WEIRD STUFF: Phone app can detect COVID in voices

Phone app can detect COVID in voices

A mobile phone app can detect COVID in people's voices.

An infection usually impacts the upper respiratory tract and the vocal cords so researchers decided to analyse changes in voices using an artificial intelligence (AI) model to detect the virus.

The AI model is said to be 89 per cent accurate and is cheap to use, meaning it could be adopted in low-income countries where PCR tests are hard to afford.

The app provides results in less than a minute and is said to be a "significant improvement" on the accuracy of lateral flow tests.

Wafaa Aljbawi, a researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, said: "These promising results suggest that simple voice recordings and fine-tuned AI algorithms can potentially achieve high precision in determining which patients have COVID-19 infection.

"Such tests can be provided at no cost and are simple to interpret. Moreover, they enable remote, virtual testing and have a turnaround time of less than a minute.

They could be used, for example, at the entry points for large gatherings, enabling rapid screening of the population."

Men prefer jockstraps to condoms

Men are happy to wear a jockstrap instead of using condoms for safe sex.

The tight underwear heats the wearer up and is an effective form of contraception for men who want to avoid getting their partner pregnant.

The garment, which is traditionally worn by sportsmen, lifts testicles close to the body while raising their temperature and lowering sperm count. The jockstrap is most effective when worn for 15 hours a day.

A study of 72 men in France found that all would recommend the underwear to a friend as it spared their partner from the pill.

Lead author Professor Jeanne Perrin, from Aix-Marseille University, said: "We know men use jockstraps for contraception already, but the ones developed for this are proven to provide sufficient heat to prevent pregnancy.

"While some men still think these pants are a bit strange, or that they are funny, many want to use them."

Britain wants overweight spies

MI5 has launched a recruitment drive for "overweight" spies.

Security chiefs are looking for surveillance officers to work on the streets of London and applicants can have a body mass index of up to 30, even though it is regarded as "overweight" by the NHS.

MI5 insists that the new spooks only need to have a "reasonable" level of fitness, a far cry from the athleticism of James Bond.

An advertisement said: "Mobile surveillance officers follow subjects who have been identified by intelligence officers as potential threats to national security.

"You can be on the move all day, often following people under surveillance on foot, so you'll need a reasonable level of health and fitness to allow you to do this.

"Candidates will be required to undertake and pass a fitness for role medical which includes having a body mass index of 30 or less."