Out Of Our Boxes 2

21 Uses of Old Coffee Grounds

From repelling ants, removing furniture scratches to exfoliating skin and repelling dog fleas, there are loads of uses for used up and flavourless Java (Toraja, Sumatra, Mandailing, or whatever your taste is).

But not Nescafé.

A Tearless Onion

And why not, eh?

Scientists have developed a tearless onion that means cooks may no longer have to suffer stinging eyes and crying in the kitchen.

The breakthrough by New Zealand's crop and food research institute after six years of research has been made using gene silencing technology. But although the tearless onion will be welcomed by cooks everywhere, it is still at the prototype stage and will not be in kitchens for at least another decade.

Sixteen years working on something which isn't needed? After all, an alternative is to peel and chop the onions in a pan or bowl of water.

What next - square watermelons?

Oh.