London. Epicenter of espionage, home to MI6, and now, the newest SPYSCAPE HQ. This week’s Brief uncovers: A spy in the palace, infrared contacts, The Vatican's secret song and more!
Scientists at the University of Science and Technology in China, led by Professor Tian Xue, have developed lenses that enable people to see infrared light. Unlike traditional night-vision goggles, these contacts are lightweight and don’t need an external power source. They work thanks to tiny engineered nanoparticles embedded in the lens. When infrared light hits the lens, the nanoparticles convert it into visible red, green, and blue light. In testing, wearers could detect infrared signals and even identify their direction of origin. The lenses still struggle with low levels of infrared, but the team is already working on upgrades.
True Spies
The Illegal
Would you ignore a direct order?
In the late 1970s, a man named Jack Barsky clocked in at a Manhattan insurance firm, wrote computer code, and rode the subway home to Queens. But Jack Barsky didn't exist. The man behind the name was Albrecht Dittrich, an East German scientist turned KGB sleeper agent, deployed to the U.S. as part of the Soviet Union's elite "Illegals" program.
He trained for years, studying American culture, perfecting his accent, and learning encryption. In 1979, he entered the U.S. on a zigzag route through Belgrade, Vienna, Rome, and Mexico City. Once inside, he shed his final alias and assumed the identity of a real American child who had died decades earlier.
Jack had to blend in and build a life. And he did; so effectively that when the KGB finally came calling, instructing him to flee the country immediately, he hesitated. He now had a wife, a baby daughter, and a stable life in Queens.
What happened next? Join Jack Barsky in this week's podcast selection, 'The Illegal', to find out!
Join our exclusive Teacher Preview Event this June.
Experience SPYSCAPE firsthand and start planning school trips for the upcoming term. Students can explore the world of secrets through hands-on, curriculum-relevant challenges—ideal for KS2 to KS5.
Each student receives an authentic 52-page profile, created in collaboration with psychologists from Imperial College and a former Head of Training at MI6. Based on their skills, attributes, and personality, it’s designed to inspire curiosity, confidence, and self-awareness.
Miserere mei, Deus was composed by Gregorio Allegri in the 1630s for exclusive use in the Sistine Chapel during Tenebrae services in Holy Week. The Vatican restricted its performance and tightly controlled the score. Choral embellishments, the improvisational ornaments, were only passed down orally through generations, making it almost impossible to replicate the complete piece accurately.
That is, until 1770. During Holy Week, 14-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sat in the Sistine Chapel and listened to Miserere. That evening, he transcribed the entire work from memory—ornaments and all. Returning for a second listen only to refine a few notes.
When word reached Pope Clement XIV, the expected response might have been punishment. But instead, Mozart received the Order of the Golden Spur, a rare papal honor reserved for nobles and exceptional artists. The Vatican’s musical secret was out!
Articles
A Spy In The Palace
How did a Soviet mole end up serving the Queen?
Anthony Blunt wasn’t just any art expert—he was the Keeper of the Queen’s Pictures. But behind the polished manners was a deeply buried secret.
Blunt was a founding member of the Cambridge Five, a Soviet spy ring that infiltrated the highest levels of British society in the 1930s and ’40s. Recruited while studying at Cambridge by Stalin’s NKVD—the precursor to the KGB—he passed secrets to Moscow from inside MI5 during WWII, then slipped into a quieter life as an esteemed art historian.
In 1945, George VI appointed him Surveyor of the King’s Pictures. When Elizabeth II took the throne, she elevated him to Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. All the while, Blunt kept his past hidden. That is, until 1964, when MI5 confronted him. In exchange for immunity, he confessed everything.
So, how close can a traitor get to the Crown? Find out in this SPYSCAPE article.
New mission location activated. Come test your skills.
After you complete your debrief you will receive 10 short missions to play on the streets of Covent Garden — time to put what you've learned into action.
Corn guzzles fertilizer. It’s one of the world’s most widely grown crops, but most of the nitrogen applied to fields ends up polluting rivers or turning into greenhouse gases. Now, NYU researchers are trying something different—tweaking the corn itself.
Their new process combines plant genetics with machine learning to enable corn to use nitrogen more efficiently. If successful at scale, the breakthrough could mean cleaner farming and lower costs for growers—same corn, smaller footprint.
In the U.S., the world’s top corn producer, low nitrogen efficiency poses both environmental and economic problems. Corn plants only absorb about 55% of the applied nitrogen. The rest leaches into groundwater or turns into nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 265 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Quirky
Surrealist Candy
What do lollipops have to do with Salvador DalĂ?
In 1969, the Spanish lollipop brand Chupa Chups turned to Salvador DalĂ for a rebrand. The surrealist artist responded by sketching a new logo on a newspaper in under an hour. His design? A daisy-shaped badge emblazoned with the company's name. Simple, bright, and memorable. DalĂ also suggested that the logo be placed on top of the lollipop, rather than on the side, so it would always remain visible.
It stuck! More than 50 years later, the logo remains in use on Chupa Chups products worldwide. The company itself was founded over a decade earlier by Enric Bernat, who imagined a candy that "would be like eating a sweet with a fork." And with DalĂ's daisy on top, Bernat's vision became instantly recognisable.
Try brain-teasing challenges at SPYSCAPE and pulse-racing fun in SPYGAMES.
