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
- Landsat 9: More Than Just A Picture
For over 50 years, the Landsat program has provided the longest continuous satellite record of Earth’s land surface from space. Landsat 9, launched in 2021, is the latest mission in this remarkable legacy.
- Inside Project Hail Mary
NASA astronaut and deputy director of the Flight Operations Directorate Kjell Lindgren takes a selfie with panelists and the audience at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Feb. 25, 2026. Actors Ryan Gosling and Sandra Huller, screenwriter Drew Goddard, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and producer and writer of the “Project Hail Mary” novel
- Slow and Fast Madden-Julian Oscillation Modes
The skill of Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) forecasts can be improved by identifying slow- and fast-MJO modes and their superposition.
- With the Ocean Included, the Social Cost of Carbon Doubles
A new calculation includes ocean ecosystems when assessing the monetary impact of climate change.
- Surprising partner preference found in matings between Neanderthals and modern humans
Male Neanderthals tended to pair up with female modern humans, but whether intercourse was consensual is unclear
- Reconstitution of sex determination and the testicular niche using mouse pluripotent stem cells | Science
Proper differentiation of gonadal somatic cells is crucial for sex determination and the production of sex hormones and gametes, and reconstituting this process in culture would both deepen our understanding of this process and enable the generation of …
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 8, February 2026. <br/>
- Correction for Nasca et al., Stress dynamically regulates behavior and glutamatergic gene expression in hippocampus by opening a window of epigenetic plasticity
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 8, February 2026. <br/>
- Health effects linger 20 generations after rats are exposed to fungicide
Nature, Published online: 26 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00555-3Scientists say the findings are a warning about the kinds of chemical that people are exposed to in the environment.
- UN creates new scientific AI advisory panel: what will it do?
Nature, Published online: 26 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00542-8The panel has been compared to the IPCC – the international panel whose research helped to shape landmark climate agreements.