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
-
-
Progress Without Morals
A scientist is trying to harness microbial properties to develop a fantastic tool. He believes he can; but should he?
-
For Today’s Inspiration
- Making an Entrance
NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway smiles up at the camera as he enters the International Space Station Feb. 14, 2026, after docking to the orbiting laboratory aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Since Hathaway and fellow Crew-12 members Jessica Meir of NASA, Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency), and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos began their mission
- Listen to This Month’s ‘Planetary Parade’ With NASA’s Chandra
In late February, people in the Northern Hemisphere can look up for a special sight : Six planets will all be visible from clear and dark night skies. New sonifications from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory released [day of week] will help commemorate this latest “planetary parade.” Because the planets in our solar system travel around
- With the Ocean Included, the Social Cost of Carbon Doubles
A new calculation includes ocean ecosystems when assessing the monetary impact of climate change.
- Drought Drove the Amazon’s 2023 Switch to a Carbon Source
The change was caused by thirsty vegetation taking up less carbon than normal, not by the year’s extended fire season, new research shows.
- Unorthodox ‘universal vaccine’ offers broad protection in mice
Immune-stimulating cocktail could shield against diverse bacterial and viral infections
- A little-known flu virus is sickening cattle around the world. Are humans next?
Features of recently identified influenza D point to possible pandemic threat
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 7, February 2026. <br/>
- Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 7, February 2026. <br/>SignificanceThis study presents a cognitive principle, gradience, for comparing the communicative efficiency of numerical notations, along with two indices for measuring gradience, jitter and inversion. In general, larger numbers require more signs than …
- Stem cells provide a potent treatment for frailty
Nature, Published online: 25 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00584-yElderly people with frailty, which affects up to one-quarter of over-50s, increased their endurance after a single dose of stem cells.
- Uncovering origins of heterogeneous superconductivity in La3Ni2O7
Nature, Published online: 25 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-10095-xWide-field quantum sensing shows μm-scale inhomogeneous superconductivity in high-pressure La3Ni2O7, linking local diamagnetic response to stress and stoichiometry and clarifying mechanisms that suppress or enhance superconductivity.