During a tour of Russia, American musicians were tailed by Soviet agents and repeatedly questioned

During a tour of Russia, American musicians were tailed by Soviet agents and repeatedly questioned

While someone could technically have played the code as music, it would have sounded less like a tune and more like a cat walking across piano keys, says American saxophonist Merry Goldberg, who duped Russian spies with musical codes. “I picked a note to start, and then I created the...

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Espionage: How an American saxophonist hoodwinked Russian spies by encrypting secrets in music

Espionage: How an American saxophonist hoodwinked Russian spies by encrypting secrets in music

In 1985, saxophonist Merryl Goldberg found herself on a plane to Moscow with three fellow musicians from the Boston Klezmer Conservatory Band. She had carefully packed sheet music, reeds and other woodwind supplies, along with a soprano saxophone, to bring into the USSR. But one of her spiral-bound notebooks, lined...

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Stroke recovery: Doctors at Ohio University discover how an existing drug helps the brain repair itself

Stroke recovery: Doctors at Ohio University discover how an existing drug helps the brain repair itself

Dr Andrea Tedeschi, an assistant professor in the department of neuroscience at Ohio State University Medical Center, says the concept of “brain plasticity” is so important when it comes to understanding brain health. In research findings, Dr Tedeschi explains, “Brain plasticity refers to the innate or intrinsic, ability to compensate...

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How biometrics is evolving from fingerprints to the way you walk, patterns of veins in your wrist and replace passwords

How biometrics is evolving from fingerprints to the way you walk, patterns of veins in your wrist and replace passwords

For more than 100 years, recording people’s fingerprints has involved them pressing their fingertips against a surface. Originally this involved ink but has since moved to sensors embedded in scanners at airports and phone screens. The next stage of fingerprinting doesn’t involve touching anything at all. So-called contactless fingerprinting technology...

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Determined Arsenal plot to raid Ajax again for Argentine defender Martinez after initial $30 million is rejected

Determined Arsenal plot to raid Ajax again for Argentine defender Martinez after initial $30 million is rejected

Initial talks have already taken place with Arsenal willing to offer around £25 million ($30.6 million) for the Argentina international, however, Ajax have dismissed that figure and want more with the knowledge they have other clubs willing to bid. The 24-year-old can play as a centre-back, left back and centre...

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Arsenal faithful elated with coming on board of new midfield commander in frame of Fabio Vieira

Arsenal faithful elated with coming on board of new midfield commander in frame of Fabio Vieira

Arsenal fans have been asking for ‘the next Vieira’ for years and, finally, they might have him. And whilst their new signing might not be the same sort of player as Gunners legend Patrick Vieira, he does have one striking similarity to the Frenchman – his name. The north Londoners...

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Mental healthcare consumes significant portion of health budgets in Syria and Jordan, experts say

Mental healthcare consumes significant portion of health budgets in Syria and Jordan, experts say

With over a decade of conflict in Syria, and the Ukrainian war overshadowing crises in the Middle East, international assistance is being cut and humanitarian programmes are shutting down. Mental healthcare in Jordan is already underfunded in the public sector, too. Experts say less than two per cent of the...

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‘Amman is a prison’: How and why many young Syrian and Jordanian refugees are committing suicide

‘Amman is a prison’: How and why many young Syrian and Jordanian refugees are committing suicide

Adam Jawad escaped Iraq with his family following the US-led invasion in 2003, living in Syria until war forced him to flee again a decade later, this time to Jordan, where he eked out a living doing odd jobs and working at a cultural centre in the capital, Amman. Jawad...

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