Google claim their latest quantum computer chip is able to process something in five minutes it would take a normal computer 10 septillion years to figure out.

As this is a massive amount longer than the entire history of the known universe, that seems to suggest the chip is extremely powerful.

But when you understand what’s going on, the claim doesn’t seem quite so impressive. Dr Peter Leek, a quantum computer scientist from Oxford University, explains the key context.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

Just before being inaugurated as US president for the second time, Donald Trump launched something called a “meme-coin”.

Newspaper headlines claimed that the Trump meme-coin had made the president billions of dollars wealthier. But it is far from clear that this is the case.

What has the colour of your hair got to do with your capacity to withstand pain?

We investigate the claim, which regularly circulates on social media, that natural redheads are 25% tougher than their brunette peers.

Pain expert Jeff Mogil explains how it all comes down to something called MC1R.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

The claim that 79% of asylum seekers in Sweden go on holiday in their home country has been repeated regularly on social media.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

We asked and you responded, this edition of ‘numbers of the year’ are from you. our loyal listeners. We scoured the inboxes to find three fascinating numbers that say something about the world we live in now and put them to our experts.

Contributors:

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

It’s that time of year again, the time when we ask some of our favourite statistically-inclined people for their numbers of the year.

Contributors:

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

“Say what you like about Mussolini but he did make the trains run on time.” This phrase is the political equivalent of “every cloud has a silver lining” – but does it have any factual basis?

Image: Benito Mussolini in his train studying maps. (Photo by ullstein picture/ullstein picture via Getty Images)

Are most Americans barely holding their head above water when it comes to personal finances?

We go behind the headlines to unpick the numbers.

When World War Two came to Greece, a period of terrible human suffering followed. There was a brutal battle with Italian and then Nazi forces, followed by an occupation in which thousands were executed and a terrible famine swept the nation.

There’s an often repeated number that appears to capture the brutality of this time – that 10% of the Greek population died during the war.

We investigate where this statistic comes from and whether it is true.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

President Elect Donald Trump has created a new government advisory group – the Department of Government Efficiency or ‘DOGE’ - to help cut the US budget.

The world richest man, Elon Musk, will co-head the department and has pledged to cut ‘at least $2 trillion’ to ‘balance the budget’. But is this possible? We talk to Professor Linda Bilmes about what DOGE could or couldn’t do and how she balanced the budget in the 1990’s.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald