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
- APOD: 2026 October 31 – Night on a Spooky Planet
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 31 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Night on a
- NASA Releases MAX POWER Key Events for Media, Participants
America’s newest aerospace expo and air show – MAX POWER – is fast approaching, and NASA has announced key events beginning Friday, Nov. 6, and running through Sunday, Nov. 8, hosted on and near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Through multiple park experiences at MAX POWER, NASA and a variety of external collaborators
- Connecting Radio Wave Disruption to “Hot” Charged Particles from Afar
A tag-team of satellites and ground GNSS receivers track down the source of a radio signal disruption (scintillation) from afar—a “hotspot” of plasma some 60,000 kilometers away.
- U.S. River Sediment Transport Is Becoming “Burstier”
The time frame in which U.S. rivers move most of their sediment has compressed significantly, which could have implications for water treatment, aquatic habitats, erosion, and harmful algal blooms.
- Record-breaking retraction: scholarly publisher pulls 1,400 conference papers on one day
Nature, Published online: 30 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03455-8Announcement by IEEE follows publication of a study showing the retracted papers are linked to paper mills.
- I built the UK government’s metascience unit — here’s what countries need to know
Nature, Published online: 30 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03502-4To find evidence-backed ways to improve grant-funding processes, metascientists need freedom and money to experiment, as well as leaders who are willing to make change.