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.

Engineering

Win-win: we can make fertilizer by purifying wastewater

Stanford engineers have developed a cost-effective way to convert a toxic byproduct of a wastewater filtration process into useful chemicals.

Kristin Houser

Hacking

Anonymous hacks Russian TV, plays Ukraine war footage

Hacker collective Anonymous infiltrated Russia’s state-run media channels to broadcast Ukraine war footage.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

Curiosity discovers a “flower” rock on Mars

Curiosity has discovered a Martian rock shaped like a flower, and it's helping NASA scientists unravel the history of water on Mars.

Kristin Houser

Drones

Ukrainian citizens are using personal drones to spy on Russian troops

Ukraine has called on local drone owners to help the military conduct reconnaissance missions in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

Brains scans of the placebo effect show new way to treat depression

A meta-study of placebo effect research has revealed a link between the phenomenon and brain stimulation as a depression treatment.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

New antidepressant helps patients in just three days

Adding the new antidepressant zuranolone to standard treatments helped people with major depressive disorder feel better in less time.

Kristin Houser

Drones

Pregnant dolphins identified by drones for the first time

Using drone photography, University of Aberdeen researchers have been able to identify pregnant dolphins for the first time.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

How a bedtime routine may affect your brain — and your sleep

A mouse study has yielded new insights into the effect of a bedtime routine on the brain, which could lead to new therapies for insomniacs.

Kristin Houser

Activism

People are booking Airbnbs in Ukraine they’re never going to use

People are booking Airbnbs in Ukraine as a way to get money directly to hosts living in the nation, which is under attack by Russia.

Kristin Houser

Blockchain

DAO raises millions of dollars in crypto to support Ukraine

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) has raised $7 million in crypto for Ukraine, demonstrating a new model for charity and more.

Kristin Houser