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 Seeks US Industry Plans for Commercial Space Stations
NASA is advancing American leadership in space by taking the next step toward a future where commercial space stations lead the way in low Earth orbit. On Friday, the agency released its final Request for Proposals inviting industry to submit plans for the next generation of commercial space stations. “In alignment with the President’s National
- NASA Demonstrates Next-Generation Heat Shield Technologies
NASA is testing heat shields that can keep astronauts safe as they return from missions to the Moon and Mars in an unusual way: by taking out the trash. When Northrop Grumman 24th cargo resupply mission for NASA undocked from the International Space Station, it carried a fleet of 12 small, experimental capsules designed to
- Reliable AI Sea Ice Forecasts Depend on Sustained Observations
Sea ice is a fundamental regulator of Earth’s climate and an increasingly urgent forecast target itself. Can we trust the AI systems now being built to predict it?
- Life in the Skies Links Ecosystems Near and Far. It Deserves More Attention.
Our understanding of Earth’s biology and its responses to environmental change is limited by an incomplete picture of the planet’s dynamic aerobiome.
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 40, October 2026. <br/>
- PAK4 exacerbates melanoma immunosuppression by promoting exosome release
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 40, October 2026. <br/>SignificanceImmunotherapy resistance remains a major challenge in melanoma. We identify PAK4 as a key driver of this resistance by promoting the release of PD-L1-enriched exosomes that suppress antitumor immunity. We describe a dual mechanism by which …
- Five movements from the edge of the singularity
Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03116-wChange is in the air.
- Briefing Chat: Top researchers are being misled by sham academic societies
Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03216-7Nature staff discuss a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.