Scientific American Content: Global

1. Does the U.S. need more spaceports?

   A new executive order calls for more than 1,000 U.S. rocket launches per year by the end of the decade. Rethinking the nation’s spaceports will be key

2. How introverted or extroverted you are may influence how you use AI

   How people interact with their inner and outer worlds may shape how they approach generative AI

3. Nature may have a preferred tempo

   From flashing fireflies to human music, many biological rhythms appear to converge on the same rhythmic range

4. What archaeology reveals about the rise of all-powerful rulers

   Autocracy wasn’t inevitable in early civilizations. But when riches were there to monopolize, strongmen and inequalities emerged

5. These smart bricks know what object they make up

   Collectively intelligent bricks figure out if they’re in a boat, chair or guitar

6. Mathematicians discover the worst way to hang a painting

   New solutions found to picture-hanging problems

7. New brain scan tool could help treat Huntington’s disease, a devastating genetic condition

   Huntington’s disease is an inherited condition that gradually robs people of their ability to move, speak and even think clearly—there is no cure

8. Geometry Reveals the Tricks behind Gerrymandering

   Some voting districts are tilted intentionally toward one party or another—a factor in the midterms. Geometry plays a critical role in gerrymandering

9. 2026 Ig Nobels honor cockroach milk, interspecies kissing, taunting venomous snakes, and more

   The silliest science awards of the year are here, but the Ig Nobels aren’t just funny business

10. Pentagon pauses controversial testosterone policy guidelines

    Experts say there is not enough evidence to support broadly screening men for testosterone without any symptoms