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 closeup of a hand in a field holding rice that appears damaged

CRISPR

CRISPR’d plant is resistant to the “cancer of rice”

CRISPR’d plants resistant to the devastating fungal disease rice blast could help shore up the world’s food supply.

Kristin Houser

an illustration of a space elevator. Earth is at the bottom, a space station is at the top, and a tether with robots attached spans between the two

Aerospace

Space elevators are inching closer to reality

Tremendous progress has been made developing the materials necessary for a space elevator — but our need for one could soon disappear.

Kristin Houser

A person is cultivating lab-grown chicken in a petri dish.

Food

Lab-grown meat is finally approved in the US. Here’s how you can get some.

Two startups from California have received regulatory permission to begin selling lab-grown chicken in the US.

Kristin Houser

a gif with streaks representing muons raining down on a beach

Physics

New navigation system works even when GPS fails

A new navigation system that tracks subatomic particles called “muons” could help us get around indoors, underground, and underwater.

Kristin Houser

a person looking at Earth out the window of a spacecraft

Aerospace

Virgin Galactic sets dates for first commercial space flights

Virgin Galactic is finally ready to begin commercial space flights, with tickets currently going for $450,000 each.

Kristin Houser

a head of lettuce on a colorful background

Medicine

Insulin grown in lettuce can be taken orally

New synthetic insulin harvested from lettuce plants can be made cheaply, taken orally, and transported at room temperature.

Kristin Houser

mars' surface with the left side of the image toned yellow and the right side blue

Astronomy

NASA shares colorful “postcard” of Mars’ surface

NASA has used photos taken by the Curiosity rover to create a gorgeous “postcard” of the Martian landscape.

Kristin Houser

a grid of models of various shapes and size wearing the same shirt

Google unveils AI try-on feature for shopping

Google’s AI-powered virtual try-on feature lets shoppers see what an article of clothing would look like on a wide range of models.

Kristin Houser

Brain

Cancer med appears to prevent brain aneurysms

Japanese researchers have discovered that the cancer drug sunitinib can prevent the formation of brain aneurysms in mice.

Kristin Houser

an illustration of a capsule reentering Earth's atmosphere

Aerospace

SpaceX successfully launches world’s first “space factory”

SpaceX has successfully deployed a “space factory” developed by startup Varda Space Industries to manufacture drugs in microgravity.

Kristin Houser