WHO NEEDS NANOTECH WHEN WE HAVE THIS: Inventor Karl Friedrich Lentze has claimed that he has invented a device that can straighten bananas. The 56-year-old Lentze from Berlin, who has applied for a patent for the method he calls cigar banana, said that he has received endless calls from people who are keen to use the novel method. Lentze's patent application includes sketches showing how bananas will be carried along on a conveyor belt while robots chop out the curvy bits. "This is the biggest thing since sliced bread - the straight banana. Depending on the degree of the curve, chunks will be cut out of the banana, which are then resealed using a biologically safe plaster," Bild newspaper quoted Lentze as saying.

Well, the Japanese buy square fruit, so why the heck not?