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.

Food

Spray-on “peel” for produce helps reduce plastic pollution

A Bill Gates-backed startup is helping reduce plastic pollution and food waste by coating produce in an edible spray.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

MIT proposes Brazil-sized fleet of “space bubbles” to cool the Earth

A raft of “space bubbles” could be used to reverse global warming, according to an MIT group's solar geoengineering proposal.

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

Former landfills are becoming “brightfields”

US cities are covering the capped sites of former landfills with solar panels, turning the “brownfields” into “brightfields.”

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

Ukrainian startup expects to fly “self-devouring” rocket in 2022

Ukrainian startup Promin Aerospace is developing a “self-devouring” rocket built from a material that its engine can burn as fuel.

Kristin Houser

Agriculture

Dive into the world’s first underwater garden

An underwater garden off the coast of Italy is introducing the world to a new type of sustainable agriculture.

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

These bendy wind turbines won’t crack in hurricanes

To significantly scale up offshore wind turbines, SUMR researchers are testing a design inspired by the flexibility of palm trees.

Kristin Houser

CRISPR

Gene-edited wheat less likely to produce “probable carcinogen” acrylamide

A new gene-edited wheat contains 90% less of a compound that can turn into acrylamide — a likely carcinogen — when the crop is cooked.

Kristin Houser

Disaster Response

Here is how to send a distress signal to space from anywhere on Earth

International search-and-rescue program Cospas-Sarsat uses satellites and emergency beacons to locate and help people in distress.

Kristin Houser

Hyundai’s autonomous ship is the first to make a transoceanic journey

Autonomous ships like the Prism Courage could make the seas safer, while also making shipping cleaner and more efficient.

Kristin Houser

Coronavirus

We may want to rethink how we deliver COVID-19 vaccines

An inhaled vaccine outperformed a nasal spray in an animal study, suggesting that the delivery method could deserve more attention.

Kristin Houser