"Mathematicians discover the worst way to hang a painting."

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 05 September 2026, 1345 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencemonitor.blogspot.com).

Scientific American Content

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78

Today

Mathematicians discover the worst way to hang a painting

2h

New solutions found to picture-hanging problems

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

MRI tracks Huntington disease progression

•

2h

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

Yesterday

Geometry Reveals the Tricks behind Gerrymandering

18h

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

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

18h

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

Pentagon pauses controversial testosterone policy guidelines

Pentagon mandates troop testosterone screening

•

22h

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

What’s the tech behind the record-breaking RSA-260 crack?

RSA260 factored by Eric Lu

•

1d

A researcher’s social media post that revealed how to break part of a popular encryption protocol has gone viral. But did he really do it with just “good old paper and pencil”?

This star has the strangest sky in the galaxy

1d

The newfound star S301 orbits the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole so closely that its view of the heavens gets twisted

What a novel about a dating app for dead bodies reveals about human connection

1d

Author Sarah Pierce explores dating apps, loneliness and human connection through a novel about a corpse-matching algorithm

Sep 3, 2026

‘Unparalleled’ study finds psilocybin protects against nerve damage from chemotherapy

Psilocybin prevents chemo nerve damage

•

1d

The findings, which were made in mice, may offer a new way to prevent a common chemotherapy side effect that can last well beyond treatment

The spacecraft BepiColombo is finally nearing Mercury after 8 years in space

BepiColombo begins Mercury arrival

•

1d

In a critical maneuver on Thursday, the mission successfully deployed its two science orbiters—beginning the final phases of its arrival at Mercury

An endangered pygmy raccoon turned trash into toys—and taught her family how, too

2d

The endangered animals displayed a first in raccoons and their kin

Sep 2, 2026

U.N. admits exceeding Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree-C warming target is ‘unavoidable’

UN warns one point five breach

•

2d

The world is set to blow past the Paris Agreement’s longtime threshold “within the next few years,” according to a new report

Scientists discover a mysterious wave shaped like a decagon in Saturn’s atmosphere

Saturn south pole decagon discovered

•

2d

The strange structure appears to have formed recently, but nobody can explain exactly why

How the super El Niño could turbocharge warming in the Himalayas

2d

After one of the worst natural disasters in the region’s history, attention is turning to the looming super El Niño

Top medical leaders urge Americans to get their flu and COVID shots in lieu of CDC vaccine campaign

Children face double virus risk

•

2d

The Trump administration has so far been silent on flu, COVID and RSV vaccine guidance for the coming season, even as these diseases kill thousands of people every year

GLP-1 weight-loss medication could slow aging and extend lifespan

Semaglutide extends lifespan in mice

•

2d

Giving old mice semaglutide—commonly sold as Wegovy or Ozempic—extends their lifespan remarkably, a new study finds

The risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy is rising—and the damage can be life-changing

2d

A recent CDC analysis says that, between 2016 and 2024, the rate of high blood pressure among pregnant women rose by 73 percent

Why this Canadian island appeared to disappear

2d

A floating island in a Canadian reservoir moved more than 30 kilometers across the water—here’s why

Newly discovered ‘demon cave fish’ hid out in Alabama military installation for 40 years

3d

Scientists named this oddball creature after the Demogorgon from Stranger Things

The hackers protecting America’s water supply

3d

Cybersecurity experts are volunteering to keep America’s utilities safe from attacks

Sep 1, 2026

House passes stopgap bill that pauses changes to federal science grant-making process

3d

The proposed changes, which would have given control of science funding to appointed bureaucrats, were criticized widely by the scientific community

Nepal’s deadly debris avalanche is a warning for the rest of the world

3d

Avalanches like the one that devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet are becoming more common thanks to climate change. Here’s where else is at risk

Mathematician discovers how to fold the smallest origami doughnut

3d

How many times do you have to fold a piece of paper to make a doughnut? After decades, a mathematician has determined the most efficient technique

Why the Grand Canyon flash flood was so devastating

Grand Canyon flash flood deaths

•

3d

Experts explain why a monsoon storm turned so deadly

Where is the Roman Telescope in space?

NASA launches Roman space telescope

•

3d

The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope is headed toward a Lagrange point, a critical position in outer space where gravitational forces behave in specific ways

Have we finally found dark matter?

LZ finds hint of WIMP

•

3d

The world’s biggest dark matter search saw a particle it cannot explain

Growth hormone peptides promise to stall aging—but does the science stack up?

4d

Sermorelin, tesamorelin and other growth hormone peptides are being touted as antiaging elixirs, but what evidence is behind those claims?

Bonus crossword: Tints of life

4d

Play a bonus science crossword that ties into even more stories from the September 2026 issue of Scientific American .

The brain, solved

4d

The human brain has upward of 86 billion neurons, connected by some 100 trillion synapses

Commercial paleontology: How much should a dinosaur cost?

4d