TEEN CRACKS CODE ON NEW COIN

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), a government agency that handles secret messages and breaks codes, recently released a special 50c coin to commemorate (see Word of the Week) its 75th anniversary. The agency, which helps protect Australia from global threats and hackers, revealed that the newly minted coin contains four unique layers of code-concealing hidden messages about the ASD.

Within an hour of its release, a 14-year-old boy from Tasmania had figured out all four layers. The ASD’s director-general, Rachel Noble, says they’re blown away. “We’re hoping to meet him soon to recruit him.”