Kristin Houser

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.

UK building road with “wonder material” graphene

The trial will test whether adding graphene to recycled asphalt can prolong the road’s lifespan.

Autonomous underwater vehicles locate U.S. Airman who was missing in action

His family has finally gotten closure after 50 years of uncertainty.

NASA updates the odds of asteroid Bennu hitting Earth

Asteroid Bennu is still far more likely to fly right by us than to make impact.

Kidney donation vouchers shave years off wait times

Donate a kidney now, and your loved one will have priority status if they need one later.

Technology & Innovation

What are dormant volcanoes good for? Copper mining

Instead of digging for metals, we could extract them from salty, subterranean water.

Technology & Innovation

Sophia the Robot will be mass-produced this year

The famous social robot is about to start rolling off the assembly line.

AI avatars bring deepfakes to the business world

Deepfakes featuring your digital double could replace emails and zoom presentations.

Technology & Innovation

AI discovers new craters on Mars in just five seconds

It could analyze a photo of the Martian surface in just five seconds. NASA scientists need 40 minutes.

Life

Clues in woolly mammoth tusk reveal a lifetime of travels

It walked enough miles to nearly circle the Earth twice.

Surprising Science

Black holes caught eating neutron stars for first time

The stars stood no chance against the more-massive black holes.

Helmet worn at home shrank man’s brain tumor by a third

The new brain tumor treatment targets a cancer that kills 75% of patients within a year.

CRISPR therapy cures first genetic disorder inside the body

It marks a breakthrough in using gene editing to treat diseases.

Can AI cameras predict suicide attempts at bridges?

South Korea is piloting a CCTV system it hopes will save lives.

New kind of nuclear reactor to be built at retiring coal plant

The fully functional plant will serve to demo TerraPower's nuclear tech.

Volcanoes to power bitcoin mining in El Salvador

The first nation to make bitcoin legal tender will use geothermal energy to mine it.

Astronomers find more than 100,000 “stellar nurseries”

Every star we can see, including our sun, was born in one of these violent clouds.

Sperm may play bigger role in pregnancy than we thought

The tiny swimmers appear to transmit signals that "persuade" the female body to have a baby.

Ancient computer found in shipwreck decoded by scientists

A new model of the Antikythera mechanism reveals a "creation of genius."