Spy agencies brief people in power. We brief you. Each week we bring you one story that matters, and a few that donât!
Your Brief for April 10, 2025: Holograms you can handle, Ice Age echo, fur-covered books, The Destroyed Man and more!
News
Holograms You Can Handle
Scientists at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA) have built 3D holograms that can be moved and manipulated by handâno gloves or controllers required. Their findings were released on an open science archive this week. The system uses a flexible balloon-like surface and a clever mix of projection and sensors to create interactive volumetric displays. A fast-oscillating sheet called a diffuser is at the core of these displays. By projecting thousands of images onto it at slightly different heights, the system creates a single 3D object that appears to float in midair. Traditionally, these diffusers were rigid, but researchers replaced them with flexible materials, allowing the holograms to react in new ways.
Image Credit: Iñigo Ezcurdia 2025
True Spies
The Destroyed Man
Would you break your silence?
Investigative journalist and filmmaker Steve Chao has more experience than most in exposing hidden truths. A few years after graduating from university, Chao wasted no time putting his money where his mouth was. As a young broadcast journalist, his first big break came when he exposed an international ring of drug dealers smuggling teenagers from two villages in Honduras to the streets of Vancouver to sell crack cocaine.
His subsequent investigation began with an enigma: a rusty fishing vessel arriving on the shores of Canada's West Coast, packed with hundreds of asylum seekers. As Chao embedded himself in this case, he noticed something strangeâthe refugees began disappearing from Vancouver and weren't showing up at hearings. When he scratched a little deeper, a grim truth revealed itself.
The refugees were brought from China by smugglers, known as Snakeheads, who promised safe passage and guaranteed jobs. In reality? The Snakeheads were selling refugees into forced labour across North America. In his efforts to track down the missing, Chao had his first brush with undercover work.
What came of his life undercover? Join Steve Chao in this week's podcast selection, 'The Destroyed Man', to find out!
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History
Fur-Covered Books
Why were medieval monks binding books in furry seal hides?
In a strange twist of medieval history, researchers have discovered that some 12th- and 13th-century European books were bound not in leather but seal fur. An international team of scientists from France, the UK, and Denmark studied 32 medieval books to uncover the biological secrets hidden in their bindings. They used mass spectrometry and ancient DNA analysis to identify the animal materials used.
Dubbed âhairy books,â these rare texts still sport their fuzzy covers. DNA analysis revealed the fur came from seals likely hunted by Norse traders and brought to European monasteries from as far away as Greenland. The books have been popping up in monastic libraries across Europe for centuries.
Can alcohol make a fruit fly more attractive to a potential mate?
Male fruit flies that drink alcohol become more appealing to females, according to new research from the Max Planck Institute. Led by Bill Hansson, head of the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, the study found that alcohol boosts the release of pheromonesâchemical signals that help attract mates.
In the experiment, males fed food laced with alcohol released more of these sex signals and had better luck mating. The researchers found that methanol, in particular, helped enhance pheromone output. But itâs not a free-for-all. The fly brain contains three separate neural circuits that respond to alcoholâtwo encourage attraction to low doses, while a third kicks in to discourage overexposure. So, while fruit flies benefit from a mild buzz, too much might spoil the party!
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Colossal Biosciences, a biotech startup focused on de-extinction, recently unveiled wolves genetically edited to mimic the dire wolf, a prehistoric species that went extinct over 10,000 years ago. The company revealed three wolves: Romulus and Remus, both six months old, and a third pup named Khaleesi in a nod to Game of Thrones.
The dire wolf once roamed the Americas, hunting large herbivores like bison. Colossal used DNA recovered from ancient fossilsâincluding a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skullâto reconstruct the dire wolfâs genome. Then, using CRISPR gene-editing, they modified the DNA of the speciesâ closest living relative: the grey wolf.
Image Credit: Colossal Biosciences
Books
Gatsby Turns 100
Was this famous novel an instant success?
One hundred years ago today, on April 10, 1925, Charles Scribner's Sons published F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The novel has since sold over 30 million copies worldwide and is often required reading in high schools across the US. But that was not always the case; fewer than 25,000 copies sold during Fitzgerald's lifetime!
Set in 1920s Long Island, the story follows Jay Gatsby's pursuit of love and status in a world of opulence, class divides, and moral decay. The novel reportedly drew inspiration from Fitzgerald's early romance with socialite Ginevra King and his experiences on Long Island's North Shore. Gatsby, now in the public domain, has inspired multiple adaptations, including films, an opera, and musicals. Anniversary celebrations include lighting the Empire State Building greenâan homage to Gatsby's green dock lightâand a public reading at the Library of Congress.
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