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
- Celebrating 100 Years Since Goddard’s Breakthrough Moment in Modern Rocketry
From the voyages of spacecraft to the Moon and beyond, to the launches of satellites that help us navigate, communicate, and understand our planet and the universe, the use of liquid-fueled rockets has been key to humanity’s use and exploration of space. Today marks 100 years since the first successful test of this technology. On
- A Combination of Techniques Leads to Improved Friction Stir Welding
Download PDF: A Combination of Techniques Leads to Improved Friction Stir Welding The NESC developed several innovative tools and techniques during an assessment to find the root cause of poor tensile strength and low topography anomalies (LTA) in welds formed using a solid-state welding process called self-reacting friction stir welding (SRFSW). Using a combination of
- Salt: A Vital Compound for Science and Society
From salt basins in the Persian Gulf to lithium reserves in Chile, evaporite minerals accumulate in sedimentary basins under tectonic and climatic processes of significance to scientists worldwide.
- Sea Turtles, Shrinking Beaches, and Rising Seas
A new study looks at how sea turtle nesting sites may be affected as sea levels rise and sandy beaches erode.
- Relic of long-vanished ice sheet holds clues to ancient climate
Glacial ice melting out of Alaska’s eroding coastline offers a glimpse into a lost climate history
- The imminent collapse of the Great Salt Lake | Science
A new documentary confronts the dire future of North America’s largest terminal lake
- In This Issue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 10, March 2026. <br/>
- The geometry of Nature’s stingers is universal due to stochastic mechanical wear
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 10, March 2026. <br/>SignificancePointed objects such as stingers, horns, and teeth have been observed to exhibit a paraboloid geometry at the tip. Interestingly, this tip geometry is not exclusive to biological structures; it is also found in abiotic forms as disparate as …
- Insulin resistance prediction from wearables and routine blood biomarkers
Nature, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10179-2A machine-learning model that integrates data from wearable devices (such as smartwatches) with blood biomarkers and demographic data can predict whether someone has insulin resistance, enabling timely lifestyle interventions to prevent progression to type 2 diabetes.
- Can AI models reliably forecast extreme weather events?
Nature, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00842-zMore-rigorous testing is required before artificial-intelligence approaches are widely adopted by public forecasting agencies.