Spy agencies brief people in power. We brief you. Each week we bring you one story that matters, and a few that don’t!
Your Brief for May 1, 2025: The Holy Grail, super solar, Escaping ISIS, electric foundations, the Clarendon Dry Pile and more!
News
ESA Biomass Launch
The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a satellite to measure how much carbon is stored in the world’s forests and track deforestation over time. Named Biomass, the satellite uses a 12-meter radar to penetrate tree canopies and scan trunks and branches—where most forest carbon is stored. Unlike earlier satellites, which struggled to see past leaves, Biomass will create yearly 3D maps of global forests across a five-year mission. Scientists hope the data will refine climate models and support targets to halt deforestation by 2030. Forests absorb about 16 billion metric tons of CO₂ annually and play a vital role in regulating the planet’s climate.
Image Credit: European Space Agency
True Spies
Escaping ISIS
Could you raise the alarm before it's too late?
As ISIS swept through the Middle East, minority groups faced brutal oppression. In northern Iraq, ex-CIA officers Michelle Rigby and her husband, Joseph Assad, feel compelled to help.
December 4, 2015. In the Christian suburb of Ankawa in Erbil, northern Iraq, part of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, the streets glow with fairy lights and Christmas decorations. Rigby and her husband are dining at an empty rooftop restaurant across from the Mar Elia Chaldean Church. A group enters and takes the table behind them—British and American diplomats meeting with a local Iraqi bishop.
As trained counterintelligence officers, the couple know when to tune in. And the words they overhear are unmistakable: ISIS intends to bomb Christian buildings in Ankawa, including the church across the street, which is sheltering nearly 600 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The ex-CIA officers put down their burgers. The danger is close. They must hurry to the church and warn of the threat! One well-placed explosion could be devastating.
The ex-operatives will do everything in their power to expedite the safe removal of the IDPs. But will they make it in time? Join Michelle Rigby in this week's podcast selection, 'Escaping ISIS', to find out!
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Quirky
The Clarendon Dry Pile
When will this bell fall silent?
Inside Oxford's Clarendon Laboratory, a tiny brass bell has been quietly ringing for over 180 years. Known as the Oxford Electric Bell—or the Clarendon Dry Pile—it's one of the longest-running scientific experiments in history.
It features two brass bells connected in series beneath a pair of 19th-century dry pile batteries. Between them swings a tiny metal clapper that shuttles back and forth, charged and repelled by electrostatic forces. Each time it hits a bell, it gains a charge, and electrostatic forces fling it toward the other. It's been doing this since 1840.
The exact formula behind the dry piles remains unknown. But it's thought they are Zamboni piles—an early battery type coated in molten sulfur for insulation. Scientists have resisted opening the bell to preserve the experiment. Originally purchased by clergyman and physicist Robert Walker, the bell is now so faint that it's almost entirely silent.
Japan is rolling out a new generation of solar “super-panels” powered by perovskite technology—thin, flexible solar cells that generate electricity with high efficiency. These panels could eventually produce up to 20 gigawatts of energy, roughly equal to the output of 20 nuclear reactors.
Unlike traditional rigid silicon panels, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) bend and flex, allowing easy installation on surfaces where solar was once impossible. Buildings, vehicles, and streetlights could become viable energy sources, helping cities maximise limited space.
Japan holds a strategic advantage in this race. As the world’s second-largest iodine producer—an essential material for PSCs—it’s well-positioned to scale production. The country plans to roll out the tech widely by 2040 to meet its net-zero goals. While challenges remain, including durability and production costs, experts believe prices will drop as innovation continues. Solar energy already provides nearly 10% of the country’s power.
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What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
This month marks 50 years since Monty Python and the Holy Grail first hit theaters. The 1975 cult film, made for just $400,000, went on to earn over $5.7 million and inspire absurdist comedy for generations.
The movie follows King Arthur and his not-so-noble knights on a wildly illogical quest for the Holy Grail. Along the way, they meet taunting French soldiers, an indestructible knight, and a killer rabbit!
Behind the madness was the six-man comedy troupe Monty Python: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin—best known at the time for their sketch show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Their signature style, now known as “Pythonesque,” mixed abrupt scene changes, surreal jokes, and comedic low-budget effects. Half a century later, the humor still lands.
P.S. The airspeed velocity of an unladen European swallow is roughly 24mph.
Image Credit: Shutterstock/Peter Gudella
Science
Electric Foundations
Can cement generate power?
Researchers in China have developed a new type of cement that doesn’t just hold up buildings, it generates electricity! The cement-hydrogel material, designed by Professor Zhou Yang’s team at Southeast University, was inspired by the layered structure in plant stems.
The team created a composite that captures heat and converts it into power through thermoelectric effects by combining standard cement with a water-rich hydrogel. This process, known as the Seebeck effect, happens when temperature differences across a material produce a voltage. The team believes the material could one day help power parts of the built environment, from sensors in bridges to temperature-triggered alerts in smart cities.
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