It is marvellous the way researchers are constantly beavering away to add to the sum of human knowledge on our behalf. For example, a group of academics at Reading University once did a survey which found that contact with nature gives people existential moments and makes them happier and less stressed. So the poets were right after all! A Harvard professor dug deeper and discovered that love of nature, or biophilia to give it its proper scientific name, is inborn, dating back to a time when human beings had to know their way round the savannah in order to survive. Isn't that amazing?

Now supermarket chain Somerfield has been making its own contribution to science. According to a report in The Independent, it hired a psychologist to conduct a survey into "love coding", the method by which people assess potential partners by examining the contents of their shopping trolley. Dr David Lewis explained that like the supermarket itself and much else to be grateful for, love coding has come to us from America.