That fine-looking android you see in the photo to the right may
look a little rough and ready but don't be fooled by appearances
- it's actually the world's first fully symptomatic medical-
condition simulator.  The unnamed robot was created by
researchers at Gifu University medical school for training
medical students to diagnose tricky conditions. In this case,
the machine displays symptoms of a condition known as myasthenia
gravis , which is an autoimmune disease where antibodies attack
the body's proteins, causing muscle weakness that is notoriously
hard to diagnose.  In future, the idea is to enable the 'droid
to replicate many more conditions - for now, however, students
have to make do with looking at its facial expression, posture
and reflexes before asking, "Is it myasthenia gravis by any
chance?"