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.

an illustration of a hydroponic garden on the moon

Aerospace

ESA thinks we can grow hydroponic gardens on the moon

ESA is researching how to pull valuable nutrients from lunar regolith so that future astronauts can use them in hydroponic gardens.

Kristin Houser

a large artificial island shaped like a palm tree off an urban coastline

Engineering

Coastal cities created 40 Manhattans’ worth of new land since 2000

The first global assessment of land reclamation found that people have added 900 square miles of land to Earth’s coasts this century.

Kristin Houser

a close-up of a wrist wearing a smartwatch

Wearables

Apple has a secret project to help people with diabetes

Apple is developing tech that could put noninvasive blood glucose monitoring right into its smartwatches, according to a Bloomberg report.

Kristin Houser

a hand holding a flat, squarish white battery with two holes in it

Clean Energy

These 3D-printed batteries could be the future of clean energy

Silicon Valley startup Sakuu has developed a 3D-printing platform that it says can mass produce solid-state batteries, in any shape and size

Kristin Houser

a closeup on the head of a man with a cochlear implant

Wearables

Amazon TVs can now stream directly to cochlear implants

Amazon is making it possible for people with hearing impairments to stream audio from its smart TVs directly into their cochlear implants.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

New MS treatment targets the gut microbiome

We may be able to prevent chronic inflammation in multiple sclerosis patients by manipulating their gut microbiomes.

Kristin Houser

a black silhouette of lungs on a background of white powder

Coronavirus

Inhaling this powder shields lungs from infection

An inhalable powder that acts as an “invisible mask” for the lungs could potentially help end the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

New light therapy could make cancer treatment better and safer

A new light-activated cancer treatment developed in the UK could make existing therapies better and safer.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

First: Spinal cord stimulation helps stroke survivors control arms again

Spinal cord stimulation has been shown to improve upper-limb mobility in stroke survivors for the first time.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

NASA’s new balloon-borne telescope was designed with AI

An AI-powered technique called “generative design” is helping NASA engineers design better hardware, more quickly.

Kristin Houser