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.

Neuroscience

These brain-sensing headphones could help you focus

Boston startup Neurable is now accepting preorders for Enten, brain-sensing headphones that use EEG data to help users’ maximize their focus.

Kristin Houser

Apps

App can detect early sign of autism in toddlers

A Duke University smartphone app that can detect an early sign of autism in toddlers could one day make diagnosing autism in young children far easier.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

Smart shirt monitored astronauts’ health in space

A sensor-packed smart shirt has been used to monitor astronauts’ health in space, with promising results.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

Neuroscientists are making "bug brain soup"

A novel method for counting neurons that involves mashing insects’ brains into a “soup” has led to several new discoveries about bugs.

Kristin Houser

Robotics

Stanford’s ankle exoskeleton lets you walk 40% faster

An ankle exoskeleton that significantly increases self-selected walking speed could make it easier for older people to get around.

Kristin Houser

Can we stop “deepfake geography”?

To highlight the problem of “deepfake geography,” University of Washington researchers built AIs to create and detect the fake satellite images.

Kristin Houser

Coronavirus

Would you spray this DIY COVID-19 vaccine up your nose?

Makers of a DIY COVID-19 vaccine are talking to governments about launching human challenge trials to quickly and cheaply find out if the vaccine is effective.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

FDA authorizes mind-controlled exoskeleton for stroke rehab

Neurolutions’ IpsiHand — a brain-computer interface that uses an exoskeleton to assist with stroke rehab — has been authorized by the FDA.

Kristin Houser

Outer Space

More than 5,000 tons of space dust hit Earth every year

We now know about how much space dust — micrometeorites that may have seeded Earth with the ingredients for life — hits the planet every year.

Kristin Houser

Volunteers

Volunteers in isolation experiment leave cave after 40 days

Volunteers spent more than a month living in a cave without any way to tell time as part of an isolation experiment called “Deep Time.”

Kristin Houser