Maris Fessenden

 

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

An electronic weapon from Taser International

The Word "Taser" Comes From a Young Adult Sci-Fi Novel

Massively popular at the time, the Tom Swift books have not aged very well

The top of Mauna Kea with Keck Observatory in the foreground

Court Revokes the Construction Permit for Contentious Hawaiian Telescope

Protestors physically blocked access to the Mauna Kea construction site for more than a year and now the project faces another roadblock

Twelve decades worth of averaged yearbook portraits

Yearbook Photos Show How Smiles Have Widened Over the Decades

An analysis of roughly 38,000 high-school senior portraits shows Americans’ frowns turning upside down

Screenshot from "Fairy Lights in Femtoseconds: Tangible Holographic Plasma (SIGGRAPH)"

This Holograph Can Be Touched and Manipulated

Tiny interactive displays use lasers to create touchable plasma

The rainforest edge at the Amazon river in Peru

Amazon Tree Census Makes Clear Just How Many Species are in Trouble

More than half of the Amazon's trees could qualify as threatened species

Wisdom (front) and her mate

The Oldest Known Seabird Is About to Lay Another Egg

Wisdom the Laysan albatross has lived at least 64 years and raised as many as 36 chicks

An Antarctic minke whale, the animal Japanese whaling vessels target

Japan Starts its Whale Hunt Again

Despite an international ruling, the Japanese fleet plans to harvest 333 minke whales

A map of human impacts around the globe where green areas show areas with the least amount of human influence and red and purple show the areas with the greatest.

Explore the Complexities of Climate Change with These Interactive Maps

Understanding the ins and outs requires some strong visualizations

What Was the First Thing Sold on the Internet?

The answer depends on how the question is approached

Happy Birthday to Schrödinger’s Cat

In the 80 years since Erwin Schrödinger first outlined a quantum mechanics thought experiment involving a cat, the feline’s popularity has only grown

Screenshot from "Aspiring Reporter Interviews Bolden about NASA's Journey to Mars"

A Nine-Year-Old Aspiring Journalist's Heartwarming Connection with NASA

A popular photography blog helped one kid interview NASA administrator Charles Bolden

Why a Yam Is Not a Sweet Potato

Despite grocery store labels, these tubers aren’t at all the same

A juvenile Saccoglossus kowalevskii, a species of acorn worm, with it’s pharyngeal region in blue.

This Gross-looking Worm Gives Clues About Humans' Ability to Breathe and Talk

Humans share about 70 percent of their genome with the lowly acorn worm, according to recent research

"After signing this Constitution, shall we go to Washington’s place for a pint? I hear he brews a tasty one."

Try Out George Washington’s Own Craft Beer Recipe

The recipe for "small beer" includes molasses as a sweetener and instructions on what to do if the weather is very cold

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket takes off at the start of a test to re-land the system

First Reusable Rocket Launched and Landed Safely Back on Earth

Blue Origin's ship cruised to the edge of space and back in a mere 11 minutes

The winning video featured hip hop dancers as farmers who put demands on the water supply

The Many Ways to "Dance Your Ph.D"

Once again, researchers get creative in a yearly dance competition to explain their Ph.D. thesis work

Youth gather near the White House as part of the "Our Generation, Our Choice" climate change march on November 9, 2015

Hundreds of Thousands March With Hope for Climate Action

Demonstrations around the world have already begun in the days leading up to the Paris climate summit

Nola poses for the camera earlier this fall

Northern White Rhinos Now Number Three

The 41-year-old Nola died this week, leaving only three northern white rhinos left in the world

A male Iandumoema smeagol, foraging in its cave.

Introducing Smeagol the Eyeless Arachnid

This newly discovered cave-dwelling daddy longlegs resembles the fictional Tolkien character

Mr. Snuffleupagus makes an appearance on Good Morning America in 2014

A Brief History of Sesame Street’s Snuffleupagus Identity Crisis

A running joke got canned in response to concern that kids wouldn’t feel safe telling adults hard truths

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