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’s Van Allen Probe A to Re-Enter Atmosphere
NASA’s Van Allen Probe A is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere almost 14 years after launch. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms, and the constantly streaming
- About Subsonic Flight Demonstrator (SFD) Project
The purpose of the Subsonic Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project is to engage with industry and other government organizations to identify, select, and mature key airframe technologies, such as new wing designs, that have a high probability of transition to the next generation single-aisle seat class airliner. Moving technologies from a research environment to a production environment
- How Radar Reveals the Hidden Fabric of Ice Sheets
A new review describes how measuring the polarization of radar waves in ice reveals glacier crystal structure, with implications for understanding past and future ice flow and sea-level rise.
- The Fate of the Greenland Ice Sheet: Deep Learning from SkySat Images
Surface meltwater ponding and drainage in the Greenland Ice Sheet is analyzed at high spatial and temporal resolution through SkySat imagery and deep learning.
- Can a wealthy family change the course of a deadly brain disease?
Inspired by the loss of their mother, they have poured millions into studying a key protein behind frontotemporal dementia. But all has not gone according to plan
- Structural modeling reveals phage proteins that manipulate bacterial immune signaling | Science
Immune systems in animals, plants, and bacteria often rely on intracellular nucleotide signaling, which viruses can block by sequestering or degrading these signals. We identified structural and biophysical traits shared by diverse viral antidefense …
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 9, March 2026. <br/>
- Ecological inheritance facilitates the coexistence of environmental helpers and free riders
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 9, March 2026. <br/>SignificanceA central question in evolutionary biology is why variation in traits that affect fitness persists within populations. Here we consider the role of ecological inheritance, whereby organisms modify their local environment and pass these …
- Monthly HIV-drug injections offer potent alternative to daily tablets
Nature, Published online: 08 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00669-8Long-lasting treatment suppresses HIV in people with mental illness and other conditions that make it challenging to adhere to standard treatments.
- Genetically modified pig liver keeps man alive until human organ transplant
Nature, Published online: 06 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00736-0First time the procedure has been performed on a living person.