A 33-year-old German engineer has become the first wheelchair user to travel to space, flying aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard. The roughly 10-minute suborbital trip carried Michaela Benthaus, paralyzed below the neck after a 2018 cycling accident, and five other passengers more than 65 miles above Earth, crossing the Kármán line before returning. The Jeff Bezos-owned company has positioned itself as a leader in space tourism, flying over 85 passengers across 17 missions since 2021 using a fully reusable booster and capsule. Public reservations require a $150,000 deposit, but tickets are not guaranteed.
True Spies
Operation Goldenrod
What happens when a new law needs a test case and a terrorist takes the bait?
In 1985, two years after the violent hijacking of Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight 402, the FBI saw an opportunity to put America’s newly passed Hostage Taking Act into action. The target was Fawaz Younis, a Lebanese militant who had vanished back into Beirut after blowing up a passenger jet on live television. This time, the Bureau wouldn’t wait for extradition.
Working alongside the CIA and DEA, FBI leadership approved a high-risk operation to lure Younis out of Lebanon with the promise of a lucrative drug deal. The meeting point: a yacht drifting in international waters near Cyprus. Watching from a nearby US Navy ship was Buck Revell, the FBI’s second-in-command, overseeing an arrest designed to stretch US law across the Mediterranean.
Timing mattered. Jurisdiction mattered. So did the hangover of a wanted hijacker who nearly slept through his own capture. When Younis finally stepped aboard, smiling and unsuspecting, the long arm of US law snapped shut, marking the first time a terrorist was seized under the Hostage Taking Act.
Join Buck Revell in this week’s podcast selection, 'Operation Goldenrod', on a mission to lure a hijacker into open water and bring him home in cuffs!
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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.
Two atmospheric rivers, long, narrow corridors of concentrated water vapor, swept across the U.S. West this past week, triggering widespread flooding across California and parts of Nevada and Arizona. The first system stalled over Northern California, prompting water rescues and emergency responses as rivers and creeks surged.
An average atmospheric river can carry as much water as the flow at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and in extreme cases, far more. When that moisture slams into coastal mountains, it can turn skyborne vapor into sudden floods on the ground. In Southern California, where December had opened with more than three weeks of dry weather, the storms delivered several inches of rain in a matter of days. Some areas recorded rainfall totals approaching or exceeding their typical monthly averages, leading to flooding, mudslides, and widespread disruptions.
History
The Ballerina Spy
What if ballet slippers became a tool of wartime resistance?
Before she became a Hollywood icon, Audrey Hepburn spent her teenage years in Nazi-occupied Netherlands, navigating hunger, fear, and the daily presence of German troops. Born in Belgium in 1929, she moved to Arnhem with her mother just before the invasion. By the time she was a teenager, daily life meant air raids, food shortages, and watching neighbors disappear.
Hepburn trained as a ballerina, and during the war, that discipline became more than an artistic pursuit. She later recalled helping the Dutch resistance in small but real ways, carrying messages and assisting with underground efforts suited to someone young and inconspicuous. Her dance training gave her a reason to move between homes and gatherings without drawing attention. In private houses, she took part in quiet, invitation-only performances where donations were collected for resistance groups. Music was forbidden, so the dancing was done in silence.
Her family was also drawn into the danger. They sheltered resistance members, and the war left lasting marks on her health. Years of malnutrition during the Hunger Winter permanently weakened her body and ended her hopes of a professional ballet career.
Long before fame found her, Hepburn had already lived through a quieter kind of heroism, one shaped by survival, secrecy, and resilience.
Host your birthday at SPYSCAPE or SPYGAMES.
Give your party guests an unforgettable experience designed to engage, entertain, and inspire. Our dedicated staff will be on hand to help, and you'll even get your own private space to celebrate.
Host your birthday at SPYSCAPE or SPYGAMES.
Give your party guests an unforgettable experience designed to engage, entertain, and inspire. Our dedicated staff will be on hand to help, and you'll even get your own private space to celebrate.
Roughly 88% of Americans are expected to celebrate Christmas this year, potentially pushing holiday spending past $1 trillion. Parents are spending an average of $521 per child, up 13% from last year, while nearly 122 million people are expected to travel between Dec. 20 and Jan. 1, setting another seasonal record. Snow also factors into the math. Fourteen states have a high chance of a “white Christmas,” defined as at least one inch of snow on the ground by 7 a.m.
Indoors, the numbers skew cozy: many households put up trees averaging about seven feet tall, and Americans collectively drink around 240 million cups of eggnog each year. December is also peak season for generosity. Nearly one-third of all charitable giving reportedly happens this month, with about 10% coming in during the final three days before year’s end.
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