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 Volunteers for New Yearlong Simulated Moon, Mars Mission
NASA is recruiting research participants for the agency’s next simulated deep space mission. Beginning no earlier than August 2027, research volunteers will spend one year living and working in interplanetary environments at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, operating under isolated conditions expected during crewed missions to the Moon or Red Planet. Insights from this
- LINK Spacecraft Set for Mission to Boost NASA’s Swift Observatory
A first-of-its-kind mission to raise the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is poised for launch no earlier than Thursday, July 2, 5:09 a.m. EDT (9:09 p.m. UTC+12), from Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. A robotic servicing spacecraft called LINK, built by Katalyst Space, will blast
- Fluid-Driven Reactions Restore Fault Strength Between Earthquakes
In fault gouge, fluids drive chemical healing by cementing grains, a mechanism for seismic slip in rocks frictionally expected to creep. This cohesion matters for fault stability.
- How Beavers Gnawed Their Way into the Arctic
Historical data on beavers’ Arctic expansion are lacking, but tree rings are shedding light on the timeline.
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 26, June 2026. <br/>
- Cryo-EM of the eukaryotic purine transporter UapA demonstrates intramolecular and lipid regulation of transport
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 26, June 2026. <br/>SignificanceNucleobase–ascorbate transporters (NATs, also known as SLC23 family) are ubiquitous across species. These plasma membrane proteins play a vital role in transporting essential metabolites and drug analogues across cell membranes. This study …
- Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief
Nature, Published online: 01 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01973-zA biology journal that paid peer reviewers found that the approach cut the time to a first editorial decision by 85% and maintained high-quality reviews.
- Scientists should recognize their own political biases to build public trust
Nature, Published online: 01 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01975-xPublic trust in science can’t be sustained by the support of narrow constituencies at one end of an ideological spectrum.