Australian underwear company AussieBum has been monkeying around and the result is a range of men’s underwear made with bananas.

The new eco-friendly banana range of undies incorporates 27 percent banana fiber, 64 percent cotton and 9 percent lycra, AussieBum’s Lloyd Jones said.

The banana fiber used in the underwear is made from a bark weave from the banana plant and makes the underwear not only lightweight, but also very absorbent, he said. "Naturally you can’t really add anymore banana fiber than that because it might be a bit squishy," said Jones, adding that wearers did not have to worry about real monkeys, as the underwear does not smell like a banana. (Reuters)

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The ultimate in big boys’ toys – a hovercraft that flies – has been put up for sale on an internet auction website by its New Zealand inventor.

Rudy Heeman, who lives in the South Island city of Nelson, requisitioned a gas bottle from the family barbecue, parts from his wife’s car, and the control lever from his daughter’s motor scooter for his creation.

Looking like a conventional hovercraft but with the addition of detachable wings, the vehicle cruises at 56mph when flying, has a range of more than 140 miles, and reaches a height of about 10 feet.

It is powered by a 1.8-litre engine.

On the www.trademe.co.nz auction website the sale has already received more than 100,000 hits, has shot past the reserve price of NZ$20,000 (£9,300), and has attracted a long string of questions from viewers.

Mr Heeman, who has been building hovercrafts as a hobby in his back yard for more than 13 years, said this is his first flying model.

He says on the website: "It has been called all sorts of things, including aircraft, aeroplane, hovercraft and flying boat.

"It is in fact a WIG [a wing in ground effect] in the form of a hovercraft

"This machine is fast and furious, it roars like a lion and is not for the faint-hearted. It is adrenalin-pumping and exciting.

"Having a go on it is like a bungee jump, however, the thrill lasts as long as the ride."

Mr Heeman said he thought farmers could make good use of his invention.

"You can land in a paddock and you wouldn’t have to worry about opening and closing the gates. You just go over them."

The lightweight, canvas-covered wings are attached to the craft with what he calls a "Jesus pin".

Because the hovercraft is not classed as an aircraft under New Zealand aviation laws, the operator does not require a pilot’s licence.

It has taken Mr Heeman, a mechanic, 800 hours to build his invention and he has clocked up more than 75 hours’ flying time in it.

He said he was selling the craft because he needs the funds to get started on more "secret projects". (Telegraph)

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Designers have come up with a running shoe for women which adapts shape to suit their hormone levels.

The trainers – available in white, gold and black – capitalise on research showing that changes in levels of oestrogen affect flexibility and the height of the foot’s arch.

When oestrogen is high, and a woman is at her most fertile, the arch drops. Later in the month, when she is menstruating, levels of the hormone are low but her arch is raised.

To take advantage of this, Asics’ scientists created trainers with three layers of cushioning below the arch. Closest to the foot is a layer of foam, followed by an air-filled gap and a plastic block.

When the woman’s arch is low, the foam is compressed into the gap and when her arch is high the foam fills out, ensuring her feet are supported whatever the time of the month.

However, the GEL-KAYANO 16 does not come cheap. At £120 a pair they cost almost three times as much as the Japanese brand’s least expensive women’s shoe. (Daily Mail)

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Quilted, embossed, ultra soft aloe vera – the humble loo roll has gone steadily more upmarket in recent years. But surely it has now hit the apogee of indulgence: a cashmere version has gone on sale.

Cashmere, one of the softest and most prized materials, has been used to add an extra layer of extravagance to the sheets of paper, ensuring consumers enjoy the bottom line in comfort.

The loo rolls have gone on sale in Waitrose, the supermarket with a legion of loyal and discerning middle-class customers.

The supermarket won’t reveal quite how much cashmere goes into each roll, but insists it is a "significant" amount. No cashmere fibres themselves are included in the manufacturing process. Rather, the paper is covered in oil extracted from the hairs of the cashmere goat.

Carla Smith, buyer for Waitrose, said: “Cashmere provides that stamp of quality to any fashion garment from a designer suit to the finest luxury knitwear. It’s indulgent, it’s stylish and it’s helping provide that extra softness to our new premium bathroom tissue collection.”

Cashmere was once so prized, a jumper made from the fibre would cost well in excess of £200. However, its cost has tumbled markedly over the last decade, allowing supermarkets to stock cashmere garments for less than £20.

And now consumers can buy cashmere products for even less by wandering over to the loo roll section. The cashmere rolls cost £2.29 for a pack of four, double the price of Waitrose’s basic version, Essentials Ultra, which retails for £1.19 for four. (roundup)

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A Japanese company has invented, possibly, the cleverest office gadget of the year: a machine that turns waste paper into lavatory paper.

Instead of sending shredded documents to a recycling centre, incurring expense and energy, office managers will soon be able to feed them into a machine and turn them into lavatory paper.

Pop in 40 sheets of regular A4 paper, and a half-hour later, the paper has been shredded, mixed with water, turned into a pulp, flattened, dried and converted into a roll of lavatory paper.

The manufacturers of the White Goat machine estimates it costs about 10c (6p) to turn the waste paper into loo paper – equating to about six times cheaper than a roll of Andrex White Toilet Tissue, which usually retails for about 38p.

The quality of the paper, as demonstrated in the video, suggests a fairer comparison could be Tesco Value paper, which costs just 11p a roll.

However, it is estimated that the machine, made by Japanese company Oriental, will cost $100,000 (£63,000), making it suitable for large companies only.

The machine was unveiled about six weeks ago at the Eco Products trade fair in Tokyo, but the video demonstrating the technology has become an internet hit when it was posted on the Diginfo.tv Japanese website last week. (Telegraph)

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An Indian fashion designer has designed a shirt covered in condoms to promote the idea of safer sex.

M.A. Rahman sent the shirt to the secretary general of the UN, the Austrian Times reports.

Rahman said: "AIDS has killed more than 25 million people so far and an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide live with HIV. The world need more awareness campaign for the protection from this deadly virus.

"I hope that my condom Kurta shirt, a traditional Indian shirt, will encourage people to think about protection against unsafe sex."

He added: "The UN thanked me via email and encouraged by this I also approached the health minister of India – but they didn’t pay any attention to me."

Rahman used 1,025 condoms in each shirt, with some stitched to the front and an emergency supply included in the collar. (Digital Spy)

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A new music system has been designed to deliver soothing tunes straight to the tender ears of the most delicate of listeners – unborn babies.

The Ritmo pregnancy sound system wraps around an expectant mother’s tummy and plays music into the womb through four speakers.

Its designers say unborn babies show signs of ‘reactive listening’ from just 17 weeks into the pregnancy.

And they claim that playing music to a foetus can provide the ‘building blocks’ for future musical ability and intellectual development.

The new device, which connects to an mp3 player, is said to allow mums and babies to share ‘the sensory and emotional experience of bonding through sound and music.’

Ritmo was invented by dad of two Oren Oz after his wife had struggled to play music to her unborn child during her second pregnancy.

The 34-year-old said: ‘Ritmo was born out of my frustration at seeing my wife struggle to find a comfortable position that also allowed the speakers to stay still.’

‘It was impossible for her to be mobile while having the maximum flexibility to choose her own sound.’

‘None of the existing solutions on the market place seemed suitable in their design, technology and functionality.’

‘Ritmo was created to deliver sound safely in utero, taking into account the unique acoustic environment of the womb.’ (Daily Mail)

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Roxxxy the sex robot has had a coming out party in Sin City.

In what is billed as a world first, a life-size robotic girlfriend complete with artificial intelligence and flesh-like synthetic skin was introduced to adoring fans at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas on January 9 (local time).

"She can’t vacuum, she can’t cook but she can do almost anything else if you know what I mean," TrueCompanion’s Douglas Hines said.

"She’s a companion. She has a personality. She hears you. She listens to you. She speaks. She feels your touch. She goes to sleep. We are trying to replicate a personality of a person."

Roxxxy stands five feet, seven inches tall, weighs 120 pounds, "has a full C cup and is ready for action", according to Mr Hines, who was an artificial intelligence engineer at Bell Labs before starting TrueCompanion.

The anatomically-correct robot has an articulated skeleton that can move like a person but cannot walk or independently move its limbs.

Robotic movement is built into "the three inputs" and a mechanical heart that powers a liquid cooling system.

Roxxxy comes with five personalities. Wild Wendy is outgoing and adventurous, while Frigid Farrah is reserved and shy.

There is a young, naive personality along with a Mature Martha that Mr Hines described as having a "matriarchal kind of caring". S & M Susan is geared for more adventurous types.

Aspiring partners can customise Roxxxy features, including race, hair colour and breast size. A male sex robot named Rocky is in development.

People ordering the robots online detail their tastes and interests much like online dating sites but here, the information is used to get the mechanical girlfriend in synch with her mate.

"She knows exactly what you like," Mr Hines said of Roxxxy, noting that Rocky will also come with personalities.

"If you like Porsches, she likes Porsches. If you like soccer, she likes soccer." (ABC News/AFP)

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A jewellery designer has come up with the ultimate ‘green’ collection – rings with live plants growing inside them instead of precious stones.

Featuring tiny Icelandic moss plants sprouting in their stainless steel bases, the pieces are said to be a ‘clash of jewellery and gardening’.

They need watering like any other plant and if looked after, designer Hafsteinn Juliusson claims they can last up to six months.

But they don’t need to be pruned because, according to Mr Juliusson, the moss grows ‘so slowly that you can’t even see it.’

Mr Juliusson said: "It is important to take good care of Growing Jewellery.

"The owner must water it regularly and nurture it like any other plant. It’s up to them to make sure that the jewellery is at it’s best."

The 23-year-old said his pieces were designed for city dwellers and are aimed at drawing ‘nature toward man.’

"I like to approach design from new perspectives and reach a diverse range of people," he added.

"I want to be involved with society, ecology and I try to avoid mainstream mass production.

"Growing Jewellery is a redefinition of modern values. It is a clash of jewelry and gardening; couture and organism.

"The collection is designed for people in metropolitan cities and is an experiment in drawing nature toward man, as nature being the presupposition of life."

The rings in the striking collection are available to buy with the moss already growing inside.

Mr Juliusson, from Reykjavik, Iceland, says each ring will to cost around 485 pounds. (Telegraph)

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It may look like a length of discarded pipe but it is set to be the fitness craze of the year.

The ViPR – which is pronounced ‘viper’ and stands for Vitality, Performance and Reconditioning – is in fact rather like a Swiss Army knife of exercise gadgets. It can be carried, dragged, thrown, flipped, stepped on and rolled – and is easily stored.

Gym trainers claim it can be used as a whole body workout and is more effective than traditional weight training.

The Virgin Active chain will be using it across all 72 of its gyms after it generated a flurry of interest at its branch in Twickenham, South-West London.

One-metre high and made of rubber, the ViPR is available in seven weights from 4-20kg and is suitable for all ages and abilities.

It can be lifted in the air to tone arms, swung to work out the sides and is said to burn calories and build muscle.

It also replaces several pieces of established gym equipment – dumb bells (small hand weights for the bicep lifted with one hand), bar bells (weights on each side of a bar to be lifted with both hands), kettlebells (an iron ball with a handle), medicine ball (weighted basketball), balance device (inflatable semicircular ball used for floor training), and speed ladder (plastic ladder).

ViPR was invented by Michol Dalcourt, an expert in human movement, who has trained Olympic gold medal athletes.

A Virgin Active spokesman said ViPR is the first weight trainer to work out entire groups of muscles at once, rather than each one in isolation which can be tedious and cause injuries. (Mail Daily)

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