Dispensary Corner

MEN who think their gender makes them something special are about to have their bubble burst by researchers from China.

Scientists have managed to make male obsolescence a real thing, by breeding healthy mice from two mums.

Stem cells from one female mouse were altered and injected into the eggs of another female.

Mice pups from two dads were also born but did not survive. AMAZON clearly has healthcare in its sights - not only is the internet giant looking at pharmaceutical distribution (PD 03 Jul) - this week it has gone a step further by offering diagnosis.

A new patent issued in the US is titled “Voice-based determination of physical and emotional characteristics of users,” and is based on the Amazon Echo voice controlled gadget.

Apparently the system is able to detect “abnormal” physical conditions - such as a sore throat, cough or sniffle - while when it comes to emotions it can pick up whether the user is happy or sad.

Of course it’s all about sales for Amazon, with the platform then communicating with an “audio content server” in order to deliver an appropriate advertisement.

“For example, certain content such as content related to cough drops or flu medicine, may be targeted towards users who have sore throats...Alexa might then ask ‘would you like to order cough drops with one hour delivery,’” the patent says.