On this week's podcast Alok Jha is joined by science writer and libel reform campaigner Simon Singh to explore the unexpectedly rich world of mathematics in The Simpsons.
Singh's latest book, The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets, reveals the Simpsons writing team's deep passion and understanding of maths and how this love of numbers found its way to the heart of Springfield.
Simon has set a test to gauge your mathematical sense of humour.
To round up some of this week's big science stories, Alok is joined by Guardian science correspondent Ian Sample, science communicator, broadcaster and molecular biologist Dr Emily Grossman and Dr Kevin Fong author of Extremes: Life, Death and the Limits of the Human Body.
They discuss the recent discovery of a 1.8m-year-old skull in Georgia that is rewriting the story of early human evolution in Africa, why new research suggests that social rejection really does hurt, new statistics on the spread of vCJD in the UK and a scientific look at the film Gravity.
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