Spy agencies brief people in power. We brief you. Each week we’ll bring you one story that matters, plus a few that don’t!
Your Brief for September 26, 2024: A cosmic visitor, the world's oldest cheese, an octopus boss, Ghost Army and more!
News
Crypto Fraud
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, has been handed a two-year federal prison sentence and ordered to forfeit $11 billion.
In December 2022, she pleaded guilty to seven charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, as part of an $8 billion scheme masterminded by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), founder of the digital cryptocurrency exchange platform, FTX. Ellison played a critical role - admitting to misappropriating FTX customer funds, lying to investors, and manipulating financial statements. The 29-year-old testified against SBF, her former colleague and romantic partner, during his trial last year, which saw him land a 25-year prison sentence for one of the largest financial frauds in American history. Two other former execs, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, have also pleaded guilty, their sentencing will be in October.
True Spies
Sonya's Red Heart
Who was Agent Sonya?
Ursula Kuczynski, AKA Agent Sonya, is one of history’s most effective spies. As an intelligence gatherer for the Soviet military, she helped usher in the age of Mutually Assured Destruction during the bloody 1940s. In 2020, a newly declassified document muddied the waters…
As a teenager in Schöneberg, Germany, Ursula would write stories and poems late into the night; far-fetched adventures of risk and romance. Quite often, she was the protagonist. In writing her life story, Kuczynski would embody a larger narrative: a protagonist at the heart of a 20th-century fantasy – and her name was Sonya. The small, bright-eyed, woman, was one of the most important intelligence officers the Soviet Union possessed at the time! And quite unlike a storybook adventure, her acts had real consequences. Sonya watched on as many of those who thought of her as their friend were murdered, by Stalin's secret police, and she didn’t bat an eyelid.
Yet it wasn’t until the Second World War, in the leafy villages of Woodstock, Kidlington, Glympton, and Great Rollright, between 1941 and 1950, that she carried out her boldest acts of espionage. Undercover in England, Kuczynski posed as a scone-baking mother and homemaker, a pillar of her local communities, all while delivering the closest guarded secrets of the Anglo-American atomic project directly to the Soviet Union!
Join Professor Anthony Glees in this week’s podcast selection, ‘Sonya’s Red Heart’, to discover how Ursula Kuczynski rose to prominence, within the Russian GRU, and slipped through the net of the British Intelligence Services for nine years!
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Nature
An Octopus Boss
Do octopuses seek out help when hunting?
A study published this week reveals that octopuses can lead groups of fish in collaborative hunts! The discovery, conducted by a team of German researchers diving in the Red Sea near Eilat, Israel, observed 13 cross-species hunts and aims to further our understanding of oceanic cooperation! At the heart of these hunts wasOctopus cyanea - also referred to as the big blue octopus or day octopus - a species usually known for its solitary hunting habits. One of the observed octopuses took on the role of a leader, coordinating packs of two to ten fish, often goatfish, to hunt for mollusks and small prey. The goatfish acted as explorers, scouting potential prey, while the octopus made the final call on whether to strike! The octopus was also watched enforcing an order, whacking groupers and other fish that attempted to slack in their roles. Pretty wild!
History
Ghost Army
How did inflatable tanks help The Allies win WWII?
American fashion icon Bill Blass cut a glamorous figure in WWII, reading Vogue in his foxhole and sketching designs for Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires fashion houses in his spare time. However, Blass was also on a deadly mission in Europe. He volunteered to join an innovative military unit of 1,100 artists, actors, and photographers known as the ‘Ghost Army’ who created tactical deception operations!
The group - officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops - specialized in sleight-of-hand, creating illusions, fake jeeps, and artillery coupled with speakers that blasted pre-recorded tracks of troops in action to intimidate the Germans. "I spent most of the war inflating dummy tanks and dreaming up marvelous new uses for chicken feathers," Blass said later. But the ruses worked, and although three of the Ghost Army members were killed and dozens wounded, the US military estimates they saved the lives of 15,000 to 30,000 American servicemen. Learn more about Bill Blass, the Ghost Army's designer spy, in this SPYSCAPE article.
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Some cheeses are delicious when aged, but how old is too old?
Researchers have uncovered a 3,600-year-old cheese sample from the head of a mummy in Xinjiang, China, making it the oldest ever discovered and beating the previous title held by a 3,200-year-old sample found in an ancient Egyptian tomb. The latest record holder dates back to the Bronze Age! A white substance was spotted on the necks of three mummies at a Xiaohe cemetery in western China. By isolating DNA samples, paleogeneticists confirmed that the substance contains goat and cow DNA. It also contains bacterial and fungal species found in kefir grains. Kefir cheese is traditionally made by straining fermented milk, made with kefir, to remove excess whey leaving behind concentrated curds that form the cheese. Kefir's origins may not just be the Caucasus Mountains, but possibly also Tibet!
Image Credit: LI Wenying/Xinjiang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute
Science
A Cosmic Visitor
Is Earth getting a second moon?
Scientists predict an asteroid will be captured by Earth’s gravitational pull in autumn, and temporarily become a "mini-moon." Known as 2024 PT5, the space rock is set to enter Earth's orbit around September 29th where it's predicted to stay for a couple of months before escaping. Spotted on August 7 by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), 2024 PT5 comes from the Arjuna asteroid belt, where asteroids have orbits similar to Earth’s. Occasionally, one of these asteroids drifts close enough and if it’s moving at a slow speed, like this one at around 2,200 mph (3,540 km/h), Earth’s gravitational field can temporarily trap it. Unfortunately, this "mini-moon" is too small and dim to be seen with the naked eye, so you’ll need a professional telescope to catch a glimpse.
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