Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS made its closest pass by Earth around 1 a.m. ET Friday morning, providing astronomers a rare chance to study an object that originated beyond our solar system. The comet is traveling at roughly 137,000 mph and was first detected in July. During the flyby, the natural comet came within about 170 million miles of Earth, an optimal window for collecting data before it heads back out of the solar system in the mid-2030s. Recent analysis suggests the comet is rich in carbon dioxide and likely formed in a region exposed to higher radiation than our own stellar neighborhood.
What does going undercover look like when extremism comes dressed as polite and well-educated?
Researcher Julia Ebner spent two years infiltrating far-right extremist groups across Europe, adopting multiple false identities to understand how modern white nationalist movements recruit, radicalize, and spread their ideas. One of the most unsettling targets was Generation Identity, a group that swaps overt neo-Nazi imagery for clean branding, influencer tactics, and a millennial aesthetic, earning them the nickname “Nipsters.”
Posing as a young Austrian student, Ebner embedded herself in meetings, pubs, and private gatherings, including a tense meetup in London where exposure could have meant harassment, doxxing, or worse. The danger wasn’t just physical. To stay undercover, she had to listen, nod, and sometimes laugh along as extreme ideas surfaced, all while resisting the urge to challenge them.
What she uncovered was a movement carefully engineering its way toward the mainstream. Through memes, irony, and gradual “red-pilling,” Generation Identity seeks to make radical ideology feel conversational, even reasonable. It’s a slow burn strategy, and one that thrives on subtlety rather than shock.
Join Julia Ebner in this week’s podcast selection, 'Undercover With The Nipsters', as she goes inside the movements that hide extremism in plain sight.
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.
Book your next team social.
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.
What if high society was the perfect cover for espionage?
To Madrid’s aristocracy, Aline Griffith was a glamorous hostess known for glittering dinner parties and an impeccable guest list. Behind the scenes, she was something else entirely: a trained intelligence officer who quietly gathered secrets for the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War.
Born in New York and recruited during World War II, Griffith trained in weapons, codes, and covert tradecraft before being sent to Spain under deep cover. Her assignment relied less on disguises than access. At embassy receptions and country-house weekends, she moved easily among politicians, royalty, and suspected double agents, collecting intelligence over cocktails rather than coded cables.
Her social circle reportedly included Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, and even Wallis Simpson, with whom she allegedly helped identify Soviet-linked operatives tied to the KGB. The work wasn’t risk-free. Griffith later described surviving gunfire, near-abductions, and political plots that extended well beyond the ballroom.
By the time she stepped away from intelligence work, she had lived a life that blurred espionage and aristocracy so completely that her greatest cover story turned out to be real.
Articles
Running Spies and Dodging Bombs
What does it take to recruit an agent when the stakes are life and death?
Across decades of modern espionage, true accounts reveal how intelligence officers recruit sources, manage betrayals, and survive missions that rarely go according to plan. The common thread isn’t technology, but human psychology, timing, and nerve.
Discover 10 thrilling tales of real-life case officers running spies and dodging bombs in this SPYSCAPE article.
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.
How does a novelist with six books build a 250-year legacy?
December 16 marked the 250th birthday of Jane Austen, the English author whose sharp wit and close observation of class, marriage, and money helped shape the modern novel. Austen published six major works, including Pride and Prejudice and Emma, though the first four appeared anonymously, credited only to “By a Lady.” Her final two novels were published after her death at 41, bearing her name for the first time.
Austen earned less than ÂŁ700 during her life, roughly $67,000 today, despite selling an estimated 30 million copies worldwide. Pride and Prejudice alone sold more than 20 million copies. But much of that success arrived long after she was gone.
Her influence stretches far beyond the page. Modern retellings like Clueless and Bridget Jones’s Diary trace their DNA directly to Austen’s plots and characters. Today, her novels remain fixtures in classrooms worldwide, while anniversary celebrations continue to draw readers, scholars, and tourists into her carefully observed world.
.gif?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=Newsletter_ads_17s_202511170654_ayxtp-ezgif.com-optimize%20(1).gif)
