30.03.23: THE FINALS of the World Bridge Tournament were halted dramatically today amid claims that players had been
cheating.
The pan-European contestants, George and Georgia Blackwood who astounded bridge-watchers earlier this week by
achieving a grand slam with only two aces between them are now having tests to check their brains for so-called telepathy
bugs.
These minute implants can transmit and receive information from brain to brain, producing a crude form of telepathy, depending on
their positioning. If you have a transmitter fitted in Broca's area (the part of the brain responsible for language articulation) and
someone else has one fitted in Wernicke's area (responsible for language comprehension), you can exchange thoughts.
"You wouldn't want to conduct diplomatic negotiations using these bugs," says surveillance expert Jessica Scholl, "but they're fine
if it's just a few specific words you want to convey 'jack of diamonds', for example."
Telepathy bugs were developed by the Anglo army for use in undercover anti-terrorist operations, and the commercial arm of the
military now markets them worldwide as an aid for the deaf. The sale and fitting of such devices is strictly controlled: only one
military neurologist in Britain is licensed to perform the operation.
Last year, however, a Harley Street surgeon was struck off after admitting that he had fitted transmitters in the brains of a magician
and his assistant.
The bugs were discovered when the entertainers were tested following claims by the Magic Circle association of performers that
their tricks could not be done any other way. The performers have denied the charges. RC
