TEST FLIGHT: Online learning and online cheating go hand-in-hand, spurring the birth of face-watching, eye-tracking and knuckle-scanning technologies to deter cheaters. (Of course, savvy students will still find ways to bypass the system.)
But leave it to China to take uncomfortable surveillance to the next level. As if the gaokao, the country’s make-or-break college entrance exam, weren’t stressful enough, WiredUK reports that authorities have deployed anti-cheating drones that hover 500 meters above the testing hall, searching for radio signals that alert authorities to cheaters. This extreme measure is a reaction to incidents where Chinese students have been caught devising high-tech means to cheat on the high-stakes test.
To those trying to cheat the drone, here's one thing we don't recommend: trying to disable it by hand. (Let the missing fingers of Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias serve as a warning.)