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.

Aerospace

Inside the luxury cabins taking tourists to space with a balloon

Space Perspective plans to use a massive space balloon to lift a luxury cabin containing space tourists high above the Earth.

Kristin Houser

Bionics

Man builds his own bionic hand out of melted plastic bottles

After creating a bionic hand for himself, Peruvian engineer Enzo Romero launched a company to sell the low-cost prosthetics to others.

Kristin Houser

Astronomy

Largest comet ever seen is 80 miles wide, says NASA

Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is the largest comet ever observed, according to a new study based on Hubble Space Telescope data.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

Psychedelics, brain implants, and the future of chronic pain relief

The future of chronic pain relief could include psychedelics, gene therapies, brain implants, and other cutting-edge alternatives to opioids.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

SpinLaunch to fling a NASA payload toward space

SpinLaunch is going to use a massive centrifuge to accelerate a NASA payload to supersonic speeds before flinging it toward space.

Kristin Houser

Biology

MIT’s new bacteria protects guts from antibiotic-caused dysbiosis

An engineered bacteria protects the gut microbiome from antibiotics to help people battle infections without risking dysbiosis.

Kristin Houser

Agriculture

Silencing one gene with CRISPR boosts crop yields by 10%

Using CRISPR to knock out a single gene in corn and rice increased crop yields by up to 10% in field trials.

Kristin Houser

Agriculture

One breed of honey bee can survive its deadliest threat

A line of honey bees bred to resist the Varroa mite parasite has proven itself in a large-scale trial involving more than 350 bee colonies.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

Lasers from space create unique new map of Earth’s forests

A lidar instrument on the ISS has been used to create a near-global 3D map of the Earth’s biomass for conservation and climate research.

Kristin Houser

Inventions

Could you sniff out counterfeit whiskey?

An “electronic nose” that can accurately identify a whiskey’s brand, region, and style could help combat the sale of counterfeit whiskey.

Kristin Houser