Six Secrets is now The Brief: 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 May 30, 2024: A staggering AI investment, tackling cybercrime, a study on butterfly wings and more!
News
A Staggering AI Investment
Making headlines this week, Elon Musk’s company, xAI, recently secured a $6 billion investment, positioning itself as a potentially formidable competitor to OpenAI. Musk, also a co-founder of OpenAI, recently sued the company, alleging it breached its founding agreement by prioritizing commercial success over benefiting humanity.
Despite being just a year old, xAI has swiftly developed its large language model (LLM), which can create human-like text, images, videos, and voices much like we have seen with ChatGPT. Where will the investment go? In a blog post, xAI stated: “The funds from the round will be used to take xAI’s first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate the research and development of future technologies.” This substantial funding round is one of the largest in the AI industry to date! Backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Kingdom Holding, led by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Travel
An Unconventional Airline
Bark Air opened its doors to passengers for the first time this month, offering flights between Los Angeles, New York, and London, and you might have guessed its target customer… It’s an airline for Dogs! Last week, Bark Air, a subsidiary of dog company Bark, made its inaugural trip with a sold-out flight from NY to LA. Customers traveled comfortably on a Gulfstream G500 jet…not bad for a pup! Tickets for the luxury pet transfer service don’t come cheap and can cost up to $8,000 for a combined dog and human fare. Bark has stated they aim to reduce travel stress and difficulties for owners and animals alike. They also claim they will lower ticket prices in the future. Many commercial airlines do not allow larger pets in cabins, forcing the animals to travel in the luggage hold, but now a few lucky dogs get to be served treats at 30,000 feet.
True Spies
The Impeccable Spy
It’s 1941; Hitler has invaded Poland and war is raging in Europe. On the ground in Tokyo, one Soviet spy knows that the tide of WW2 is about to turn. By some measures, he might be one of the most powerful men in the world; with a direct line to Joseph Stalin, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, and Adolf Hitler! His name? Richard Sorge. Born in the Russian Empire in 1895, in what is known today as Azerbaijan, he was an avid supporter of Communism, a lady's man, and a talented spy…
Surrounded by the enemy, Sorge must keep his wits about him. With an increasingly paranoid leader in the Kremlin, the line between friend and foe is thin. Stalin doesn’t want to hear what he has to say, meanwhile, the Japanese are catching wind of suspicious radio broadcasts; the kind that could only come from illegal espionage activity, and Sorge is growing frantic. His desperate messages warning of an impending invasion have fallen on deaf ears…
Listen to author Owen Mathews's take on how Richard Sorge became one of the USSR’s most formidable spies and discover what came of his mission in this week's podcast selection ‘The Impeccable Spy’.
How do butterfly wings get their vibrant colors? Turns out it’s thanks to a protein, called actin, which is responsible for the detailed patterns. Scientists at the University of Sheffield and the Central Laser Facility recently made the discovery using cutting-edge high-resolution microscopes. They tracked the transformation period from caterpillar to butterfly to better understand the developmental stages of the insect.
The team noted that areas of wings with denser actin bundles had more colorful scales and were more reflective. During growth, actin was seen shifting and impacting wing formation! Upon dismantling of the protein, colors would fade. The scientists hope to gain insight into broader areas of cell structure formation and create new medical applications with the knowledge gained from the reflective properties of butterfly scales. Such structural color-based technologies hold promise in areas such as sensors and diagnostics. According to Dr. Andrew Parnell, who led the study, replicating actin structures also offers “nature-inspired ways to make such bright colors” and might provide “new kinds of sustainable paints and coatings”. How cool!
Enjoying The Brief? Click below to share with your friends!
Puzzles
Cracking The Engima
How did the British crack the German Enigma codes?
The UK declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September, 1939, in the throes of WW2. The Germans encrypted their communications using a rotor-based scrambling device called the Enigma Machine, making deciphering them seemingly impossible. Every day the German military would set new encryption settings on the Enigma. Meanwhile, at Bletchley Park, an estate in the English countryside, a plan was underway to crack the Enigma!
Bletchley Park was home to the Government Code and Cypher School, the British codebreaking organization, and one particular man who worked there was about to turn the tide of the war. His name was Alan Turing, a pioneering English mathematician, logician, computer scientist, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist!
Turing would make history by leading the development of the brilliant codebreaking machine, The Bombe, capable of cracking the ciphers. The electro-mechanical machine could crack the Enigma settings by rapidly eliminating incorrect variables, in a brute-force attack, until the correct combination was found! Once the Bombe had cracked the day's settings British, intelligence could decipher the German messages.
Turing's Bombe significantly enhanced the Allies' ability to anticipate German operations, leading to crucial victories in the Atlantic and beyond. Despite his monumental contributions, Turing's achievements remained classified for years after the war. He is now celebrated as one of the greatest minds of the 20th century!
Up for a challenge? Puzzle maker Bryant White has prepared the crossword ‘The Key To Success’ for you to solve.
Technology
Tackling Cybercrime
How do you catch, or better yet, prevent cyber criminals? Mind games might work!
Russian cybercriminals have long evaded Western law enforcement, causing billions in damages through attacks on hospitals, infrastructure, and businesses. When a cyber takedown by authorities is successful hackers are quick to resume their activities. So how do you beat them at their own game? Authorities are now turning to less conventional methods, employing psychological tactics! They aim to sow distrust among hackers, damage their reputations, and create discord within their ranks.
A recent takedown in February, named Operation Cronos, saw the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) successfully infiltrate the LockBit ransomware group, accused of stealing over $500 million from victims. NCA investigators redesigned the LockBit site, previously used to leak stolen data, and took it back online, publishing its admin system, internal conversations, and members' identities! This bold move undermined LockBit’s anonymity, intending to deter criminals from using such services. Law enforcement took it one step further, sending personalized messages to LockBit members to further intimidate and demonstrate their surveillance capabilities. In May, Russian national Dmitry Yuruevich Khoroshev was charged as the mastermind behind LockBit.
Music
Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'
Are you a fan of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah? Originally released in 1984 on his album Various Positions, the song continues to find new life; inspiring covers by many talented artists. Here are a few of our favorites!
In 1991, John Cale, founding member of The Velvet Underground, released a piano-driven cover of Hallelujah. Cale’s Welsh accent and minimalist arrangement provide a similarly raw tone to Cohens. His cover garnered widespread success and made its way into the ears of younger generations thanks to DreamWorks Animation's hit movie, Shrek. Cale's singing is poignant and powerful.
In 1994, Jeff Buckley released his take, arguably one of the most celebrated versions. Featured on his album Grace, Buckley’s hauntingly beautiful voice and poetic guitar work elevate the song to new heights. His interpretation is soulful and deeply moving. It may be one of the most heart-tugging, hair-raising, goosebump-forming, songs ever!
In 2010, Kathryn Dawn Lang, stage name k.d. lang, performed Hallelujah at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Vancouver, delivering a stunning performance. Lang’s rich, expressive, heartfelt tone amplifies the emotions of Cohen's iconic lyrics and the video is worth the watch!
The Brief is brought to you by SPYSCAPE - NYC's #1 Museum & Experience. Discover your hidden powers at SPY HQ or enjoy team-based social gaming at SPYGAMES.
