An umbrella for your smartphone?

Glasses featuring highly absorbent sponge to soak up all those salty tears before they run down your cheeks

A product designer from Vermont is on a quest to design products to help solve the most difficult problems in the world, which don't really exist.

Matt Benedetto, who lives in Burlington, has been designing "ridiculous" products, which he not only shows off on his Instagram page, but has even put on sale on his website.

Trim your nails in one single crunch. Pics courtesy/instagram.com/unnecessaryinventions/

"My collection on unnecessary inventions is filled with products that no one is asking for, but I have taken it upon myself to bring them to life," says the designer.

Strap-on rake for your shoes to clean up all the fallen leaves

Benedetto uses diverse methods like 3D printing, sewing, mould-making, to create the unnecessary inventions in his studio.

A shirt with a built in cup holder, so you can dress up for work and happy hours at the same time

"Every project takes about two to five days to go from the idea in my head to a 3D sketch, before I finally create it," he shares.

Swipe, double tap, and type with confidence in the rain with the perfect umbrella ergonomically designed to snap onto any smartphone

"My inspiration comes from a mix of simply having fun, expressing my creativity and poking fun at online consumer shopping these days. I think sometimes people forget that not every project you work on has to be completely serious and serve a purpose - and I wanted to bring these inventions to life simply because I wanted to!" he told Bored Panda.

Shock-absorbing bumper to protect your head from harmful texting accidents

Even if you think you'd find a use for some of his "inventions," he assures that all of them are "completely and utterly unnecessary". "With the projects, I straddle a line of pretending they are serious products while making fun of the people who want them," he says.

Art world has gone bananas

Someone just paid Rs 85 lakh for an 'installation' of a real banana duct-taped to a wall

A banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $120,000 (Rs 85 lakh) at one of North America's most prestigious art shows, with another version of the artwork expected to sell for $150,000 (R1 crore).

Titled, Comedian, the artwork comprises a banana purchased at a Miami supermarket and held to the wall with a single piece of duct tape. The installation, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was unveiled at the Art Basel Miami Beach earlier this week by the Parisian contemporary art gallery Perrotin.

"It's a miracle; I don't know how this happened...When we started to work together I had to fight to convince collectors one by one to buy his work," the gallery's founder Emmanuel Perrotin told artnet.

Aww! This kid is a charmer

A young boy with Down's Syndrome has charmed the Internet after a video of him comforting his autistic schoolmate, who was distressed and crying in class, went viral. The video was filmed by their teacher.

Dog gives birth to giant litter of 21 puppies

A British woman's dog that gave birth to a litter of 21 puppies, may have broken a world record. Joanne Hine said her dog recently had 21 babies, and all naturally. The Guinness Record for the largest litter of puppies stands at 24, but the mastiff gave birth in 2004 via Caesarean section.

Man uses ferrets to damages cars

A man in England was arrested for allegedly damaging several vehicles by throwing a box - and two ferrets - at them. The man was caught in the act. The two ferrets involved in the encounter were taken into the custody of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Pic/Justine Tuhy

That's my resting baby face!

Luna Musa, of Westerville, Ohio, is only three weeks old, but she's already famous on the Internet for her grumpy photos. The infant's scowling face went viral, after her photographer Justine Tuhy shared some images from the shoot on Facebook. Tuhy said it's unusual for newborns to smile in photo shoots, but the grumpy stare is also new. "Typically, they just sleep throughout the session. But it was just not happening with her. She was wide awake, very content, just staring me down," Tuhy told today.com.

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