Contributor

Kristin Houser

Staff Writer

Contact

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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.

Minecraft’s urban planning AI could help design future cities

AIs design entire settlements in an annual Minecraft competition that could reveal uses for the tech in real-world urban planning.

Kristin Houser

Coronavirus

Dogs that can smell coronavirus screen travelers at airport

Detection dogs that can smell coronavirus in a person’s sweat are now screening travelers for COVID-19 at Helsinki Airport.

Kristin Houser

Drones

Delivery drone breaks flight record for transporting an organ

A MissionGO delivery drone carried a human kidney a record-breaking 10 miles, demonstrating how the devices could facilitate organ transplants.

Kristin Houser

Coronavirus

Truffle pomme fondue sound tasty? Visit this fine-dining drive-thru.

The Resy Drive-Thru could help the restaurant industry survive the pandemic by serving as a creative new revenue stream for fine-dining chefs.

Kristin Houser

Coronavirus

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine reaches final trial stage

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine isn’t the first to reach the final human trial stage, but it may have several advantages over its predecessors.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

Fresh ice spotted in unexpected part of Saturn's moon Enceladus

Saturn’s moon Enceladus is already suspected of hosting extraterrestrial life, and new Cassini data suggests where that life might exist.

Kristin Houser

Computer Science

Underwater data center could lead to a more reliable internet

After spending two years on the ocean’s floor, Microsoft’s underwater data center had a much lower server failure rate than land-based data centers.

Kristin Houser

Healthcare

MIT can now monitor your sleeping position with radio waves

A new sleep monitor out of MIT uses reflections from radio signals — not cameras or body sensors — to track a person’s sleeping positions.

Kristin Houser

Biology

The race to get artificial blood into patients’ veins

Artificial blood could help address blood shortages while overcoming the limitations of donated blood, which has a relatively short shelf life.

Kristin Houser

Food

This edible sensor can alert you of food contamination

A microneedle patch made of silk changes color if it senses food contamination or spoilage, making it easier to know when food’s gone bad.

Kristin Houser