Contributor

Kristin Houser

Staff Writer

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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.

A Starship rocket in the air, with fire coming out of its engines

Aerospace

SpaceX reaches new heights with Starship’s third test flight

Starship’s third test flight was a bigger success than the previous two, but SpaceX’s rocket wasn’t quite able to stick the landing.

Kristin Houser

An image of an eye with implantable solar cells.

Medicine

Implantable solar cells could one day help restore vision

Australian researchers are developing tiny implantable solar cells that could be inserted into the eye to help restore vision.

Kristin Houser

a circular device about the size of a half-dollar stuck on the back of a person's upper arm

Wearables

FDA approves first over-the-counter CGM

The FDA-approved Stelo is the first continuous glucose monitor (CGM) available without a prescription in the US.

Kristin Houser

Agriculture

World’s first GM banana approved in Australia

Australian regulators have approved a GM banana modified to resist Panama Disease, a devastating fungal infection.

Kristin Houser

Genetics

How our “junk DNA” led to humans being tailless

A CRISPR study out of NYU suggests that junk DNA likely led humans to evolve to be tailless millions of years ago.

Kristin Houser

A collage featuring a doctor writing on a piece of paper and a globe

Medicine

Clinical trials can save more lives, and faster, with AI

The type of AI powering ChatGPT could help accelerate drug development by matching patients with clinical trials and vice versa.

Kristin Houser

Cancer

Cancer vaccine for dogs appears to nearly double survival rate

Yale researchers have developed a cancer vaccine for dogs that appears to increase their 12-month survival rate from 35% to 60%.

Kristin Houser

a person hold a container of liquid that is attached to a larger machine by tubes

3D Printing

3D-printed skin could heal wounds with less scarring

Penn State scientists have 3D-printed skin directly on top of open wounds — an achievement that could improve reconstructive surgery.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

T-Minus: An exploding asteroid, Odie’s final transmission, and more

Freethink's weekly countdown of the biggest space news, featuring a new DART simulation, the end of Odysseus, and more.

Kristin Houser

A black and yellow image of a tokamak during nuclear fusion reactions

Clean Energy

AI solves huge problem holding back fusion power

Princeton researchers have trained an AI to predict and prevent a common problem during nuclear fusion reactions.

Kristin Houser