Your weekly briefing from the home of secrets

Scientific pranks

The history of science is a joyful mix of breakthroughs and hoaxes - from alien autopsies to Scotland's Loch Ness Monster (Nessie, to her friends and believers who still keep their eyes peeled, hoping for a rare glimpse). SPYSCAPE rounds up the best and most bizarre frauds and fakes.

HOAXES

The most dangerous spy in the world

Klaus Fuchs was the most dangerous scientist in history, a spy at the center of America’s Manhattan Project, leaking details about the atom bomb to the Soviets during WWII and the Cold War. The FBI and MI5 suspected the physicist of treachery but it took a daring, high-risk approach by a key interrogator to close the net around him.

THE ATOM SPY

EXTENDED OPENING HOURS!

Now you can visit SPYSCAPE on any Wednesday or Thursday in July and get four tickets for just $99 - use code ‘SUMMER’ at checkout.

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The coldest game

Scientists study chess to understand how the mind works and what tactics reveal about our ability to plan and make decisions. Here are five powerful secrets we’ve learned from studying chess, the battle of the brain.

CHECKMATE

Cracking codes

Code cracking is both a science and an art, a skill where experts logically follow rules and principles - then break them all. Think you can compete with the best minds in the world? SPYSCAPE has compiled some of the most difficult codes and ciphers in history - adding a few tips along the way to help up your game.

CODES & CIPHERS

BOSTON POPS HONORING JOHN WILLIAMS

Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, this week's guest on SPYSCAPE's For Your Ears Only podcast, will lead the Pops in an all-John Williams concert at Tanglewood this Friday - opening day of the Tokyo Olympics. Attendees will enjoy an intimate soundscape of cinema's greatest film composer and creator of the iconic Olympics Fanfare and Theme.

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Archeological forgery

Indiana Jones’ crystal skull certainly isn’t the only faux relic. The science of archeology is rife with dodgy discoveries from Piltdown Man to Minnesota’s Kensington Runestone. One ruse in particular shamed an entire nation, however. Shinichi Fujimura unearthed dozens of extraordinary artifacts from the Japanese Paleolithic era. It seemed too good to be true. It was.

FAKING HISTORY

N is for nerve agent

When Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury, England the top scientists at Britain’s Porton Down laboratory were immediately mobilized. They identified a nerve agent, Novichok, behind the most notorious assassination attempts of the 21st century and a spy plot worthy of a Hollywood thriller.

TRUE SPIES

007 x SPYSCAPE - DRIVEN

A unique look at the creative magic of 007 through the lens of James Bond's iconic Aston Martin DB5. Featuring never before seen photographs, illustrations and interviews - 007 x SPYSCAPE is the ultimate book for fans of James Bond and the legendary DB5.

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