FBI Code Breaking Contest...

The FBI has posted its annual code-breaking challenge on its Web site; this is the longest code-breaking challenge to date; the FBI says that the code-breaking task is similar to work being done in its labs

The agency explains that unraveling the code and reveal its secret message is similar to the work of "cryptanalysts" being done in the FBI Laboratory. In the latest quiz, the agency switched gears a bit, using pictogram symbols based on Native American motifs. With more than fifty words to decipher, it is the FBI's longest code-breaking challenge so far.  MORE INFO

FBI & the dead ducks ...

During the Summer of 2008 ducks at the reflecting pond by the U.S. capital began dying.  On a really hot day after some people also had to be treated and more ducks were observed dying the U.S. Park Service became concerned that there might be a bio-terror attack underway.  The FBI Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Sciences Unit, or CBRNSU for short, was called in to investigate.

It was determined that the ducks were dying from avian botulism a "naturally recurring event" during the hot summer months and the people sufferred from heat and humidity ... 

The FBI web site has a good article on the CBRNSU, MORE INFO ...

For more info on the ducks, CLICK ...