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 July 4, 2024: Nature's tiny surgeons, President Roosevelt's stolen watch, the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle and more!

News

The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle

NASA plans to decommission the International Space Station (ISS) in 2030 and has contracted the building of a vehicle that will guide the ISS to a controlled and fiery end when its mission concludes. The station has been a vital platform for science and exploration since 1998. Last week NASA announced that Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, will develop this "U.S. Deorbit Vehicle" following requests for proposals issued to U.S. aerospace companies in March and September 2023. The contract is valued at up to $843 million excluding launch costs. Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, located in Washington, noted, "Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations. This decision also supports NASA's plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth".

True Spies

Dancing With Jackals

In June 1970, a young man was arrested at the Israeli port of Haifa. On his person, police officers discovered pro-Palestine propaganda, a Super-8 video camera, and 2kg of high explosives. His name is Bruno Breguet, and his story only gets stranger.

On the 15th of December, 1970, in the Israeli city of Lod, Breguet is on trial. He is a lean young man of 20, dark-haired, handsome, and a student from Switzerland. A long way from home, Breguet receives a harsh sentence for his accused crimes for he is no ordinary student, but a member of the PFLP, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A militant group, with a Marxist bent, responsible for a series of deadly highjackings in Europe! He is convicted of plotting a devastating attack on Tel Aviv, the nation's largest city, and sentenced to fifteen years behind bars. This could have been the end of Bruno’s story, but it’s only the beginning. To the Israelis, Breguet is a terrorist. But to the PFLP he's a soldier, and they’ll stop at nothing to free their comrade in arms! 

Join intelligence historian Adrian Hänni in this week’s podcast selection ‘Dancing With Jackals’ and follow Bruno’s journey from sleepy southern Switzerland to the frontlines of pro-Palestinian terror in the 1970s - and the inner circle of one of the world’s most notorious terrorists, Carlos the Jackal. 

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Science

Nature's Tiny Surgeons

How do ants treat a severe wound?

Researchers have uncovered a remarkable behavior in Florida carpenter ants, the insects are capable of performing lifesaving limb amputations! According to new experiments published in Current Biology, ants are the only animals other than humans known to practice amputation as a medical treatment.

Erik Frank, an expert on social wound care among ants at the University of Würzburg in Germany, found that Florida carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus) amputate wounded legs to save injured nestmates. How clever! He reported, “They can diagnose wounds and adapt their treatment to maximize survival”. In the study, injured ants presented their legs to nestmates, who licked the wound before severing the leg at the shoulder joint. Remarkably, almost all ants that received this treatment survived, while those isolated from their nestmates often died. Wild!

Further experiments showed that these amputations prevent infections from spreading, effectively saving the ants’ lives. Frank’s team observed that ants only amputated legs when the injury was high up, closer to the body. These backyard insects have developed complex healthcare behaviors over millions of years!

Image by Judy Gallagher

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Film

The Great Escape

What does it take to escape from an impenetrable fortress under the watchful eye of the enemy?

During World War II, many Allied prisoners of war (POWs) were held in the seemingly escape-proof Stalag Luft III POW camp behind enemy lines in Lower Silesia, Poland. Determined to defy their captors, some brave men planned to tunnel their way to freedom. 

Directed by John Sturges and released in 1963, The Great Escape portrays a daring escape from a Nazi POW camp and is based on Paul Brickhill's 1950 non-fiction book of the same name. The film tells a heavily fictionalized version of the mass escape made by British Commonwealth prisoners of war from the Stalag Luft III camp during WWII.

The story follows a group of prisoners led by a man named Virgil Hilts, played by Steve McQueen, whose daredevil tactics may keep you locked to your screen. The storyline brings to life the extraordinary efforts of POWs in Nazi Germany, and it is littered with action scenes: from nail-biting and deadly close calls to an iconic McQueen motorcycle chase!

The trapped men plan to dig three tunnels thirty feet underground to avoid detection. They must construct ingenious methods to hide their progress or risk death, craftly using bed boards to strengthen tunnel walls and repurposed powdered milk cans as digging tools. What will come of their audacious escape?

History

President Roosevelt's Stolen Watch

Who stole President Roosevelt's watch?

A silver pocket watch once belonging to President Theodore Roosevelt, stolen in 1987, just returned to its old home at Sagamore Hill, Long Island, a property once owned by the 26th US President, now a national historic site. Last week the FBI released details of the watch's reappearance at Blackwell Actions in Clearwater, Florida, but the mystery of its theft remains unsolved!

The piece disappeared from the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, New York, but has resurfaced seemingly by chance! Two engravings on its inside read, "THEODORE ROOSEVELT" and "FROM D.R. & C.R.R.". The latter references Roosevelt’s brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson Jr., and sister Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, who gifted him the timepiece in 1898. In a letter to his sister that year Roosevelt expressed his gratitude for the gift: “Darling Corinne, you could not have given me a more useful present than the watch; it was exactly what I wished. ... Thank old Douglas for the watch — and for his many, many kindnesses.”

FBI and National Park Service agents visited Edwin Bailey, owner of the auction house, to collect the priceless heirloom built by the now-defunct Waltham Watch Co. Not just any old watch, believed to have been worn during significant events like the Battle of San Juan Hill and adventurous expeditions in Africa and South America!

Image by Jason Wickersty / National Park Service

Nature

Rewilding In Action

What happens when nature takes charge?

In Sussex, England, a coalition of natural trusts, farmers, business leaders, and conservationists are rewilding the coastline and farmland, transforming the region into a vibrant biodiversity hotspot. In 2022 a ban on trawling in Sussex Bay was enacted, halting decades of destructive fishing practices that ravaged mussel beds, oyster reefs, and kelp forests. The move triggered a significant resurgence in marine biodiversity and biologists are observing thriving ecosystems and aquatic species already returning!

Landowners looking to reverse the damage done by industrial agriculture at Knepp, an estate in West Sussex, also kickstarted a rewilding project that’s become the model for land restoration in the country. Building on Knepp’s lead, farmers across Sussex are creating wildlife corridors, an area of land connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities, through their properties. The Weald to Waves initiative, spearheaded by James Baird, aims to establish 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of nature-friendly land. Reducing agricultural runoff is also a key, with efforts already increasing water quality with The Sussex Bay project observing a resurgence in marine biodiversity.

Music

Feeling Good

Familiar with Nina Simone’s song Feeling Good? What if we told you it’s a cover…

Though made famous by Simone, Feeling Good was originally written by English composers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical, The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, in 1964 and is sprinkled with groovy piano melodies and trills. The song has cemented it as an anthem through the decades, inspiring famous covers. Here are a few of our favorites!

In 1965 Nina Simone released her iconic rendition on her album, I Put a Spell on You, delivering an iconic vocal performance that became arguably the definitive version.

In 2001, British rock band Muse transformed the track on their album Origin of Symmetry. Muse's version is electrifying, featuring Matt Bellamy's soaring vocals and the band's signature rock-electro sound, and delivers a refreshing and dynamic interpretation.

In 2010, Michael Bublé released his jazzy take on his album It's Time. Bublé's vocal tone and big band arrangement reminisce on the sound of 20s and 30s America, the golden age of jazz and swing. This is particularly felt when the brass section, in style reminiscent of a Bond score, kicks in halfway through.

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