Jul 6, 2013 2 min read

For a brief moment in the 1970s, when Jimmy Carter’s poll numbers were still decent, John Travolta was primarily known for his role on “Welcome Back, Kotter” and Ford Maverick automobiles were considered a solid investment, a craze for mood rings swept the populace.

The rings, which changed color when users slipped them on their fingers, were said to show how their moods fluctuated. When the rings were black, you were said to be tense or nervous, while blue was supposed to indicate the wearer was calm and relaxed.

Most of those mood rings were lost or tossed into drawers and forgotten by the time “Disco Duck” tumbled off the charts, but Bill Gates must have been obliviously holed up in a basement laying the groundwork for Microsoft when mood rings were flying off the shelves, because the mogul’s foundation is forking up a little over $1 million for research on wrist sensors that are said to detect how engaged students are in the classroom.

According to a report from Reuters, “The sensors detect excitement, stress, fear, engagement, boredom and relaxation through the skin.”

The endeavor has been met with deserved skepticism among educators. As one told Reuters, “In high school biology I didn’t learn a thing all year, but boy was I stimulated. The girl who sat next to me was gorgeous. Just gorgeous.”

Rather than throwing $1 million at this boondoggle, the money would probably be better spent going onto eBay and snapping up old mood rings.