Mathematician and author Marcus du Sautoy joins Alok Jha and the Science Weekly team in the pod this week to discuss super symmetries, mathematical mysteries and code-cracking.
With Marcus firmly in situ, we discover more about the complexities of symmetry; ask whether it's true that mathematicians tend to do their best work before their 40th birthday; and attempt to get to the bottom of prime number theory and Fermat's last theorem. Find out more in Marcus' latest book here.
Also in the programme, technology correspondent Bobbie Johnson tells us about Microsoft's bid for Yahoo - and what such a merger would mean for Google and the rest of the web world. Should you be that way inclined, you can hear about this in much more geeky detail in a special edition of the Tech Weekly podcast.
Still need further convincing to spend 40 minutes in our aural company? Theoretical nuclear physicist Jim Al-Khalili muses on the golden age of Arabic science and its influence on later generations on this week's Thought for the Pod (read the full text here). Plus, James Randerson rants about homeopathy, and Ian Sample explains why hurricanes have become stronger and more frequent over the last decade.
