Maris Fessenden

 

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

Ariel view of the Hoover Dam captured in 1967

Americans Are Using Less Water Than We Did in 1970

Peak water was decades ago

A scene from a lake-effect snow storm last year in Evans, New York

After the Storm: Floods of Dumped Milk And Melting Snow in Western New York

More than five feet of snow, and up to eight in some places, over such as short time period is a lot to deal with

In the U.S., Few Heavy Drinkers Are Actually Alcoholics

About 90 percent of people who drink excessively—more than eight drinks a week for women, 15 for men—are not alcohol dependent

An optical light image of a black hole’s jet from the galaxy M87

The Rotational Energy of Black Holes Spits Out Powerful Particle Streams

Researchers are getting closer to answering some heavy questions about how supermassive black holes work

America to Same-Sex Couples: Sure, You Can Have Legal Rights, Just Don't Kiss in Front of Us

Americans are in favor of granting legal rights like property inheritance to same-sex couples. They aren't as in favor of public displays of affection.

How to Fold a World Record-Setting Paper Airplane

The secret lies in the design, but having a football quarterback on hand to throw the plane might help you break records

Millennials Are Different, Just Not the Way You Think

Young adults today are more optimistic despite facing more economic strain than the previous two generations

False-color micrograph of Caenorhabditis elegans

We’ve Put a Worm’s Mind in a Lego Robot's Body

A wheeled Lego robot may not look like a worm, but it "thinks" like one after programmers gave it the neuron connections in a C. elegans roundworm

Previously excavated art from the ancient city of Karkemish

This Archaeology Site Is Guarded by 500 Turkish Soldiers

The excavation of a 5,000 year old city on the Turkey-Syrian border continues despite nearby presence of the Islamic State extremists

Early images of the vertical occipital fasciculus, a brain region involved in processing visual information

Neurologists Lost Track of Part of the Human Brain And Just Re-Discovered It

The major pathway in the brain wasn’t exactly missing, but science literature appeared to have forgotten about it until now

Antarctic Seals Keep Trying to Have Sex With Penguins

This isn’t the first time a fur seal has attempted to copulate with a king penguin and scientists think that more seals are learning the behavior

More Than 35 Million People Around the World Are Slaves

People are slaves in every one of the 167 countries investigated in a new report, including the United States

How to Live With Hallucinatory “Voices” Without Drugs

A European-centered movement is trying to change the perception that hearing voices is bad

A seaweed farmer in Tanzania shows off her crop.

Eat More Seaweed (It's Good for You)

Foraging for fresh seaweeds gives you option and the best taste according to this Brittany seaweed eater

One of the Philae Lander's feet is visible in this snapshot from the comet's surface.

Philae Is Now Asleep

The lander’s solar panels aren’t getting enough light and the batteries will die, but we already have some fantastic images and data

Mind Control Turns Mouse Genes On and Off And Could Treat Diseases

An innovative experiment in mice shows how scientists could develop medications that dispense with the power of thought

Giant, Slow-Moving Sharks Are Secretly Everywhere

We know very little about Greenland sharks, including the extent of their range, but what we do know is intriguing

Californians Will Soon Be Swimming in Fukushima-Irradiated Water

Radiation took two-and-a-half years to make it across the ocean—but don't worry, the levels of radiation are harmless

A middle-schooler from North Korea who’s family defected listens to a teacher in school south of Seoul

North Korea Subsidizes About 70 Schools in Japan

The institutions are a way for ethnic Koreans to connect to their culture but are also targets of criticism

Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera captured this parting shot of the Philae lander after separation and before touchdown.

Comet 67P Has a Welcome Song for Rosetta And Philae

A successful touchdown after the comet chase is just the herald of more discoveries to come, including the cause of the comet's strange song

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