Imagining Science

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

For Today’s Inspiration

  • NASA Awards Contract to Develop 5G Communications for Moon

    NASA has awarded Modulate Space Corporation a contract to develop key elements of a 5G communications system for use on the lunar surface with built-in Wi-Fi 6, for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. This accelerated effort is organized into two primary work areas that together will develop a scalable, standards-based communications capability designed to

  • NASA, International Partners Advance Work on Space Crops

    NASA, CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and the German Aerospace Center signed a joint statement of intent to begin coordinated, preparatory work toward an Earth-based demonstrator to learn how to grow crops on the Moon.

  • Where Fire Ends, Chemistry Begins

    Once smoke is generated, chemical reactions reshape its gaseous and particulate constituents, altering what travels downwind and what people, ecosystems, and the climate are exposed to.

  • The 6 August 2025 fatal Dayuan landslide in Guangzhou, China

    On 6 August 2025, the Dayuan landslide in Guangzhou, China killed 7 people. It was triggered by rainfall onto an area affected by a wildfire. In recent decades, China has built substantial capacity for investigating landslides. One result of this is that most significant landslides there are now analysed with the results published. This is

    • In This Issue

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 39, September 2026. <br/>

    • Dynamic attribute activation explains gaze biases in choice

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 39, September 2026. <br/>SignificanceEveryday decisions are shaped by where we direct our attention. Although a large body of research has documented robust links between attention and choice, we still lack a systematic understanding of why attention influences choice and when …

    • Osteoclasts intercept meningeal lymphatic paths for dural metastasis

      Nature, Published online: 30 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11082-6Osteoclast-derived angiopoietin-2 in the dura mater impairs lymphatic vessel function and weakens anti-tumour immunity against dural metastases, which offers new therapeutic approaches to restore meningeal lymphatic function through selective osteoclast targeting.

    • Human genetics implicates a BACH2–NRF2 axis in fetal haemoglobin activation

      Nature, Published online: 30 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11113-2BACH2 restrains activation of the fetal-haemoglobin-encoding γ-globin genes, while loss of BACH2 enhances NRF2 chromatin occupancy and promotes the formation of activation foci at the γ-globin genes.