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.

Aerospace

Former NHL enforcer builds an incredible electric airplane

An electric airplane developed by Beta Technologies, an ex-NHL player's startup, is on the wish lists of Amazon, the US Army, UPS, and more.

Kristin Houser

Hacking

Hackers say cracking power grid tech was easiest challenge yet

During an industrial control systems hacking challenge, a Dutch team won $40,000 for cracking tech used to control the power grid.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

Drug to treat alcoholism could also safely reduce anxiety

The alcoholism treatment disulfiram may be able to serve double-duty as an anti-anxiety medication, according to mouse studies.

Kristin Houser

Inventions

MIT’s new heat engine beats a steam turbine in efficiency

A new highly efficient heat engine with no moving parts could allow us to generate electricity from renewables year round.

Kristin Houser

Big Tech

What will happen if Elon Musk does buy Twitter? (Updated)

Billionaire Elon Musk is trying to buy Twitter, and if successful, he plans to make several major changes to the social media giant.

Kristin Houser

Astronomy

Space Force claims interstellar object hit Earth in 2014

The astronomy community is divided on whether a meteor detected in 2014 is the first interstellar object spotted in our solar system.

Kristin Houser

Genetics

Mutations in 16 species reveal clues to human aging

A surprising pattern in how often mammal cells undergo somatic mutations could be a boon to longevity research.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

Meningitis vaccine appears to protect against gonorrhea, too

Young people who received a meningitis vaccine appeared to be protected against the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea, too.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

Inside the luxury cabins taking tourists to space with a balloon

Space Perspective plans to use a massive space balloon to lift a luxury cabin containing space tourists high above the Earth.

Kristin Houser

Bionics

Man builds his own bionic hand out of melted plastic bottles

After creating a bionic hand for himself, Peruvian engineer Enzo Romero launched a company to sell the low-cost prosthetics to others.

Kristin Houser