Contributor

Kristin Houser

Staff Writer

Contact

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Kristin Houser is a staff writer at Freethink, where she covers science and tech. Her written work has appeared in Business Insider, NBC News, and the World Economic Forum’s Agenda, among other publications, and Stephen Colbert once talked about a piece on The Late Show, to her delight.

Prior to joining Freethink, Kristin was a staff writer for Futurism and wrote several animated and live action web series.

Coronavirus

FDA panel recommends COVID-19 vaccine for 5 to 11 year olds (Updated)

An FDA panel voted to authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11. Here’s what you need to know about it.

Kristin Houser

Biology

Lizard regenerates perfect tail thanks to stem cells

A USC study that prompted lizards to regenerate tails that were “perfect” could help facilitate breakthroughs in human regeneration.

Kristin Houser

Asteroids

“Pulverize It”: The plan to slice and dice space rocks

To prevent asteroid impacts, UCSB physicists suggest we slice up the space rocks using arrays of “penetrator rods.”

Kristin Houser

Agriculture

New startup takes vertical farming underground — literally

GreenForges is building an underground farm it thinks will deliver the benefits of vertical farming without two of its major shortcomings.

Kristin Houser

Cars

Foldable electric cars join emergency response fleet in Israel

Emergency medical service organization United Hatzalah is adding foldable electric cars to its fleet to speed up its response times

Kristin Houser

Medicine

HIV treatment gets green light for human trials

Excision BioTherapeutics is cleared to begin human trials of a CRISPR-based HIV treatment that’s administered in just one IV infusion.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

Architects design new mental health facilities with healing in mind

Architects are incorporating neuroaesthetics insights into designs for medical facilities in an attempt to promote positive mental health.

Kristin Houser

Inventions

New water purification tablet makes river water safe to drink

A new water purification tablet that simply and quickly decontaminates river water could help address global drinking water scarcity.

Kristin Houser

Decentraland announces the Metaverse Festival

Virtual reality (VR) platform Decentraland is hosting a four-day long Metaverse Festival, with headliners Deadmau5 and Paris Hilton.

Kristin Houser

Coronavirus

Ear sensor can monitor COVID-19 patients remotely

An ear sensor successfully alerted doctors to signs that COVID-19 patients isolating at home were getting worse and should be hospitalized.

Kristin Houser