Researchers disinclined or unable to loiter in polling stations are increasingly drawn to statistical means of detecting fraud.

ECONOMIST: Election fraud

The American Global Hawk, for instance, can loiter over a battlefield for a day at a height of more than 60, 000 feet.

ECONOMIST: Assassination by remote control | The

They have widened the mesh on their nets and provided escape hatches for fish, around which hungry seals are said to loiter.

ECONOMIST: Fishing in Scotland

But with a range of approximately 2, 000 miles (3, 200 kilometres) it can loiter over a combat area for some time without needing to refuel.

BBC: News | In Depth | Military Fact Files

The Predator, however, may be supplanted in any Gulf war by the Global Hawk, which can loiter for more than 24 hours at high altitude over a battlefield.

ECONOMIST: Military technology