It's been a good week for ... laundry

Scientists have been doing a bit of sole-searching. Bored with splitting atoms and unlocking the secrets of the universe, they have turned their attention to one of life's more mystifying enigmas. Why all the odd socks?

It seems no matter how careful you are with the laundry inventory, those most wayward items of hosiery manage to make a break for freedom. The result is a drawer in every household full of forlorn single socks pining for their fickle partners.

Now, psychologist Dr Simon Moore and statistician Dr Geoff Ellis have solved the mystery. Commissioned by washing machine producer Samsung, they've come up with a complicated sum designed to predict the likelihood of any given sock disappearing. It involves variables such as volume of laundry, the number of dark and white socks in the load and the care and attention paid by the person filling the machine.

It's [L (p x f) + C (t x s)] - [P x A] in case you're wondering.

Sadly, the scientists did not come up with a formula for finding the lost socks – though they did discover which gender is the sloppiest at doing the washing (men) and where the errant footwear is most likely to end up (behind radiators and under furniture).

They also gave us good reason to be thankful for the invention of tights.

It's been a bad week for ... noisy appliances

In a world where even socks are subjected to scientific analysis it seems fitting that the humble hairdryer should be elevated the heights of an engineering masterpiece.

James Dyson, not content with sucking, has taken to blowing in his bid to be master of the air we breathe. For a snip (well, £299), you can now purchase the state-of-the art ultra quiet to pamper your locks without battering your eardrums.

I won't be investing. I still have my trusty Braun, which dates back to 1983 and successfully endured many hours of teenage tendril taming. Bouffed, spiked, feathered and flicked, that 1980s hair tested the trusty Braun to its limits.

That it still works is testament to engineering of supreme fortitude. I suspect, however, that it's only being held together thanks to its layer of several decades worth of Country Born setting gel.