'Vomiting Larry' robot is throwing up knowledge on gastroenteritis

Scientists looking into the spread of infectious disease have recruited a new ally in their war on acute gastroenteritis (Norovirus). "Vomiting Larry" is a humanoid simulated vomiting system designed by the British Health and Safety Laboratory to help measure how far the virus spreads from a pool of infected vomit or (sorry) feces. Each droplet of vomit or gram of feces can contain enough Norovirus to infect more than 100,000 people, which helps make the hideous illness the second most contracted in America, infecting 21 million annually. If you're unfortunate enough to get it this winter, try not to think about where it came from — it will only make things worse. [Source]

Click to see more on msnNOW.com, updated 24 hours a day.