Spy agencies brief people in power. We brief you. Each week weâll bring you one story that matters, plus a few that donât!
Your Brief for August 8, 2024: The world's largest iceberg, a shark species capable of reproducing asexually, the Google verdict and more!
News
A Shark Capable Of Asexual Reproduction
Researchers from the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Piedmont, Liguria, and the Aosta Valley have discovered that the common smooth-hound shark (Mustelus mustelus), an endangered shark species, can reproduce asexually. Their findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports. The team studied two female smooth-hound sharks in an Italian aquarium for 13 years. Despite having no access to males, the female sharks have been giving birth annually since 2020. Testing confirmed that the shark offspring were genetically identical to their mothers, and ruled out long-term sperm storage. This phenomenon, known as parthenogenesis, has been observed in around 1,000 invertebrate species, such as insects, and 100 vertebrate species, such as lizards, and birds. Itâs predicted the smooth-hound shark population in the Mediterranean, eastern Atlantic, and Indian oceans will decrease by 50% in the coming decades, largely due to fishing. Conservation efforts are crucial, with this discovery offering hope for the survival of the species.
Image Credit: CreativeNature_nl
Nature
You Spin Me Right 'Round
Why has the A23a iceberg not melted yet?
A23a, the world's biggest iceberg, has been spinning on a spot just north of Antarctica for months. Scientists discovered that this massive block, more than twice the size of Greater London, is caught on top of a vast rotating cylinder of water known as a Taylor column. First described by physicist Sir G.I. Taylor, the phenomenon is caused by a type of vortex.
In April this year, A23a entered the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and was expected to head towards the South Atlantic. Instead, it stayed put! Spinning anti-clockwise and delaying its inevitable disappearance. It broke free from the Antarctic coastline in 1986, only to get stuck in the bottom mud of the Weddell Sea, but in 2020 it started drifting again. "Usually you think of icebergs as being transient things; they fragment and melt away. But not this one," says polar expert Prof. Mark Brandon from the Open University. Itâs not known when A23a will break free, but similar phenomena have lasted for years. A23a's behavior shines light on the importance of understanding the seafloor's shape, which influences ocean currents, nutrient distribution, and even climate systems.
True Spies
The Fourth Man
The principle of need to know is a pillar of life at the CIA. Avoid sharing information with anyone other than those crucial, and you can potentially prevent disaster down the line. Thatâs precisely how a team of three women at the CIA carried out a major mole hunt, right under the nose of their clueless boss.
In the late 80s and early 90s, the CIA was rocked by three high-profile turncoats. 20 years later, former CIA officer Bob Baer caught wind of a disturbing possibility - that a more insidious mole might have been active at the heart of Americaâs intelligence community. The three women had already been peeling back the layers of secrecy and mystery to identify the known unknowns. The more they worked, the clearer it became that something had gone array. Aldrich Ames, the most famous KGB infiltrator of all time, had recently been arrested and convicted of espionage and the investigators wanted to know how many losses could be blamed on Ames and and how many were still unexplained. Ames, as well as Robert Hanssen, and Edward Lee Howard, all leaked secrets to the Russians, with often deadly consequences for agents on the ground. But was there a fourth, unidentified, turncoat?! Join CIA officer Bob Baer in this week's podcast selection, âThe Fourth Manâ, to find out!
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Technology
Google Found Guilty
What would we do without Google?
In 2020 The US Justice Department, and more than 30 state attorneys general, sued Google, alleging the company paid more than $10 billion annually to web browsers and phone manufacturers to become the default search engine. In a landmark ruling on Monday, a federal judge found Google guilty of violating antitrust laws in building an illegal monopoly on search and text advertising. The verdict marks the first tech antitrust trial in over two decades and could reshape how tech companies do business in today's online era. Google boasts nearly 90% of the world's general search services market on desktop devices and a whopping 95% on mobile. The ruling revealed that Google shelled out over $26 billion in 2021 alone to secure these agreements; the tech giant is expected to appeal. In 2023, Google's advertising raked in roughly $238 billion, about three times its 2016 revenue.
Music
A Special CD Boxset
Are you familiar with the musician Moby? With a career spanning decades, heâs a pioneering force in electronic music.
Toward the beginning of his career, Moby had a friend called Gregor who lent him a CD box set. What came next launched Moby to global stardom! It just so happens that the collection he received inspired, and became an integral part of, his iconic album, Play. The tracks âNatural Bluesâ, Honey, and âFind My Babyâ, were composed around samples from songs by folk singers Vera Hall, Bessie Jones, and Boy Blue. And those samples? Straight out of that box set!
Gregor never forgot about his CDs, and roughly 20 years later he was still dreaming of getting his hands on them once again. Join him on an exciting adventure to find Moby, in a final attempt to win back his music, in this adventure of an episode from the podcast Heavyweight, hosted by Jonathan Goldstein. Join Goldstein and Gregor as they jump in a car, all while recording, and make their way to Mobyâs house! All these years later, what will come of the reunion? And will Gregor get back his beloved CDs? Listen here.
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Whatâs inside this tiny fossil the size of a poppy seed?
Using powerful X-rays at Oxfordâs Diamond Light Source facility, researchers have unveiled the internal anatomy of this 520-million-year-old fossil belonging to a group called the euarthropods to further the study of the microscopic blood vessels and nervous system of one of the earliest ancestors of modern insects, spiders, and crabs.
Lead researcher Dr. Martin Smith noted that it was well preserved in its larval stage as its body was still developing. âLooking at these early stages really is the key to understanding how adult [body shapes] are formedânot just through evolution but through development,â - Dr. Smith. Larvae are so tiny and fragile that finding one fossilized seemed impossible⊠until now! The team discovered the fossil in northern China inside "prehistoric grit" from half-billion-year-old rock deposits, known for containing microscopic fossils. From the X-rays, 3D images were generated of miniature brain regions, digestive glands, a primitive circulatory system, and even traces of the nerves supplying the larvaâs simple legs and eyes!
Image Credit: Emma J Long
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