Maris Fessenden

 

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

A 19th century engraving of King John signing the Magna Carta

Legend Says the Ankerwycke Yew Witnessed the Magna Carta's Signing

The tree on the bank of the River Thames may be 2,000 years old

Russian ice breaker Kapitan Khlebnikov breaks through pack ice in the Southern Ocean

Antarctic Sea Ice Sets A New Record, But the Climate is Still Changing

Climate change deniers, sit back down

Row houses in the historic Pullman neighborhood of Chicago

President Obama Announces a Trio of New National Monuments

The sites include a historic neighborhood in Chicago, a former internment camp in Hawaii and a canyon in Colorado

A surgeon using an endoscope, similar to the device involved in the UCLA outbreak

Contaminated Doctors’ Scopes May Have Spread a Superbug to Almost 180 Patients

A drug-resistant bacteria usually found in the gut has infected seven people and contributed to two deaths

These Glass Sculptures Were Inspired By the New York City Ballet

The artist wanted to convey that "all of your memories are stuck inside your bone marrow" and make them visible

LED Skylights Perfectly Mimic Natural Sunlight

The lights fool human brains and camera eyes

Snails’ Teeth Beats Spider Silk As Nature’s Strongest Material

The discovery makes sense: Mollusks use these teeth to excavate rocks while they feed

These fragmented black lines are actually seagulls flying

See the Swoops of Seagulls’ Flight Patterns

Special video effects shows more than an hours worth of seagull flight as curling paths

Grizzlies in Yellowstone Are Already Waking Up

Warm weather has drawn at least one bear out of hibernation and in search of food

An artist’s interpretation of the star quartet — as a young star and three gas condensations on the left and as star siblings on the right.

Stars Have Womb Siblings

Four baby stars, still gestating in their parental gas cloud, move together - for now at least

"From two to three hours after or before eating a full meal, is the proper time for this business."

19th-Century Sexual Advice: No Sex Before Meals

The rest of the tips are even farther from any sort of modern scientific basis

Not the new self-driving car

Britain’s First Driverless Car Stays on the Sidewalk

The car's 15 mile-per-hour speed limit keeps things safe

Jailing People Has Little Effect on Crime Levels

At some point, the data indicates, more people in prison doesn’t translate to fewer crimes

Robert Sorlie and his team during the 2005 Iditarod race

Lack of Snow Forced the Iditarod to Move Its Track

Instead of starting in Willow, Alaska, this year, the race will start 300 miles north in Fairbanks

A honeybee visits a flower in Bath, England

City Bees Are Actually More Diverse Than Country Bees

Other pollinators don’t like urban areas as much as rural, but bees live in similar numbers across different landscapes

Fighting in Aleppo in 2013

Can Antiquities Looting in Syria Be Stopped?

The Islamic State is selling antiquities to fund their fight, now a secretive group is trying to protect those cultural treasures

Physarum polycephalum in the wild, sans piano

A Scientist And a Slime Mold Are Set To Play a Duet

The blob-like creatures’ movements inspired a composer to create a way for slime mold to play the piano

Don't hate eggs because of the cholesterol in their yolks

New Guidelines on Cholesterol: Eggs Are Ok, Butter's Still Bad

Experts have long pushed for the change since for most, cholesterol isn't the demon we thought it was

Human Languages Skew Positive

We’re all a bunch of pollyannas

Farm Animals Could Soon Carry Wi-Fi

In a few years, shepherds might be monitoring their flocks with networks of wireless sensors

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