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.

Robotics

Bipedal robot completes 5K after learning to run

Agility Robotics’ Cassie just became the first bipedal robot to complete an outdoor 5K run, completing the jaunt on a single charge.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

NASA interns designed a washing machine for astronauts

NASA challenged its interns to design a washing machine for astronauts so that they wouldn’t have to keep throwing away dirty laundry.

Kristin Houser

Transportation

Uber may reduce drunk driving deaths by 6%

Uber is reducing drunk driving deaths by more than 6%, according to a new analysis, suggesting that ridesharing is making streets safer.

Kristin Houser

Outer Space

Harvard astrophysicist will lead hunt for alien technology

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb’s new Galileo Project will hunt for alien technology using proven scientific methods and equipment.

Kristin Houser

Transportation

Toyota’s autonomous shuttle is optimized for Olympians

Tokyo Olympians are riding around the Olympic Village in Toyota’s e-Palette, an autonomous shuttle designed with their needs in mind.

Kristin Houser

DeepMind releases massive protein structure database

DeepMind is releasing a massive database of protein structure predictions that includes all the molecules in the human proteome.

Kristin Houser

Sports

Olympic swimmers get speed boost from pool engineers

We already know that Olympic swimmers are fast, but Olympic swimming pools can be engineered to be “fast,” too.

Kristin Houser

Astronomy

Baby exoplanet appears to be forming a moon

A unique baby exoplanet surrounded by a disc of gas and dust could unravel some of the mystery surrounding planet and moon formation.

Kristin Houser

New AI “engines” can read and understand on multiple levels

Primer’s new AI tools are expert readers, capable of analyzing long bodies of text far faster — and more accurately — than humans can.

Kristin Houser

Animals

FDA approves first drug to treat lymphoma in dogs

The FDA has approved a medication specifically designed to treat lymphoma in dogs, potentially helping extend the lives of thousands of pets.

Kristin Houser