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 December 19, 2024: Hunting the Wolverine, climate and sustainability goals, stubborn binary stars and more!
News
Mirror Microbe Warning
A team of 38 scientists, including two Nobel laureates, has issued a stark warning: halt research on âmirror cells.â They argue that developing such microbesâpossibly within the next 10 to 30 yearsâcould lead to unprecedented risks for life on Earth. All known DNA is made of right-handed molecules, while proteins are left-handed. In recent years, researchers have successfully created right-handed proteins that mimic those in our bodies, offering hope for treatments for diseases like HIV and Alzheimerâs. Advancing research could lead to a âmirror microbe,â an organism unlike anything in nature. Such a microbe could evade immune defenses not just in humans, but in all organisms, potentially outpacing the development of any antibiotic capable of stopping it.
True Spies
Hunting The Wolverine
How long could you take the heat?
The desert wants you dead. Itâs scorching by day, freezing by night, and brimming with poisonous beasties in a kaleidoscope of shapes, sizes, and temperaments. And thatâs at the best of times. As a military helicopter whips the sand into a frenzy, it becomes apparent that these are not those times.
In the desert of Southern Afghanistan, CIA Case Officer Douglas Laux is on the hunt. Heâs traced deadly IED attacks to a shadowy figure with ties to the Taliban. Now, his mission is to bring him down before more US personnel are killed. To do so, heâll have to push himself - and his assets - to the limit.
It's 2010 and Douglas has just landed in the south of the war-torn country. Where, exactly, he canât say. And thatâs not just because itâs dark out. Heâs en route to his first foreign posting - a CIA black site built on the husk of an abandoned Soviet prison! And Laux is no stranger to the edge. During his time in the CIA, he served in some of the worldâs most dangerous theaters of war...
How did Douglas Laux go from potential doctor to agent, and what came of his desert mission? Find out in this weekâs podcast selection, âHunting The Wolverineâ.
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Science
Stubborn Binary Stars
Can binary stars escape the pull of a black hole?
For the first time, astronomers have discovered a pair of binary stars near the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This finding challenges the assumption that black holes are too destructive to allow binary systems to survive nearby, shedding light on how stars evolve in extreme environments. A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to each other and orbit around a common center of mass.
Using the European Southern Observatoryâs Very Large Telescope, researchers identified the young pair of stars, D9, bound together by gravity. These stars orbit Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole roughly 26,000 light-years from Earth. For decades, scientists thought the black holeâs immense gravitational pull would destabilize binary systems in its vicinity, but D9âs existence proves otherwise. The duo, just a few million years old, are expected to merge within the next million yearsâa blink of an eye on the cosmic scale!
Quirky
Commander-In-Cheek
Who are the oddest VIPs to receive the exclusive Presidentâs Daily Brief?
When a fan asked former PDB briefer-turned-author David Priess, his surreal list included Vladimir Putin and one guest who wasnât even human.
The President's Daily Brief, PDB, or simply âthe Bookâ, is a classified snapshot of global intelligence delivered daily by the CIA to the President, Cabinet Secretaries, and advisors. Every leader's approach is unique; Richard Nixon skimmed his in moments. H. W. Bush savored the bookâs insights. Barack Obama wanted his PDB in electronic format. Itâs the most secretive, exclusive intelligence briefing in the world but it's shared far beyond US presidents - too far, some might say. Discover some of the VIP's in this SPYSCAPE article!
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Are we underestimating the links between climate, nature, and food?
A major report from the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns that climate change, nature loss, and food insecurity are deeply interconnected and cannot be effectively addressed as separate issues. It's reported that governments underestimate the links between biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change. The assessment, approved by nearly 150 countries during a meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, highlights that over half of the worldâs populationâprimarily in developing nationsâfaces severe impacts from biodiversity declines, water scarcity, and food insecurity. However, addressing crises together could be the key to creating more effective and lasting solutions. Delays in taking action to meet climate and sustainability goals may only increase the costs and challenges of achieving them.
Photography
Snow Leopards Take First
What does it take to win Nature Photographer of the Year?
Patience, skill, and a touch of magic! This yearâs Nature Photographer of the Year, Paolo Della Rocca waited six hours in -25°C temperatures at the edge of a canyon in northern India to capture his winning shot: two snow leopards playfighting. The competition also showcased stunning images from around the globe. Highlights included a ghost crab, in the Seychelles, preying on a turtle hatchling, a Portuguese man oâ war in the warm Caribbean Sea, the zen of a conehead mantis, a young tiger sprawling on a chic sofa, and a giant Pacific octopus in the Sea of Japan! View more winning images here.
Image Credit: NPOTY/Paolo Della Rocca
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