Russia, as the inheritor of the Soviet Union, is a nation steeped in a culture of espionage — and under Vladimir Putin, it has aggressively developed electronic warfare and hybrid tactics. But perhaps the single most embarrassing intelligence failure the United States has suffered in the past century occurred 80 years ago, in the affair of the listening device known as "The Thing." The story begins with the American ambassador to Moscow, William Averell Harriman.
俄羅斯繼承了蘇聯，是個擁有特務文化的國家，普京時代更積極發展電子戰和混合戰術，但近百年最令美國丟臉的一次，或許就是80年前的「金唇」（The Thing）竊聽器事件，故事由美國駐莫斯科大使威廉．埃夫里爾．哈里曼說起。
A Gift from the Soviet Union
In 1945, in the final stages of the Second World War, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered that Ambassador Harriman's office be placed under surveillance. The method was as elegant as it was audacious. The Soviets, acting through a delegation of the Young Pioneers — the Soviet children's organization — presented Harriman with a beautifully hand-carved wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States. Received as a goodwill gift and admired as a genuine work of art, the carving was hung prominently within the ambassador's residence.
二戰末期的1945年，當時史太達林下令對哈里曼辦公室進行竊聽，最後蘇聯以少先隊名義，送出一個手工雕刻的木製美國國徽徽章，最後它被當成蘇聯送來的藝術品，安放在大使官邸內。
Seven Years of Silent Surveillance
It was not until 1952 — a full seven years later — that American security personnel discovered the truth: concealed within the wooden seal was a covert listening device that would come to be known as "The Thing." For seven years, activated and controlled by external radio waves, the device had quietly transmitted the private conversations taking place within the heart of the American embassy, yielding an immense quantity of valuable intelligence to Soviet handlers.
直至7年後的1952年，美方才發現這個徽章其實暗藏一個偷聽裝置「金唇」，七年來由無線電波控制下，竊聽著大使館幕後的談話，獲取了無數有用的情報。
A Masterpiece of Engineering
What made The Thing so extraordinary was the sheer sophistication of its design. Observers at the time described it as combining "the craftsmanship of a Swiss watch with the precision of a micrometer." The carving was, in its own right, a genuine work of art — but the true marvel lay within. The device contained no electronic components and no battery whatsoever. It required no winding, generated no heat, and remained completely dormant until activated remotely. Its construction far exceeded the technological capabilities of its era, representing what many consider a flawless fusion of artistry and science.
這個木製徽章，當時被認為是「兼具瑞士鐘錶的工藝與螺旋測微器的精準」：本身是藝術品，但「金唇」的內裡沒有電子元件及電池，不用上鍊更不會發熱，造工遠超當年科技，甚至是工藝與科學的完美組合。
The Genius Behind The Thing
So who invented this remarkable device? The answer is the Russian inventor Léon Theremin (Lev Termen) — a man who also created the world's first electronic musical instrument, the theremin, an instrument famous for being played without ever being touched. Yet it is almost certainly The Thing that secured Theremin's place in history: a creation so far ahead of its time that it stands, even today, as a testament to a mind that operated decades beyond the technology available to it.
發明「金唇」的是誰？是俄裔發明家列夫．特雷門，他亦發明了世上第一種電子樂器－特雷門琴，她不需觸碰即可演奏。但令列夫．特雷門名留青史的一定是「金唇」，一件超越那個時代的產物。