Maris Fessenden

 

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

Lithium ion battery used in a laptop computer

Researchers Have Finally Figured Out How to Stop Lithium Batteries from Spontaneously Combusting

Unexpected fires have kept experts cautious about the potential of lightweight batteries

Bart Shepard, the director of the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium collecting fish using a specialized decompression chamber

More than 100 New Marine Species Were Just Discovered in the Philippines

The creatures hail from a rarely before explored region of the ocean's water column

Artist's illustration of HIV

This is Why Developing an HIV Vaccine is Really Hard

For three decades researchers have been working to protect against the tricky virus

The algorithm ranked the "The Scream" by Edvard Munch as a highly creative work of its time.

History’s Most Creative Paintings, As Picked by a Computer

Some masters got snubbed

Six "Crew Members" Just Emerged from a Simulated Eight Months on Mars

They celebrated with a skydiving trip chaperoned by the U.S. Army Parachute Team

Flamingos at the the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo in Israel, possibly contemplating their escape

Forget Llamas and Lions, Flamingos Are the Best Escape Artists

The pink birds are tougher than they look

U.S. Grants Captive Chimpanzees Endangered Species Status, Prohibiting Most Research on Them

Captive chimps now have the same protections as wild ones

Polar Bears are Eating Dolphins, Probably Thanks to Climate Change

A warmer winter lured a pod of white-beaked dolphins north but then ice trapped them, sealing their fate as a polar bear's meal

A concept illustration of the Hyperloop

Elon Musk’s Futuristic Hyperloop is Coming to California Next Year

The project isn’t the enormous high-speed rail alternative that Elon Musk orginialy proposed, but it is close

Excess Embryos: Families Are Now Adopting Unused Embryos Leftover from IVF Treatments

The practice is relatively new and touches on complicated legal and ethical issues

Saturn’s largest ring as spotted by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in 2009

Saturn’s Rings Extend Farther Than Thought — Nearly 4 Million Miles From the Planet

The outermost ring is dark and dusty

Team WPI-CMU’s robot climbs over cinder blocks during the finals of the DARPA Robotic Challenge

Worried About the Robot Takeover? Here’s a Video of Robots Falling Over

It’s like humanoid robots have ended adolescence — awkward clumsiness abounds

West African Chimps Regularly Drink Alcoholic Palm Sap

Observations over 17 years show this isn’t just an experiment for the apes

Restaurants are Facing an Egg Shortage Thanks to Avian Flu

The outbreak, which spread surprisingly fast, hit farms that produce liquid eggs

About 12,200 People Are Erroneously Declared Dead Every Year by the U.S. Government

Being officially dead because of a typo makes living life difficult

How Non-stick Frying Pans Are Made

Spinning the pans helps coatings apply evenly and makes the process hypnotic

Behind the Scenes at a Tyrannosaurus Rex Dissection

Months of work went into creating a model, life-sized dinosaur for experts to dismember and cut open

How George Washington Did His Hair

Despite the powder and curls it wasn't a wig at all

One of the chalkboards shows a calendar in the process of switching from November 1917 to December — only the month label and the first day apply to the new month.

100-Year-Old Chalkboards, With Drawings Still Intact, Discovered in Oklahoma School

The find includes lessons on pilgrims, math and music

A handprint from an eight-year-old boy after he came in from playing outside

Here's What Happens When You Culture the Bacteria on an Eight-Year-Old’s Hand

Lots of cooties grow

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