Contributor

Kristin Houser

Staff Writer

Contact

[email protected]

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 collage of cells and a photo of a child's face with swollen lips

CRISPR

One-shot CRISPR treatment for inherited disease aces first human trial

A CRISPR treatment for hereditary angioedema significantly reduced swelling attacks in its first human trial.

Kristin Houser

A woman in a lab coat working on a machine

Medicine

New non-opioid pain reliever moves closer to approval

Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ new painkiller, VX-548, significantly reduced moderate-to-severe pain in two phase 3 trials.

Kristin Houser

a collage of different organisms under a microscope

Biology

“Insane” new type of virus-like organisms found in human gut

Stanford scientists have discovered a strange new class of virus-like organisms, called “obelisks,” in the human gut microbiome.

Kristin Houser

An MPI EVA researcher in the lab (left) and two stone tools from the LRJ found at the site in Ranis, Germany (right)

Genetics

New DNA testing reveals who made ancient stone tools

Using modern DNA analysis techniques, archaeologists have solved the mystery of who made a class of ancient stone tools.

Kristin Houser

a collage showing tomatoes growing on a vine and a model of DNA being edited

CRISPR

New CRISPR tomatoes need less watering

Gene-edited tomatoes that can grow with less water could help solve the problem of feeding a world battling increased water scarcity.

Kristin Houser

A car equipped with a sign that says "please be patient" indicating that it is driven by a student driver undergoing autonomous car training.

Automation

How to train your self-driving car

From loading the car with sensors to teaching its AI to “think” like a human driver, there's more than one way to train an autonomous car.

Kristin Houser

A man using a jet suit to fly above the ground

Sports

First jet suit race is less than a month away

During the world’s first jet suit race, eight competitors will take flight over the water off the coast of Dubai.

Kristin Houser

a close up image of two dogs' faces, side by side. The dog on the right appears older.

Aging

Anti-aging pill for senior dogs is now in clinical trials

An anti-aging pill for senior dogs now in clinical trials might lead to treatments that extend human lives, too.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

T-Minus: The Mars helicopter’s final flight, a moon lander’s reawakening, and more

Freethink's weekly countdown of the biggest space news, featuring Ingenuity's final flight on Mars, SLIM's revival, and more.

Kristin Houser

Figure's humanoid robot shown from the chest up

Robotics

OpenAI is reportedly investing in humanoid robots

Microsoft and OpenAI reportedly plan to invest $100 million into Figure, a startup developing a humanoid robot for the workplace.

Kristin Houser