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.

Astronomy

Light from behind supermassive black hole detected for first time

The first direct observation of light from behind a supermassive black hole confirms a prediction in Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Kristin Houser

Food

Adding one gene to rice and potatoes increased yields by 50%

The insertion of a gene found in animals prompted potato and rice plants to produce 50% more food and exhibit drought-resistant qualities.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

Baby mice “dream” about the world before seeing it

Before the eyes of baby mice open, their brains appear to use retinal waves to prep their vision systems to detect objects and motion.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

New treatment reverses age-related memory loss in mice

A treatment that reversed age-related memory loss in mice could one day treat or prevent such cognitive decline in older people.

Kristin Houser

Robotics

Bipedal robot completes 5K after learning to run

Agility Robotics’ Cassie just became the first bipedal robot to complete an outdoor 5K run, completing the jaunt on a single charge.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

NASA interns designed a washing machine for astronauts

NASA challenged its interns to design a washing machine for astronauts so that they wouldn’t have to keep throwing away dirty laundry.

Kristin Houser

Transportation

Uber may reduce drunk driving deaths by 6%

Uber is reducing drunk driving deaths by more than 6%, according to a new analysis, suggesting that ridesharing is making streets safer.

Kristin Houser

Outer Space

Harvard astrophysicist will lead hunt for alien technology

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb’s new Galileo Project will hunt for alien technology using proven scientific methods and equipment.

Kristin Houser

Transportation

Toyota’s autonomous shuttle is optimized for Olympians

Tokyo Olympians are riding around the Olympic Village in Toyota’s e-Palette, an autonomous shuttle designed with their needs in mind.

Kristin Houser

DeepMind releases massive protein structure database

DeepMind is releasing a massive database of protein structure predictions that includes all the molecules in the human proteome.

Kristin Houser