Our April meeting coincided with the hottest day of the year so far, so we were able to take our drinks out onto the terrace, our first such opportunity at our new venue! The main feature of our meeting, however, was our speaker, Anne Stott, who gave us a fascinating glimpse into the life-saving work of the charity Medical Detection Dogs. It has two arms -Bio Detection Dogs who are used to detect serious illnesses in humans, including types of cancer and Parkinson’s disease; and Medical Alert Assistance Dogs who provide an early warning system for people living with life-threatening conditions such as PoTS and severe allergies. Using their amazing sense of smell, dogs are able to detect odours at very low concentrations. Attempts to replicate this ability with technology are ongoing, but, so far, unsuccessful.