Fresh analysis of a fossil discovered more than two decades ago is reviving debate over when humans first began walking upright. Researchers revisiting remains of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, an ape-like species unearthed in Chadâs Djurab Desert in 2001 and dated to roughly seven million years ago, report new evidence supporting bipedal movement. Early arguments for upright walking focused on the fossilâs skull and how it balanced atop the spine, but later studies of the forearm and thigh bones left its posture unresolved. The new 3D analysis of the femur, published in the journal Science Advances, identifies two previously known traits linked to bipedalism and a third feature, a femoral tubercle, that has so far been observed only in hominins, the group that includes modern humans. If confirmed, the findings would place habitual upright walking earlier than any other known fossil evidence.
What if the most dangerous weapon leaves no smoke, no sound, and no fingerprints?
In late 2016, US diplomats and intelligence officers in Havana started reporting something eerie: a harsh grinding noise, sudden vertigo, ringing ears, headaches, and a fog that didnât lift. The reports spread beyond Cuba, and the mystery got a name: Havana Syndrome.
Former CIA operations officer Marc Polymeropoulos traces his own onset to a 2017 work trip to Moscow. He woke to a room spinning, nausea, tinnitus, and a crushing headache, then watched the symptoms return days later and follow him home. He didnât connect it to Havana at the time. He just knew something happened to him. Neuroscientist Dr. James Giordano breaks down the medical picture, balance disruption, cognitive overload, and durable deficits, and pushes back on easy explanations like âcricketsâ or mass hysteria.
Former CIA Station Chief John Sipher looks at the pattern like a counterintelligence problem: the cases cluster around American personnel, sometimes tied to Russia-focused work, and the injuries appear real.
Join Marc Polymeropoulos, John Sipher, and Dr. James Giordano in this weekâs podcast selection, 'Havana Syndrome Special', to hunt for an enemy you canât see.
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Test your team's skills and strategy, compete to climb the leaderboards, and recharge with food and drink in your own private space hosted by a dedicated staff member.
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Take on immersive games and challenges at SPYGAMES! Test your team's skills and strategy, compete to climb the leaderboards, and recharge with food and drink in your own private space hosted by a dedicated staff member.
How does history reckon with betrayal carried out from the inside?
Aldrich Ames, a longtime officer at the Central Intelligence Agency, passed away this week at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in federal prison. During the mid-1980s, as the Cold War entered its final phase, Ames began secretly passing classified information to the KGB. Assigned to sensitive counterintelligence roles, he had access to the identities of U.S. and allied sources operating inside the Soviet Union. Many of those he exposed were later arrested or executed, consequences that would only become fully understood years later.
For nearly a decade, Ames avoided detection despite living far beyond his official salary. Internal suspicions surfaced slowly, and it was only after a prolonged investigation involving the FBI that he was arrested in 1994. He pleaded guilty to espionage and related charges and received life without parole.
The Ames case forced sweeping changes in U.S. counterintelligence practices. It also left behind quieter questions about trust, accountability, and the human cost of secrets sold from within.
How far will intelligence agencies go to change the course of history?
From wartime deception to Cold War sleight of hand, some intelligence operations hinge on patience, creativity, and nerve rather than brute force. British agents once planted fake invasion plans on a corpse to fool Hitler. American and German spies secretly compromised a Swiss encryption company to read the worldâs classified messages in real time. Elsewhere, a KGB officer hid in the trunk of a family car to escape Moscow, while FBI agents spent years sitting across from a mole who was quietly betraying them from inside headquarters.
Other missions unfolded in full view of history. Israeli operatives tracked a Nazi war criminal to a quiet Buenos Aires suburb and smuggled him out under a false identity. Allied codebreakers and naval officers risked everything to seize Enigma machines before the Germans could destroy them. And in Pakistan, a decade-long intelligence hunt ended with a nighttime raid that closed one of the most consequential manhunts of the modern era.
Step inside seven of the most audacious spy operations ever carried out in this SPYSCAPE article.
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Jellyfish and sea anemones, creatures without centralized nervous systems, appear to keep sleep schedules that look surprisingly familiar. According to a new study, published January 6 in the journal Nature Communications, both species spend roughly a third of each day asleep, a share that closely mirrors human rest patterns despite the two lineages splitting around a billion years ago.
The similarities donât stop at downtime. When researchers exposed the animals to radiation that caused DNA damage, the jellyfish and anemones slept more. When their rest was interrupted, the damage worsened. In other words, sleep seemed to function as a kind of biological repair shift, even in animals that lack brains altogether.
There was another familiar signal too: melatonin. When given the hormone, both species slept longer, suggesting the same chemical that cues human circadian rhythms may also regulate rest in these ancient invertebrates. Their behavior hints that sleep didnât evolve for complex thinking or memory alone. Long before brains, it may have existed as basic maintenance, quiet time for cells to fix what daylight breaks.
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