The sweet smell of success

Zombies may exhibit - or rather perfectly hide - an absence of qualia, of feelings, but their eggs are often found in aesthetically "pleasing" places, such as dust under the bed or, as here, in a small grouping of violets on the Art School grass.

Image analysis for object circularity using the formula

circularity = 4pi(area/perimeter^2)

(where a circularity value of 1.0 indicates a perfect circle) indicates the perfectly circular nature of the jelly-like eggs, even though to a casual observer, and from the distorting point of view of the camera, they are not.

Not only was my day enhanced by my noticing the eggs, but also by two pieces of very cheering news:

• A major, double-blind, controlled study shows that praying for people undergoing heart bypass surgery has no effect whatsoever, other than a negative one upon those who knew they were being prayed for, who showed significantly more harmful side effects compared with the control group (59% against 51%)

• A study shows that aromatherapy is a load of bunkum, and differs not a whit from placebo.

Zombies and humans everywhere will be laughing and cheering. A nun involved in the praying was quoted as saying this proves nothing, as god is more mysterious than science. Or something.