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.

a composition of a man getting out of a wheelchair to use a walker

Neuroscience

How close are we to reversing paralysis?

Thanks to groundbreaking innovations in neuroscience, we’re seeing that forms of paralysis long assumed to be permanent can be reversed.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

This man is trying to live underwater for a record-breaking 100 days

Biomedical engineer Joseph Dituri is attempting to break a world record by living in an underwater habitat for 100 days.

Kristin Houser

a humanoid robot waving its hand on a colorful background

Robotics

Humanoid robot Digit finally gets a head and hands

The newest version of Agility Robotics’ humanoid robot Digit has new body parts designed to make it more useful in workplaces.

Kristin Houser

three squares of textured film on a colorful background

Climate Crisis

Colorful film keeps houses and cars up to 20 F colder than the air

A colorful passive cooling film could help keep homes and cars cool without environmentally destructive air conditioning.

Kristin Houser

A close up of a leg wearing a black cloth sleeve with two zig-zagged lines of white thread

Wearables

NASA funds first wearable to measure muscle atrophy

The first wearable designed to monitor muscle atrophy could help NASA astronauts stay strong during long space missions.

Kristin Houser

a large meatball on a stone serving platter with a strip of sauce on it

Food

Meatball made from woolly mammoth unveiled in the Netherlands

An Australian cultured meat startup has “resurrected” the woolly mammoth in the hope that people will think about eating it.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

Spread of deadly cancer delayed by organ transplant drug

A groundbreaking discovery on how pancreatic cancer spreads could lead to better therapies for the hard-to-treat disease.

Kristin Houser

Apps

Dog “nose print” app is 99% accurate at ID’ing lost pets

An AI-based app that identifies dogs and cats based on their unique nose prints could help reunite lost pets and their owners.

Kristin Houser

a vehicle with several skyward-pointing propellers hovering a few feet above the ground

Transportation

United Airlines plans to bring flying cars to Chicago

United Airlines plans to use flying cars to ferry passengers between O’Hare International Airport and a location near downtown Chicago.

Kristin Houser

a neon green circle with a black dot in the center

CRISPR

New CRISPR tool reversed blindness in mice — permanently

A new CRISPR tool corrected a mutation causing retinitis pigmentosa in mice without making any significant off-target edits.

Kristin Houser