Scientists claim there is a fine margin between genius and madness and this is one invention which surely proves that theory.

Loo manufacturer Gao Jianguo discovered a way to transform these bog standard unused toilets into fully functional desks by turning one lavatory’s cistern lid into portable lap desks.

Alternatively students can sit on top of the toilet seat backwards and work from a fixed position.

Gao, from Shijiazhuang, northern China, has now donated hundreds of the wacky toilet desks to local schools in the area.

While most critics believe his invention stinks, the inventor says his unique idea will stop hundreds of loos being thrown away every year.

‘We have lots of toilets that we would otherwise throw away,’ said Gau, responding to critics who have poo-poohed the idea.

‘It is wasteful and if we can find a use for them we should.

‘They are brand new and have never been used so there is no hygiene issue.’ (Metro)

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The former Miss Wales was taking part in a fashion show for Welsh milliner Robyn Coles.

And, like other models, all she had on was one of his designs.

She took to the catwalk at the White Rabbit Studio in Shoreditch, East London, with four other nude models, including actor and comedian Jeff Leach, during London Fashion Week.

Coles, 31, said she wanted to include Cahill because it is so rare to see pregnant women on the catwalk.

She said: "She was one person I knew would be more than happy to get her kit off.

"I thought it would be nice she would be pregnant for the show. You never see that kind of thing in fashion." (The Sun)

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The Ramos Alarm Clock, from Paul Sammut, is fiendishly designed so that the slumbering victim has to physically leave bed and enter a PIN code into a wireless panel to silence the buzzer.

Clearly aimed at heavy sleepers with mashochistic tendencies, the clock’s manufacturers suggest placing the PIN code panel as far away as possible, such as another room.

Don’t think you can merely fly out of bed, hit any old number, and retreat back under the warm covers.

The PIN code has to be entered correctly – and, in a custom version, could be programmed so that the code had to be entered a number of times – or the buzzer will merrily continue to wake up the entire house.

It comes in three models: a standard desk-top LED Ramos (£100) in sustainably-harvested birch box; a vertically mounted teak clock with USSR-style nixie tubes for around £200; and the custom-made version (to your own warped specifications) starting at around £500.

Each version is wirelessly paired with a ‘defuse panel’, powered by a 9-volt battery and featuring a 12-digit push-button keypad.

Each morning, the sleepy customer will be asked to enter the day’s date into the keypad. The clocks can also be programmed to flash up an ever-changing four-digit code on the LED – forcing the foggy brain to work harder and subsequently get into gear quicker.

A long-range version of the clocks mean that the panel can be placed 100ft away.

Sammut has even found a solution to those who habitually wake up before their alarm goes off, and change the alarm time for a longer lie in.

The Ramos can be programmed to feature a lock-down mode, where the clock will no longer permit any alteration to the alarm settings 30 minutes before the pre-set time – unless its owner types in a code at the defuse panel.

It’s not all evil – Sammut has included a ‘grace period’ setting, where the alarm cuts off after 10 seconds and waits one minute before activating again. (Mail Online)

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This bird made an unlikely four-legged friend after feeding a dog noodles from the kitchen counter top.

The pair have a Lady and the Tramp moment as the cockatoo bobs his way toward his furry companion to share a string of spaghetti.

The eager pooch licks his chops as he waits for the next bite.

Fortunately for his winged friend, the dog doesn’t seem too hungry as he takes a nibble from his beak.

At one point, it even appears as though the bird dips the noodles sauce sitting nearby, and feeds it to the dog as if he were a youngling.

A spectator had a camera on hand to record the bizarre meal for a video that is now sweeping the web.

‘Bird Feeds Dog Noodles’, uploaded by YouTube user xxImmortalDreamerxx has earned over 150,000 views since it was uploaded on December 18. (Daily Mail)

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Ann Curran, 35, of Dundee, munches her way through copies of the Dundee Evening Telegraph.

She says it is the only "only newsprint with the proper flavour" and that she "stashes shredded copies in her handbag for emergency snacks".

Ms Curran said: "I could be sitting in the bingo hall and I’ll start ripping out pages of the newspaper.

"All the people look at me going, ‘What is she doing?’. I tear the white bits off the edges of the pages and keep them in a bag so I can eat them while I’m shopping."

The Sunday Sun reports that she stocks up on copies of the paper during the week so she has enough to eat at the weekends.

She added: "If you shredded up lots of different bits of paper, I would know exactly which one was the Evening Telegraph.

"My pals keep papers for me but I have to buy a couple of extras to get me through the weekend." (Orange News)

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The couple have sailed the equivalent of four times around the globe since setting off in 1976.

They have been travelling around on boats they built themselves since Bill quit his high-flying job in the city and they sold their home in Chatham, Kent.

Over the past four decades they have notched up nearly 100,000 nautical miles sailing across seven seas, stopping in 45 different countries.

They’ve also battled 25ft waves, hurricanes, winds of 100mph and got close enough to dolphins, sharks and whales.

And they even once had a one-eyed cat called Nelson on their boat.

Former Royal Navy Commander Bill, 83, said: "We’ve had a wonderful time but I’m afraid I have been over-taken by what you could call ill-health.

"When I got to about 78, I thought this isn’t going to go on forever so we built a boat we could manage when old age really strikes — we call it the geriatric boat.

"We will have to get used to the life here. I plan to write a book and decay gently."

Laurel, 82, added: "We have had an absolutely amazing life. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

"I’m very happy looking back at all the wonderful places we’ve been, the people we’ve met and the adventures we’ve had.

"We’ve been very lucky, but we always knew it wouldn’t last forever."

The couple met in 1945 and started sailing together on the Norfolk Broads two years later, with Bill as the captain and Laurel as first mate.

In 1976 they sold their detached, six-bedroom house and gave the money to their children Shelley and Benedict.

They took their first sea cruise together in 1954 in a boat around Sicily when Shelley was still a baby.

Funded by Bill’s Navy pension and the proceeds of selling his partnership, they set sail on 50ft steel ketch "Fare Well" — and never looked back. (The Sun)

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Li Hongxiao, 30, performed the stunt in front of amazed shoppers in Chongqing city centre.

He managed to balance all 23 benches in the air for 11 seconds. The previous record was 14 benches.

The one metre long benches weighed a total of nearly 70kg.

The China-based Jinisi World Record Office issued a certificate to Li at the scene. (wrapup)

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With a name like that, it’s not surprising that months of research by the experts at New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute have identified the variety as the new hottest pepper on the planet.

The golf ball-sized pepper scored the highest among a handful of chile breeds reputed to be among the hottest in the world. Its mean heat topped more than 1.2 million units on the Scoville heat scale, while fruits from some individual plants reached 2 million heat units.

"You take a bite. It doesn’t seem so bad, and then it builds and it builds and it builds. So it is quite nasty," Paul Bosland, a renowned pepper expert and director of the chile institute, said of the pepper’s heat.

Researchers were pushed by hot sauce makers, seed producers and others in the spicy foods industry to establish the average heat levels for super-hot varieties in an effort to quash unscientific claims of which peppers are actually the hottest. (AP)

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Wearing only veils, body paint and plenty of sunblock, the couples were married on Negril beach.

The Hedonism II resort invited ten couples for the all-expense paid group ceremony but one couple dropped out before the big day.

The lucky few were selected from a stack of 100 applications asking a myriad of questions, including why they wanted to start their life together in the nude.

One couple declared: "We love each other naked so why not start our life together naked?" (wrapup)

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Xu Huijun, 43, who is just 5ft 2ins tall and weighs less than eight stone, performed the stunt in Dalian, Liaoning Province.

She said she had always been stronger than she looked, adding: "I used to carry two buckets of 100kg water home."

Xu explained how she became a performer after moving to Dalian city three years ago and finding work as an accountant for an acrobatic troupe.

"Each day I saw troupe members doing various numbers, and I also wanted to have a try," she said.

Yu Shunye, the troupe leader, encouraged her to try to pull vehicles with her hair and she started off with a 1.5 tonne car.

She has since built up her strength until she could pull the two jeeps – and plans to try to pull three for her next challenge.

"I’m worried that I might lose some hair," she joked. "But it’s a great feeling to move something so big when I am so small." (Orange News)

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