Contributor

Kristin Houser

Staff Writer

Contact

kristin.houser@freethink.com

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.

Medicine

Seven science and tech breakthroughs you may have missed this year

A roundup of major science and tech achievements that flew under the radar in 2022, including new vaccines, advanced solar cells, and more.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

MIT is testing light and sound to combat Alzheimer’s

MIT researchers are developing a therapy that uses 40-Hz light and sound to alter Alzheimer’s patients’ gamma waves.

Kristin Houser

Food

World’s biggest cultivated meat factory is being built in the US

Israeli startup Believer Meats is building the world’s biggest cultivated meat factory in Wilson, North Carolina.

Kristin Houser

Animals

Stem cell breakthrough could save the northern white rhino

To save the northern white rhino species from extinction, researchers are turning stored rhino tissue samples into sperm and egg cells.

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

New battery is cheaper than lithium-ion with four times the capacity

A new type of room temperature sodium-sulfur (RT Na-S) battery could help solve the renewable energy storage problem.

Kristin Houser

Outer Space

Twin exoplanets may be the first known “water worlds”

Twin exoplanets 218 light years from Earth may be the first known examples of “water worlds.”

Kristin Houser

Ad-free search engine to launch ChatGPT-like AI feature

The ad-free Neeva search engine is adding an AI feature that will answer user queries with conversational text, rather than lists of links.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

First-of-its-kind therapy sends girl’s incurable cancer into remission

A first-of-its-kind CAR T-cell therapy sent a UK girl’s blood cancer into remission when all other treatments failed.

Kristin Houser

Asteroids

World’s first asteroid-hunting spacecraft to launch in 2028

NASA has announced plans to launch the world’s first asteroid-hunting spacecraft — the $1.2 billion NEO Surveyor — in 2028.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

Moderna’s mRNA cancer vaccine reduces risk of recurrence or death by 44%

Moderna’s new mRNA cancer vaccine reduced melanoma patients’ risk of recurrence or death by 44% compared to a standard treatment alone.

Kristin Houser