Maris Fessenden

 

Maris Fessenden is a freelance science writer and artist who appreciates small things and wide open spaces.

A picture of Calhoun in a mouse utopia in 1970

This Old Experiment With Mice Led to Bleak Predictions for Humanity’s Future

From the 1950s to the 1970s, researcher John Calhoun gave rodents unlimited food and studied their behavior in overcrowded conditions

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Wardens of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild, Known as ‘The Syndics’, 1662. On loan from the City of Amsterdam

Dutch Museum Shows Every Single Last Rembrandt in Its Collection

To mark the 350th anniversary of the master artist's death, Rijksmuseum is putting all 400 works on view together for the first time

A great white shark, probably considering its species' triumph over the now-extinct megalodon

Did Great White Sharks Drive Megalodon to Extinction?

An earlier extinction date puts megalodon's fall in line with the rise of the great white

Using the preferred color palettes of Walter and Leonore Annenberg, Palm Springs, and marine corals, "Dive-In" merges the recognition that global warming will drastically reshape the habitat of our planet with another more recent extinction: the out-door movie theater.

This Outdoor Exhibition Brings Art to a California Desert

Desert X returns to the Coachella Valley, this time with works about landscape, migration, climate change and indigenous experiences

Specimen of a dog skull

New Study Looks at Why Neolithic Humans Buried Their Dogs With Them 4,000 Years Ago

Analysis of the remains of 26 dogs found near Barcelona suggest the dogs had a close relationship with ancient humans

An artist imagines what two Mnyamawamtuka would look like as they cavort in the Cretaceous rain

Meet the Dinosaur With the Heart-Shaped Tail Bone

The newly discovered long-neck dino could help scientists figure out why some dinosaurs grew to be so large

How will the climate change in your city?

With Climate Change, Washington, D.C. Will Feel More Like Arkansas by 2080

Map predicts how climate change will feel in the city where you live by matching with a future climate twin

One of the human figures depicted in the newly documented petroglyphs

An Unknown Ancient Civilization in India Carved This Rock Art

Hikers are cataloging the petroglyphs in the western part of Maharashtra state

An illustration of the winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: James Allison (left) and Tasuku Honjo (right).

Two Scientists Earn Nobel for Discovering a New Pillar in Cancer Therapy

The award recognizes work that figured out how to encourage the immune system to fight cancer

“The white sea urchin (Lytechinus pictus) is found below the tide line,” writes marine biology graduate student Julia Notar in her submission. “I study how these animals see, and what they can see. They usually live in flat, sandy areas, where there aren't many places to hide from fish predators. Different species of sea urchins, which live in rocky areas, usually hide from fish in dark crevices in, between, or under rocks. Those urchins can use their blurry, but still useful vision to find those hiding spots. Does this species, which doesn't live in an environment with many hiding spots, do the same thing?”

Scientific Images Make Dazzling Art In a Duke University Exhibit

Three graduate students set out to show that the scientific and artistic processes are more similar than many imagine

Meet Freddy, the Runaway Bison Who Inspired a Choral Arrangement

The piece references Manitoban history, a small town’s celebrity animal and includes distorted bison noises

Tasty kimchi

Vegan Kimchi Is Microbially Pretty Close to the Original

A comparison between kimchi made with miso and kimchi made with fish sauce revealed that fermentation equalizes the bacterial communities

A diver brings up a sealed glass bottle from the shipwreck of the Sydney Cove

Australian Brewers Are Making Beer From Yeast Found on a Shipwreck

A new porter-style ale gets its funk from a 220-year old specimen

A humpback whale and calf

Antarctica's Waters May Soon Harbor a Boom of Baby Humpback Whales

Declining sea ice levels due to climate change may be helping the whales for now

Stephen Towns. Birth of a Nation. 2014. Private Collection.

Artist's Quilts Pay Tribute to African-American Women

Artist Stephen Towns' first museum exhibition showcases his painterly skill through traditional textile art

Vinicunca, the "Rainbow Mountain" in Peru

Peru's Rainbow Mountain Could Be in Danger Following Surge in Popularity

Up to 1,000 tourists visit the colorful ridge every day. But this influx of people is eroding the nature

Mid 15th-century diners sit down to an elaborate meal in this illustration from an anonymous artist.

DNA From Ancient Latrines Reveal What People Ate Centuries Ago

By digging in ancient toilets, researchers uncovered genetic material that tells of past diets and diseases

A San Quintin kangaroo rat at rest in the field.

This Kangaroo Rat Was Just Spotted For the First Time in 30 years

A native to Baja California, the San Quintín kangaroo rat hopped back into researchers' lives last summer

Mary McLeod Bethune in 1949

U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall Collection Will Get Its First State-Commissioned Statue of a Black American

A statue of educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune will replace a statue of a Confederate general

In this 12th century illuminated manuscript Mary Magdalene announces the resurrection to the apostles.

New Exhibition Unfolds the "Bizarre" Stories Behind Centuries-Old Pigments

Cow urine is one of many strange ingredients included in the University of Manchester's new show exploring the history and chemistry of artists' palettes

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