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
- Telescopes Team Up for New View of Cat’s Eye Nebula
This March 3, 2026, image combines views from ESA’s (European Space Agency) Euclid and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to feature one of the most visually intricate remnants of a dying star: the Cat’s Eye Nebula, also known as NGC 6543. This extraordinary planetary nebula lies 4,400 light-years away in the constellation Draco and has captivated astronomers for decades
- Curiosity Blog, Sols 4825-4831: Exploring the Borderlands
Written by William Farrand, Senior Research Scientist, Space Science Institute Earth planning date: Friday, March 6, 2026 Curiosity is in the last stage of its exploration of the spiderweb-like boxwork unit. This stage consists of exploring the eastern and southern borders of this terrain. There were two multi-sol plans assembled this week. The previous plan
- Antarctic Peninsula Faces Starkly Different Futures, Depending on Decisions Made Today
A study reveals interconnected changes under three emissions pathways and describes the emerging challenges facing Antarctic fieldwork.
- Collinearity is Not Always a Problem in Machine Learning
Collinearity is not always a showstopper for statistical machine learning (at least not for self-organizing maps).
- 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 …
- Quantum entanglement as a tool to image distant astronomical objects
Nature, Published online: 11 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00724-4Particles entangled over long distances can, in theory, improve the sensitivity of long-baseline interferometers that are observing weak thermal light sources. A proof-of-concept experiment now demonstrates entanglement-assisted interferometry, paving the way for entanglement-enhanced non‑local sensing techniques.
- What is the science behind ‘science-backed’ supplements?
Nature, Published online: 11 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00707-5The task of decoding the research underlying the nutritional claims of health supplements is rarely straightforward.