A British company has launched the world’s first app-controlled greenhouse, allowing city dwellers to grow food in tiny spaces.

Niwa is just 49cm wide but can grow vegetables including cabbages and peppers, as well as fruit, herbs and tropical plants such as orchids. It does not require natural light, soil or gardening expertise and is controlled through a free smartphone app which manages feeding and watering.

The system, available in miniature and standard sizes, costs between £150 and £210 and has been created by a team of European developers based in London.

Actress caught on Queen’s loo

Actress Martine McCutcheon claims she was once caught using the “royal loo” – by the Queen herself.

The former EastEnders actress recounted that she did not know whether to “curtsey or rush off” adding that the Queen “didn’t look very impressed”.

She told the Sunday Mirror’s Notebook magazine the incident took place at a polo match in 2005 when she was caught short while waiting to meet the Queen.

Taking snow to a desert island

He is the man behind the world’s best restaurant who famously serves up moss and ants to his diners. Now Rene Redzepi wants to take snow to a desert island.

The guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs told host Kirsty Young he would miss the Scandinavian wintry weather if he was washed up in the tropics and said his luxury item would be “one full day of snow”. His restaurant, Noma in the Danish capital Copenhagen, was named the best in the world this year for the fourth time and has two Michelin stars.

Prosthetic hind legs for calf Hero

A 600lb calf that lost its back hooves and part of its legs to frostbite in Virginia more than a year ago has been fitted with a new pair of prosthetic hind legs.

The English charolais calf known as Hero received the hi-tech devices in Houston, Texas, and is believed to be the only double-amputee calf in the US with prosthetics.

The calf has been adopted by an animal rescuer, Kitty Martin, who says the $40,000 she has invested in Hero is worth it.