{"ok":true,"trend":{"id":399847,"platform":"mastodon","region":"global","key":"cold war espionage added $4.6 billion to east germany’s economy https:// fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.pops ci.com/technolog","title":"Cold War espionage added $4.6 billion to East Germany’s economy https:// fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.pops ci.com/technolog","url":"https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.popsci.com/technology/cold-war-spy-economy-east-germany/","first_seen":"2026-09-29T20:34:50.429837Z","last_seen":"2026-09-29T20:34:50.429837Z","last_rank":5,"peak_rank":5,"last_volume":2,"peak_volume":2,"seen_count":1,"score":0.52046875,"category_hint":"science","section":"science","category":"science","summary":"East Germany's spy services during the Cold War contributed an estimated $4.6 billion to the country's economy, according to new analysis reported by Popular Science. The figure highlights how industrial espionage and stolen technology transfer became a significant economic activity for the East German state, which relied heavily on copying Western innovations to keep its industries competitive.","why":"A striking new valuation of Cold War espionage's economic role is drawing attention to how much East Germany depended on stolen technology.","tone":"neutral","entities":["East Germany","Popular Science","Stasi"],"summarized_at":"2026-09-29T20:36:53.669833Z","meta":{"tag":"science","via":"scan","kind":"status","lang":"en","instance":"mastodon.social","tag_uses":699},"nw":null,"promo":null,"kind":null,"importance":null,"hidden":false,"hide_reason":null,"judged_at":null,"title_en":"Cold War espionage added $4.6 billion to East Germany's economy","section_name":"Science","category_name":"Science","timeline":[{"captured_at":"2026-09-29T20:34:50.429837Z","rank":5,"volume":2}],"posts":[{"platform":"mastodon","url":"https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.popsci.com/technology/cold-war-spy-economy-east-germany/","author":"popsci.com@web.brid.gy","title":null,"snippet":"Cold War espionage added $4.6 billion to East Germany’s economy https:// fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.pops ci.com/technology/cold-war-spy-economy-east-germany/","posted_at":"2026-09-29T18:15:00Z","likes":2}],"elsewhere":[],"window":"7d"}}