Maris Fessenden

 

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

A slice of tissue from a mini human stomach stained with fluorescent dyes

Researchers Grew Miniature Human Stomachs from Stem Cells

The tiny lab dish-dwelling organs will help researchers monitor the progression of disease and test new drugs

Google Is Working on a Pill That Can Figure Out What Ails You

Microscopic particles will spy on the cells of your body and look for any disease, including cancer

Moai on the slopes of the Rano Raraku volcano of Easter Island

Ancient Easter Islanders Likely Sailed Back And Forth to South America

The 4,600-mile roundtrip couldn't have been easy—even for people who had already migrated from Polynesia in wooden outrigger canoes

Surface oil burning during the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon spill

Found: Millions of Gallons of Missing Oil From Deepwater Horizon

Oil that sank to the seafloor left a ring the size of Rhode Island

Cat in his basket at Vienna’s first cat cafe

America's Finally Getting Its First Permanent Cat Cafe

Cappuccino and a Siamese, please

Do You Make Better Decisions When Hungry?

Results from tests on university students contradict the notion that hunger makes you impulsive, instead it might make you intuitive

A juvenile reticulated python in Malaysia

A Zoo Python Had Six Babies in a "Virgin Birth"

The 20-foot-long reptile hadn't had a chance to meet a mate, but she still laid 61 eggs

A farmer in Sierra Leone holding cassava roots

How the Gates Foundation Is Making Cassava the Next Corn

Sophisticated plant breeding techniques (but no GMOs) and lots of money are aimed at improving this staple crop of the tropics

Nevado Coropuna, a volcano visible from the recently discovered Stone Age site in the Andes

Stone Age Shelter in Peru is the Oldest, Highest Human Settlement

Researchers found campfires and rock art at nearly 14,700 feet, suggesting ancient people lived high just 2,000 years after they reached South America

MRI scan of a brain

Vibrating Micro-Bubbles Let Drugs Sneak Across the Blood-Brain Barrier

Ultrasound technology and micro-bubbles together have pried open one of the most resistant barriers in the body

A marble worker in Italy

Quarrying for Marble Looks Unreal

A film excerpt follows the boss at an open-pit marble quarry in Carrara, Italy

An artist's impression shows exocomets orbiting the star Beta Pictoris

A Swarm of Comets Around an Alien Star Hints at Our Solar System's Youth

The comets fall in two groups — one older and one younger — and have to contend with the orbit of a gas giant

Sea Coral Makes Excellent Human Bone Grafts

Coral’s porous structure, with some chemical tweaks, is the perfect place for new bone and tissue to grow

Why Hawaii Cares About a Massive Tsunami That Hit Centuries Ago

About 500 years ago, a 30-foot tsunami caused by a 9.0-magnitude quake in the Aleutian Islands slammed into Hawaii

Computer engineers working on Cray Supercomputers in 1983

What Happened to All the Women in Computer Science?

The low numbers of female computer science majors may have roots in the mid-1980s and the rise of personal computers

Skaftafell National Park

This Glacier in Iceland Is Fighting to Stay Alive

The Falljökull glacier has cut off its lower reaches but the upper portion is advancing once again

To Find Out How Healthy Whales Are, Send in the Drones

A custom-built drone got close enough to whales to capture individuals' distinctive markings

How Exactly Does Exercise Help Your Brain?

Well-trained muscles could be protecting the body from an imbalance of chemicals that lead to depression

Anna S. Harrington portrayed Aunt Jemima during promotional events in the 1930s and '40s. Her great-grandsons say she helped develop the brand's self-rising pancake mix recipe.

In 2014, Descendants of Woman Who Played Aunt Jemima Sued Quaker Oats

The case, which was later dismissed by a judge, accused the company of failing to pay royalties to Anna S. Harrington

Do We Doodle Because We Speak?

Scribbling and sketching aren’t just practices to idle time away, but a more fundamental indication of our need for language

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