Six Secrets is now The Brief: Spy agencies brief people in power. We brief you. Each week weāll bring you one story that matters, plus a few that donāt!
Your Brief for June 13, 2024: Musical plants, a triumph in wildlife conservation, my friend the elephant and more!
News
A Triumph In Wildlife Conservation
The last truly wild horse species has returned to the Kazakhstan Steppe, a vast region of open grassland. Przewalskiās horse, known for its distinct lineage, has found its way home. Four mares from Berlin's breeding program, a stallion, and two mares from Prague were flown to Kazakhstan marking a successful reintroduction of this rare species to its native habitat. The open expanse of the Eurasian Steppe, where horse domestication began around 6,000 years ago, serves as the perfect backdrop for the celebration. The reintroduction follows another successful project in Mongolia by Prague Zoo which stabilized the population over eight years. With 1,500 Przewalskiās horses now thriving in Mongolia, hopes are high for a similar success in Kazakhstan!
Photography
Real Or Photoshop?
Have you ever captured a moment so perfect it seemed unreal? The photo above appears to have done the trickā¦
This is a photograph taken in Amsterdam by Rob Hoeijmakers and it recently went viral thanks to its incredible symmetry. The photo, of a canal south of Amsterdam, has captivated the internet with its perfect composition and optical illusion! Hoeijmakers, a web strategist by day, took the image with his iPhone while out on a bike ride. āI try to look at lines, perspectives, and patterns to see if I can make a play with it,ā Hoeijmakers stated in an interview. After making minor adjustments, he posted the image on social media and the response was overwhelming. Despite some claiming the photo was fake or AI-generated, he insists itās simply a testament to the flat, linear, urban designs and landscapes of the Netherlands. He has been honing the technique of finding the right angles to create striking symmetrical visuals. Think heās got it figured out?
Image Credit: Rob Hoeijmakers
True Spies
The Alphabet Boys
When an informant leaks the location of an arms deal between a Romanian-American fixer and a Colombian rebel group, the DEA comes down hard on both parties. But in a world of double-dealing, secrets, and lies, is anyone truly who they say they are?
Itās 2014 and inside a hotel room in Montenegro, a group of men have gathered to make a deal, an arms deal! Some of the men represent a Colombian guerrilla organization by the name of FARC. Another man, a Romanian called Flaviu Georgescu, is an arms dealer whoās going to set the rebels up with the weapons they want: from AK-47s and M4 carbines to sniper rifles, ground-to-air missiles, and more! In total the rebels have asked for $17 million worth of weaponry, and with all that cash on the line they seem eager to proceed, but thereās a catch; none of these men are really who they say they areā¦
When the leader of the rebels, Juan, doesnāt sign the deal immediately, suspicions arise. Juan steps out of the room to make a call, leaving Flaviu waiting anxiously. But Juan never returns, because Juan is not a Colombian rebel!
DEA agents break into the hotel room, guns drawn, and arrest Flaviu. Now in cuffs, Flaviu pleads with the DEA, keen to tell them a secretā¦ What does he reveal? That heās also undercover, and working for the CIA!
Could the US government be creating the criminals theyāre supposed to catch? Join investigative journalist Trevor Aaronson in this week's podcast selection āThe Alphabet Boysā to find out.
What if elephants called each other using names? Turns out they just might!
In a groundbreaking study, researchers have discovered that elephants may use specific calls to address individual members of their group, showcasing a rare example of naming in the animal kingdom. Michael Pardo, a behavioral ecologist at Cornell University, spearheaded research revealing the complex communication abilities of elephants.
Pardo and his colleagues recorded the many sounds of wild female African savannah elephants and their offspring over several decades, from 1986 to 2022, in Kenya's Amboseli National Park and the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves. Their study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, made use of a machine-learning algorithm to identify 469 distinct calls, which included 101 elephants issuing a call and 117 receiving one. While names were not always present in calls, when they were used it was often over longer distances and when adults were addressing younger elephants. The Elephants were seen responding with more energy and excitement when listening to a recording, identified as a name, from a friend or family member compared to one from an elephant who was not. How wild is that!
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Music
When Plants Sing
How can you make the desert sing? Artist Scott Kildall can help, his latest installation, Infrared Reflections, transforms a Joshua tree into a musical instrument!
Kildall, an artist-in-residence at Joshua Tree National Park, uses a microcontroller with an infrared sensor to detect light wavelengths beyond human perception. How space age! āItās kind of like magic,ā Kildall says. āAnd the magic is just revealing something thatās right beyond our levels of perception.ā His otherworldly installation relies on the interaction between sunlight and the Joshua tree. While the treeās bark reflects little infrared light, its healthy leaves bounce back much more, creating a data stream that Kildall then transforms into sound. āBeyond our perceptions lies a whole realm of invisible data,ā he explains. His technique, known as sonification, translates this data into an auditory experience.
Kildallās work has gone viral, his installations garnering attention for their innovative blending of art and technology. As he waves his hand over a Joshua tree, the resulting music, reminiscent of a theremin, adds an eerie yet beautiful soundtrack to the desert. Experience the enchanting sounds of Infrared Reflections here!
Technology
Apple Intelligence
Ready for the next step in personalized AI technology?
On Monday at Appleās WWDC 2024, the company introduced Apple Intelligence, marking its entrance into generative AI! The announcement highlights the recent partnership between Apple and OpenAI, with ChatGPT 4.0 soon to power Siri and offer advanced image and text generation within devices!
The announced AI feature, wittily named Apple Intelligence, will be integral to iOS, macOS, and visionOS, to enhance user experience with intuitive, context-aware functionalities. āIt has to understand you and be grounded in your personal context, like your routine, your relationships, your communications, and more,ā CEO Tim Cook noted, describing the new feature as āpersonal intelligenceā. Not a product or standalone app, Apple Intelligence will be integrated across the entire operating system. Regarding safety and privacy concerns, the feature relies on large language models, reportedly with much processing done locally on Apple devices. However, some tasks that cannot be handled locally will utilize Appleās Private Cloud Compute which according to the company provides a new way to handle and encrypt data in the cloud.
Film
No Country For Old Men
What does it take to stay alive when a ruthless killer is on your trail? Why not find out?
A hunter named Llewelyn Moss discovers two million dollars in a briefcase amidst the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong in the Texas desert. Taking the money, he triggers a violent chain reaction and is pursued by relentless hitman Anton Chigurh. What will come of their first encounter? Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and released in 2007, No Country for Old Men is a gripping adaptation of the novel by Cormac McCarthy. The film stars Josh Brolin as Moss and Javier Bardem as the killer Chigurh. Travel to a bleak, unforgiving landscape where the lines between good and evil blur along a bloody trail from West Texas to Mexico! The Coen brothers deliver a cinematic tour de force, featuring a few good jump scares and exhilarating chase scenes. Bardem's performance as Chigurh, with his unsettling calm demeanor and principle-driven brutality, earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His portrayal is terrifying!
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