a round in Squid Game, and how many have watched it?
The art of counting
Tim Harford talks to author Deborah Stone about her book which explores counting
Same data, opposite results. Can we trust research?
Why the same data can produce different conclusions.
The carbon cost of breakfast at COP26
Can a vegan croissant really be worse for the environment than a bacon roll?
A TikTok tale
How a well-meaning TikTok disrupted 4,600 studies.
Simpson’s Paradox: How to make vaccinated death figures misleading
A tricky statistical phenomenon at play.
Does wearing a mask halve your chances of getting Covid-19?
Is it true wearing a mask reduces Covid-19 incidence by 53%?
Does catching Covid give you more immunity than being vaccinated?
Infection vs injection: Could Covid infection provide 27 times more protection?
The psychological economics of gift giving
How to buy gifts people actually want.
Numbers of 2021
The most significant numbers of the year
Will the population of Nigeria be larger than Europe’s?
Will Nigeria’s population really reach 600million?
How much plastic is in the ocean and can Mr Beast make a difference?
Can two social media stars remove $30million worth of plastic from the ocean?
