Sideswipe: June 30: Dentist riffing

In space, no one can hear you burp

Tim Peake, a British astronaut who stayed on board the International Space Station in 2016, explained that the human digestive tract works differently in microgravity. The Daily Star reports that Peake was asked what it was like to burp with a space helmet on. He explained that people don't burp in space because burping - the rising of gas in the digestive tract - doesn't happen in microgravity. The air doesn't go up. It exits the body the other way. As a result, Peake explained, the space station is a stinky place. It smells "like a barbecue that's gone wrong. Burnt meat, scorched, metallic smell."

Identical twins, except for one thing ...

Photographed on June 28, in The Warehouse (left) and on special at Countdown (right).

Alexa, from beyond the grave

Amazon's Alexa might soon replicate the voice of family members — even if they're dead. The capability is in development and would allow the virtual assistant to mimic the voice of a specific person based on less than a minute of provided recording. Rohit Prasad, senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa, said that the desire behind the feature was to build greater trust in the interactions users have with Alexa by putting more "human attributes of empathy and affect". In a video played by Amazon at an event last week, a young child asked: "Alexa, can Grandma finish reading me the Wizard of Oz?" Alexa then acknowledged the request, and switched to another voice mimicking the child's grandmother to read the book in that voice.

The trademarking of 'The'

Ohio State University has won its fight to trademark the word "The". Ben Johnson, the university's senior director of media and public relations, said: "THE has been a rallying cry in the Ohio State community for many years, and Buckeye (the university's athletics team) fans who buy official Ohio State gear support student scholarships, libraries and other university initiatives." He noted the university's licensing and trademark programme generates more than US$12.5 million a year in revenue.

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