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.

Coronavirus

$5 COVID-19 test could be a game changer in the US

Abbott Laboratories’ $5 COVID-19 test has secured an FDA authorization, meaning the U.S. now has access to a fast, accurate antigen test.

Kristin Houser

Video Games

Storm chasers explore Hurricane Laura with new flight simulator

Virtual storm chasers are using Microsoft’s new flight simulator to explore Hurricane Laura as it moves across the U.S.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

Redesigned syringe could increase global access to medicine

A double-barrel syringe developed at MIT makes it possible to inject highly viscous biologics, making them more accessible to patients.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

“Antivitamins” could be the cure for antibiotic resistance

The B1 antivitamin helps bacteria kill competing bacteria, leading researchers to suspect it could help us fight antibiotic resistance and superbugs.

Kristin Houser

Robotics

Training a home robot to see — and hear

Facebook's AI lab has released new tools for its embodied AI training platform, including one to train a home robot to respond to sounds.

Kristin Houser

Drugs

Scientists want to study your at-home psychedelic mushroom experiences

Scientists are looking for people planning to trip on psychedelic mushrooms for a new study focused on people’s “real-world” experiences with psilocybin.

Kristin Houser

Biology

Fecal transplant cures man whose gut made him drunk

A fecal transplant cured a man of auto-brewery syndrome, a rare condition in which the gut converts carbs into alcohol, making a person feel drunk.

Kristin Houser

Biology

Scientists grow mini human hearts from stem cells

Mini human hearts grown from stem cells, also known as "heart organoids," could help doctors address the most common kind of birth defect in humans.

Kristin Houser

Biology

Study may explain why cancer gets more aggressive as we age

A molecule in the blood of older people promotes the spread of cancer, which could explain the link between age and metastatic cancer.

Kristin Houser

Using smartphone cameras to detect diabetes

A new algorithm can detect diabetes using data collected by a smartphone’s camera, offering a way to address the problem of undiagnosed diabetes.

Kristin Houser