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
- Outbursts from a Massive Star
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have discovered what is triggering repeated outbursts from a giant, unstable star located in the galaxy shown in this image released on Nov. 9, 2026. The volatile star, known as AT 2016blu, is in the spiral galaxy NGC 4559, located about 30 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers estimate the
- Gemini Astronaut Photos Inspired Early Earth Observation Program
Astronauts James A. Lovell Jr. and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. orbited Earth from November 11 to 15, 1966, on Gemini XII, the final mission of NASA’s Gemini program. In addition to successfully completing rendezvous maneuvers and spacewalks, procedures vital to sending American astronauts to the Moon, the crew was also spurring the development of
- Crystals Indicate Early Earth Was a “Sponge” for Oxygen
A new study suggests that oxygen from cyanobacteria changed Earth’s chemistry as far back as 3.4 billion years ago—far predating the Great Oxidation Event.
- 八成研究人员称在野外工作期间遭遇过有害互动
一项最新调查显示，野外工作期间发生有害互动的情况十分普遍，而许多此类事件并未被正式上报。一项新调查为此指明了改进的方向。
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 45, November 2026. <br/>
- Gastruloids reveal alternative morphogenetic routes for body-axis elongation with distinct cytoskeletal dependencies
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 45, November 2026. <br/>SignificanceTissues shape themselves during embryonic development through a process called morphogenesis. This requires cells to coordinate their behaviors by integrating genetic programs with environmental signals. The interplay between these factors can …
- This AI ‘mechanic’ can peer inside the black box of other neural networks
Nature, Published online: 13 November 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03679-8Being able to target and debug systems could improve artificial-intelligence safety and utility.
- Is the climate totally cooked? What the data say
Nature, Published online: 13 November 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03716-6In the first of our new podcast series, a Nature reporter looks for reasons for hope in the face of overwhelming climate anxiety.