<story><title>Medical student surgically implants Bluetooth into own ear to cheat in final</title><url>https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/mbbs-student-bluetooth-cheating-bhopal-b2021217.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>PragmaticPulp</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m extremely skeptical of this story, at least as written.&lt;p&gt;It makes great clickbait, but it doesn&amp;#x27;t really make sense. &lt;i&gt;Where&lt;/i&gt; would someone implant a bluetooth earpiece into their ear? There&amp;#x27;s not really a lot of empty space in that area unless someone is very overweight and the device is implanted in layers of fat adjacent to the ear, which aren&amp;#x27;t great at conducting sound. Did someone really wrap an earpiece in some bio-compatible material, put it in someone right before the test (battery life is limited), and that person was then in a low enough level of pain and&amp;#x2F;or on enough painkillers that they could still complete the test? I&amp;#x27;m extremely doubtful.&lt;p&gt;But the bigger question is: What use is a 1-way communication device? Did the student have a second cheating instrument to photograph the test and send it to someone off-site? Or did they have someone with the test answers reading them off in real-time (&amp;quot;Question 34 - Answer is C&amp;quot;)? It seems this would only be useful in an extremely narrow set of circumstances, if it could be pulled off at all.&lt;p&gt;Really though, why wouldn&amp;#x27;t someone just grow out their hair or wear a wig and put an earpiece under their hair? The idea of surgically implanting something that could be easily concealed seems like a modern urban legend.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lordnacho</author><text>It reads like a cultural tall tale to me.&lt;p&gt;First, the subject of Indians cheating on exams is something that surfaces in Western news now and again. It&amp;#x27;s always said that there&amp;#x27;s these crazy tough exams that determine your life in India. For instance this guy apparently spent 11 years trying to pass. Totally unlikely, who would do that? The point seems to be to underline the importance of exams in India.&lt;p&gt;Second, the method of cheating is some badly explained but intricate mechanism. Badly explained in that the story is not complete, how exactly is the Bluetooth used? Intricate in that it&amp;#x27;s some weirdly complicated thing like getting an operation to have this implanted. It&amp;#x27;s always something that sounds way too complex to be worthwhile.&lt;p&gt;Third, the authority in charge of catching the cheaters seems oddly well appointed. Would you really send a special squad to check these kinds of things? Sure, check for hidden notes and phones. You really gonna check for Bluetooth? I mean maybe but I doubt it. How could the guy have a crazy special plan for implanting the thing in his ear but not have anything other than an ordinary plan for smuggling in the phone?&lt;p&gt;To me it reads like that story of a religious couple that don&amp;#x27;t know how babies are made. Comes about now and again, makes us chuckle, says something recognisable about society, but ultimately sounds not quite true.</text></comment>
<story><title>Medical student surgically implants Bluetooth into own ear to cheat in final</title><url>https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/mbbs-student-bluetooth-cheating-bhopal-b2021217.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>PragmaticPulp</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m extremely skeptical of this story, at least as written.&lt;p&gt;It makes great clickbait, but it doesn&amp;#x27;t really make sense. &lt;i&gt;Where&lt;/i&gt; would someone implant a bluetooth earpiece into their ear? There&amp;#x27;s not really a lot of empty space in that area unless someone is very overweight and the device is implanted in layers of fat adjacent to the ear, which aren&amp;#x27;t great at conducting sound. Did someone really wrap an earpiece in some bio-compatible material, put it in someone right before the test (battery life is limited), and that person was then in a low enough level of pain and&amp;#x2F;or on enough painkillers that they could still complete the test? I&amp;#x27;m extremely doubtful.&lt;p&gt;But the bigger question is: What use is a 1-way communication device? Did the student have a second cheating instrument to photograph the test and send it to someone off-site? Or did they have someone with the test answers reading them off in real-time (&amp;quot;Question 34 - Answer is C&amp;quot;)? It seems this would only be useful in an extremely narrow set of circumstances, if it could be pulled off at all.&lt;p&gt;Really though, why wouldn&amp;#x27;t someone just grow out their hair or wear a wig and put an earpiece under their hair? The idea of surgically implanting something that could be easily concealed seems like a modern urban legend.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lhorie</author><text>&amp;quot;Surgical&amp;quot; doesn&amp;#x27;t necessarily mean invasive. It&amp;#x27;s most likely a procedure similar to rhinestone implants[0].&lt;p&gt;As for why they use a 1-way device: this method of cheating has been around for decades; you get someone to take the test, they leave early and radio answers in. I don&amp;#x27;t know the specifics for this particular exam, but India is certainly not the only place in the world w&amp;#x2F; extremely competitive admission exams. Back in my days back home some twenty years ago, cram schools would be on stand-by outside school doors, they&amp;#x27;d smuggle the question sheet out somehow and flash-solve them &amp;#x2F; publish answers on the spot for publicity. You could get a full answer sheet online from a cram school website before the exam was over (these exams are hours long) and test takers would frequently do so after finishing their exams to see how they did.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bodycandy.com&amp;#x2F;blogs&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;microdermal-implants-body-jewelry-wave-of-the-future&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bodycandy.com&amp;#x2F;blogs&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;microdermal-implants-bo...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>