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 Sets Coverage for SpaceX 35th Station Resupply Launch, Arrival
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 6:33 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, Oct. 13, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment, including the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays, to the space station. This is the 35th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital complex for NASA. NASA also will
- NASA’s SpaceX 35th Commercial Resupply Mission Overview
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Oct. 13 to launch scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station.
- Limits of Satellite Detection of Extreme Carbon Cycle Events
Satellite carbon dioxide observations detect more carbon-cycle extremes than ground stations but still miss many events and underestimate their magnitude.
- A Snow Machine Traverse Connects Arctic Coastal Communities
A scientific expedition connected community perspectives, landscape conditions, and coastal hazards across nearly 3,200 kilometers of Alaska coastline.
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 39, September 2026. <br/>
- Dynamic attribute activation explains gaze biases in choice
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 39, September 2026. <br/>SignificanceEveryday decisions are shaped by where we direct our attention. Although a large body of research has documented robust links between attention and choice, we still lack a systematic understanding of why attention influences choice and when …
- A 7-eV bandgap semiconductor based on silicon-doped α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3
Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11085-3Suboxide molecular-beam epitaxy is used to grow silicon-doped α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 films with bandgaps exceeding 7.0 eV, enabling the fabrication of a Schottky diode and a field-effect transistor with colossal-bandgap channels.
- Experimental observation of critical topology
Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11099-xExperimental evidence indicating that critical gapless topological states can be characterized by the entanglement spectrum and wavefunctions is presented, demonstrating persistence of topology at phase boundaries and extension to higher-dimensional systems.