The Knowledge of the Glory

Those trying to evade capture had an easier time of it in the past than they will in the future. For example, Corrie Ten Boom hid Jews in the German-occupied Netherlands for many months. Even when she was arrested, the Jews she was shielding were not, secure in their hiding place. Similarly, authorities in England could hunt over a mansion for days without discovering priests in their priest holes.

Today, technology threatens to eliminate the chance of escaping a persecuting government. Devices that can detect heart beats are in common use by border agents. Had the Germans had those when they ransacked Corrie’s house, the game would have been up for the Jews.

A new robotic ferret is being designed at the University of Sheffield to detect hidden drugs, weapons and illegal immigrants. Designed to crawl across the ceilings in freight containers, it detects minute quantities of illegal substances and can hear muffled heart beats. A 21st-century Scarlet Pimpernel will find it harder to use such containers to deliver persecuted minorities from bloodthirsty mobs.