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Research last month claimed to show that e-cigarettes harm your chances of quitting smoking. The paper got coverage world-wide but it also came in for unusually fierce criticism from academics who spend their lives trying to help people quit. It?s been described as "grossly misleading" and "not scientific". We look at what is wrong with the paper and ask if it should have been published in the first place.
(Image: Man smoking e-cigarette. Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
On Start the Week Andrew Marr talks to Jane McGonigal, a designer of alternate reality games, about her latest innovation SuperBetter. Designed to aid her recovery from a brain injury and subsequent depression, the game reportedly gives people a sense of control over their own health. Harnessing the mind in the fight against chronic illnesses is the subject of Jo Marchant's book, Cure, which looks at the latest research into the science of mind over body. Rational thought and magic went hand in hand in the Renaissance period and the philosopher AC Grayling looks back at the life of John Dee - mathematician, alchemist and the Queen's conjurer. The actor Simon McBurney tests the limits of perception and human consciousness as he recreates what it feels like to be lost in the remote part of the Brazilian rainforest. Producer: Katy Hickman.
Do e-cigarettes make quitting smoking more difficult? Research last month claimed to show that e-cigarettes harm your chances of quitting smoking. The paper got coverage world-wide but it also came in for unusually fierce criticism from academics who spend their lives trying to help people quit. It's been described as 'grossly misleading' and 'not scientific'. We look at what is wrong with the paper and ask if it should have been published in the first place.
A campaign of dodgy statistics
Are American presidential hopefuls getting away with statistical murder? We speak to Angie Drobnic, Editor of the US fact-checking website Politifact, about the numbers politicians are using - which are not just misleading, but wrong.
Will missing a week of school affect your GCSE results?
Recently education minister Nick Gibb said that missing a week of school could affect a pupil's GCSE grades by a quarter. We examine the evidence and explore one of the first rules of More or Less ? 'correlation is not causation'. We interview Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education at Durham University.
What are the chances that a father and two of his children share the same birthday?
A loyal listener got in touch to find out how rare an occurrence this is. Professor David Spiegelhalter from the University of Cambridge explains the probabilities involved.
Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Have refugees caused a gender imbalance in Sweden? It has been reported that there are 123 boys for every 100 girls aged between 16 and 17 in Sweden. In China, the ratio is 117 boys to 100 girls. We explore if the numbers add up and why this might be.
On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe talks to the violinist Edward Dusinberre about interpreting Beethoven's string quartets. The sixteen quartets are challenging to play and appreciate alike, and have been subject to endless reinterpretation. The director, Mariame Clément, puts her own spin on the rarely performed comic opera L'Etoile, introducing two actors - one English, one French - to comment on the action. A missing interpreter is at the heart of Diego Marani's new novel, which combines the author's promotion of multilingualism with an interest in the relationship between language and identity. While the poet Vahni Capildeo, who moved from her native Trinidad to Britain, explores the complexity of identity and exile and finds herself drawn to words: "Language is my home, I say; not one particular language." Producer: Katy Hickman.
New alcohol guidelines were issued recently which lowered the number of units recommended for safe drinking. But are the benefits and harms of alcohol being jusged correctly? We speak to Professor David Speigelhalter and
Sepsis ? do 44,000 people die of it a year? Is it the country's second biggest killer? We speak to Dr Marissa Mason about the difficulties of knowing the numbers.
Dan Bouk tells the story of a statistician who crept around graveyards in South Carolina at the turn of the century recording how long people lived - all to help out an insurance firm. It's from his book 'How our days became numbered' ? looking at how data from insurance company has shaped knowledge about our lives.
Have refugees caused a gender imbalance in Sweden or is there something funny going on? It has been reported that there are 123 boys for every 100 girls aged between 16 and 17 in Sweden. In China, the ratio is 117 boys to 100 girls. We explore if the numbers add up and why this might be.
Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald
On Start the Week Andrew Marr explores the question of citizenship. While immigration issues dominate political debate, little attention is paid to the big increase in the number of people becoming British. The academic Thom Brooks and the Eurosceptic MEP Daniel Hannan look at the relationship between the two and the challenges for modern UK citizenship. Ben Rawlence spent four years reporting the stories of those who are stateless, living in the largest refugee camp in the world, while Frances Stonor Saunders explores the increasing complexity of today's border regimes and the obsession with the verified self. Producer: Katy Hickman.
You may have seen the claim that ?62 people now own as much wealth as half of the world?s population?. You may also have seen headlines that suggest that 1% of the world?s population now own more than the 99% put together. This is the latest iteration of Oxfam?s annual report looking at global inequality. They say that the overall the world may be getting richer but that most of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people. But is this really telling us what we think it?s telling us? Tim Harford asks economics writer Felix Salmon and development expert Charles Kenny.
Oxfam says that 62 people now own as much wealth as half of the world?s population. But is this really telling us anything meaningful? And how is it that this study shows that some of the world?s poorest people live in the United States?
What do you do with bored children on a bus? Rob Eastaway, author of ?Maths on the go,? gets three pupils to play a game on the Number 12 in south London.
Prime Minister David Cameron said this week that 22% of British Muslim women speak little or no English. He says that equates to 190,000. We look at the figures.
Plus, was the Hatton Garden Heist the biggest robbery ever? Is water more expensive than oil? And a new prime number is discovered.
One of our 2015 ?Numbers of the Year? predictions might have come to pass. There is great excitement over rumours that one of the predictions Einstein made in his theory of General Relativity has finally been observed. But it?s not the first time it?s been reported that ?gravitational waves? have been discovered, and the last time proved to be an equipment test.
What is the total number of possible tweets that could be created from 140 characters? In a recent programme Professor John Allen-Paulos told us that when you take into account all of the symbols available, the total number of possible tweets is Googol^2.8 (which is a 1 followed by 280 zeros.) But has he missed some options?