Science Fiction
What we find at the intersection of science fact and science fiction, from utopian metropolises to visitors from other worlds.
Featured In Science Fiction
Could humans survive on Dune’s Arrakis?
7 science fiction inventions that became reality
We could move to another planet with a spaceship like this
The Neuroscientist Who Wants To Upload Humanity To A Computer
What is a Wormhole and Will Wormhole Travel Ever be Possible?
The 10 Best Fictional Laboratories, Ranked
‘Shared Data,’ a short story from an alternate future
Sunshine Ninety-Nine
How Realistic Is The Sci-Fi Space Thriller ‘Europa Report’?
‘Home@Heart,’ a short story from an alternate future
‘The Memory of Tomatoes,’ a short story from an alternate future
More from PopSci
This butterfly hybrid thrived against evolutionary odds
How super resilient tardigrades can fix their radiation-damaged DNA
This gnarly fungus makes cicadas hypersexual
Super-muscular 374-pound kangaroos once thumped around Australia and New Guinea
‘Peaceful’ bonobos bite and push each other, actually
Myrtle the Turtle ‘in robust condition’ at age 95
Toothed whales traded chewing for echolocation to evolve
Tiny worm with enormous eyes may have a ‘secret language’
Humans can’t hear these frogs screaming
New species of extinct marine reptile found with help from 11-year-old child
240-million-year-old ‘Chinese dragon’ fossil reveals 32 separate neck vertebrae
New pterosaur species discovered in Scotland
This ‘blue dragon’ sliced through the ancient Pacific with paddle-like fins
This teenage tyrannosaur had a stomach full of dino drumsticks
Why dinosaur footprints inspired paleontologist Martin Lockley
The mystery of why some dinosaurs got so enormous
When a Jurassic giant died, predatory dinos probably feasted on the carcass
This Jurassic-era ‘sea murderer’ was among the first of its kind
NASA is designing a time zone just for the moon
A 3,200-megapixel digital camera is ready for its cosmic photoshoot
Cicadas pee in jet streams like bigger animals
Aging reactor sets new fusion energy record in last hurrah
A four-legged ‘Robodog’ is patrolling the Large Hadron Collider
Why blueberries aren’t technically blue
The world’s largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor is up and running
How physicists built the world’s smallest particle accelerator
How this computer scientist is rethinking color theory
Daddy long-legs-inspired robot could one day squirm through Martian caves
Yes, a chunk of the space station crashed into a house in Florida
Humongous stellar-mass black hole is the biggest ever found in Milky Way
NASA wants to measure moonquakes with laser-powered fiber optic cables
The history-altering medical mystery of an astronaut who fell in the bathroom
Let this astronaut show you around the International Space Station
Watch a tripod robot test its asteroid leaping skills
Japan and NASA plan a historic lunar RV roadtrip together
Baby stars release gassy ‘sneezes’ while forming
ADHD may have evolved to give us foraging superpowers
This is the most cosmically perfect time in history
When steering balls of poop, dung beetles use the stars to navigate
The US government once rented caves in Missouri to store its excess cheese
Road rage—and parking spot envy—can reveal a lot about how humans tick
In the 1600s, one town in the Netherlands literally ate the rich
Even without brains, jellyfish learn from their mistakes
Scientists made a claw machine from a dead spider
American hippopotamus ranching almost took off 100 years ago
Latest Science Fiction Stories
Make it snow! Researchers explore sci-fi scenarios of human weather control
Vernor Vinge, influential sci-fi author who warned of AI ‘Singularity,’ has died
The science of Dune’s magnificent, merciless sandworms
Reading sci-fi novels can help kids understand real science
How horror movie soundtracks prey on our fears
Nature generates more data than the internet … for now
Giganotosaurus vs. T. rex: Who would win in a battle of the big dinosaurs?
What happens if AI grows smarter than humans? The answer worries scientists.
That time the CDC got people hyped for a zombie apocalypse
Quantum computers can’t teleport things—yet
Ancient frozen viruses don’t pose a threat to your health—yet
Is it OK to drink blood?
Could dragons be real? Not in the way we think.
UFO research is stigmatized. NASA wants to change that.
How Popular Science covered ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in 1968