Imagining…
Where Science Meets Creative Writing
Find a story within the topics above
How can we look at fossils and understand what creatures roamed the Earth millions of years ago?
How can we predict the behavior of materials deep within planetary interiors?
How can we reverse humanity’s impact on the global climate?
How can we predict habitats for life on other planets?
Doing impactful, innovative research requires training our brain to imagine the elusive unknown, even when bounded by scientific evidence. Now, more than ever in the history of human civilization, there is a pressing need to exercise our imagination muscles. Writing scientific fiction while accounting for the real science is a powerful way to do just that—to learn what is possible, what is probable, how we can change the future, and what our responsibility is to the future generation of our species.
Most Recent Stories
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Progress Without Morals
A scientist is trying to harness microbial properties to develop a fantastic tool. He believes he can; but should he?
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For Today’s Inspiration
- NASA Research Proposes Technology to Seek Earth-Like Exoplanets
As NASA seeks to understand the mysteries of the universe, the agency is advancing technologies to locate and explore Earth-like planets far beyond our solar system. A key element of this research involves observing reflected light from exoplanets, which can reveal indicators of Earth-like features such as water and oxygen. However, detecting this faint reflected
- NASA’s Water-Hunting Tool Will Help Scout Moon’s South Pole
NASA is joining international partners to hunt for ice on the Moon in support of future human exploration. The agency is providing a water-detecting instrument, the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), to the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).
- The Future of Earth’s Future
With the expansion of the journal’s scope, the Editor-in-Chief of Earth’s Future appoints three Deputy Editors to oversee new thematic areas.
- Shrinking Sea Ice Is Ruffling Emperor Penguins’ Feathers
A scientist stumbled upon evidence of penguin molting sites in satellite data, but the sea ice these birds rely on is disappearing.
- Debate explodes over age of key South American archaeological site
New study argues Monte Verde is far younger than once thought, challenging when people arrived in the Americas
- What happened when an Arab neuroscientist took the helm at an Israeli university?
Mouna Maroun’s stewardship highlights the promise—and perils—of reconciliation through science
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 11, March 2026. <br/>
- Reducing PTSD symptoms through unconscious intervention
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 11, March 2026. <br/>SignificanceTraditional posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) therapies can evoke emotional distress and lead to premature dropout. This study demonstrates that subliminally presenting trauma-related images during an eye-movement exercise can effectively …
- Forty-five years of progress after a key paper about the evolution of cooperation
Nature, Published online: 23 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00802-7A 1981 publication showed how cooperators can prevail over defectors, laying the foundation for how the evolution of cooperation between unrelated individuals is studied.
- How to measure a good life – tips for moving beyond GDP
Nature, Published online: 23 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00884-3Including human and environmental capital paints a different picture of national economies than does GDP alone.