Contributor

Kristin Houser

Staff Writer

Contact

[email protected]

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.

Biology

Sound waves can trigger torpor-like state in mice and rats

Ultrasound stimulation triggers a torpor-like state in animals, suggesting a noninvasive way to put people into the state.

Kristin Houser

an illustration of a black hole. a black circle is surrounded by a spiral of red and orange

Astronomy

New NASA video shows just how big black holes really are

A new NASA animation puts the size of 10 supermassive black holes into perspective by comparing them to our solar system.

Kristin Houser

an illustration of a patient receiving a lung transplant by four robotic arms

Surgery

Man receives donor lung through tiny 3-inch incision

The first fully robotic lung transplant was completed in Spain by surgeons using a robot and a brand-new access point.

Kristin Houser

two firefighters walking away from the camera. one is holding a robot made of rods and cables

Robotics

Shape-shifting space robots help firefighters on Earth

The designer of a new type of rover for NASA has found a way to make her space robots useful to firefighters on Earth.

Kristin Houser

an overhead shot of land split in three. the left side is dry and dusty. the middle has some vegetation, and the right side has a lot.

Climate Crisis

Desertification is destroying fertile land. Here’s how we’re fighting it.

Desertification is destroying once-fertile land at an alarming rate, but desert greening techniques are making degraded soil bloom again.

Kristin Houser

a female presenting person in a lab coat holding a solar cell

Clean Energy

New “tandem” solar cell breaks world record

A new tandem solar cell containing layers of silicon and perovskite has demonstrated an unprecedented efficiency of 33.7%.

Kristin Houser

an image of a person sleeping with colorful squiggles representing their brain activity

Neuroscience

Zapping the brain during sleep helps memories form

Brain stimulation during sleep appears to help with memory consolidation, suggesting a new way to treat people with memory disorders.

Kristin Houser

an illustration of a cholesterol particle on a colorful background

CRISPR

CRISPR tool slashes bad cholesterol by 56% in monkeys

Tune Therapeutics has successfully lowered the cholesterol levels of monkeys using a version of CRISPR that doesn’t permanently alter DNA.

Kristin Houser

a female-presenting person wearing headphones while lying in bed. her eyes are closed.

AI is already making “functional music” for major label artists

UMG has teamed up with an AI startup to turn its artists’ music into “soundscapes” designed to help listeners sleep, focus, and more.

Kristin Houser

Transportation

Fully self-driving cars are finally available on Uber

Uber has teamed up with robotaxi operator Waymo to make rides in fully autonomous cars available to its customers.

Kristin Houser