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.

Apps

Crisis app for Afghans provides real-time updates on threats

Ehtesab, a crisis app for Afghans, uses crowdsourced data to provide real-time alerts to residents of Taliban-controlled Kabul.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

Mini brains grown in the lab sprout primitive “eyes”

Researchers have grown mini brains with light-sensitive eye structures that could lead to breakthrough treatments for vision disorders.

Kristin Houser

Activism

Your airline miles can help Afghans escape the Taliban

To help Afghans escape the Taliban, people have donated millions of airline miles to a nonprofit that secures flights for refugees.

Kristin Houser

Coronavirus

Antibody cocktail highly effective at preventing COVID-19

An antibody cocktail developed by biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca was highly effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

Twin Mars satellites have greenlight for launch

Two tiny Mars satellites will head to the Red Planet in 2024 as part of a NASA program testing smaller spacecraft on planetary missions.

Kristin Houser

Hacking

Fighting for the right to repair McDonald’s ice cream machines

A judge has issued a victory to Kytch, a startup that makes it easier for fast food franchise owners to repair McDonald’s ice cream machines.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

"Space farmer" grows plants under fake cosmic radiation

Researchers created a mini radioactive sky on Earth to study how cosmic radiation might impact how astronauts on Mars grow food.

Kristin Houser

Disaster Response

Major earthquake in Haiti tracked by citizen seismologists

Private citizens are helping scientists study the recent earthquake in Haiti by hosting low-cost quake-monitoring devices.

Kristin Houser

Activism

Military vets lead “Digital Dunkirk” to evacuate Afghan allies

U.S. military vets are leading a “Digital Dunkirk” to help extract fellow citizens and Afghan allies from a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Kristin Houser

Activism

Airbnb offers free temporary housing for 20,000 Afghan refugees

Airbnb is providing 20,000 Afghan refugees with free temporary housing through its charitable nonprofit, Airbnb.org.

Kristin Houser