Episode #1073

Episode #1073

News Items

• Artemis Getting Ready for Launch
• New Extinct Branch of Life
• Why We Need Wikipedia
• Ideological Bias in Research
• Expanding the Habitable Zone

Your Questions and E-mails

Message: Here is the video I watched about kesterite solar panels. Kesterite does not contain lead and is very durable, unlike perovskite. Scientists studying kesterite have modeled a possible 33.56% efficiency. Obviously that is just a model, but it looks promising. Matt Ferrell does some pretty well researched videos on technology. https://youtu.be/F_OPrOpccJs?si=Rrnm81gS9YG1nKzK Brian Cumming GA

From TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@knightfallenangel/video/7599671324679671071

Science or Fiction [ Show Answers ]

• Item #1 Science

  A comparison between in-person and virtual jury deliberations found no significant differences in attentiveness, engagement, fair-mindedness, or outcomes. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/lhb-lhb0000643.pdf

• Item #2 Science

  Engineers have demonstrated a self-powered nanocomposite material that detects and wirelessly reports crack formation without the need for any external power. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19475411.2025.2610182

• Item #3 Fiction

  A new study finds that since 2020 the ozone layer, which had been recovering since the 1990s, has slightly reversed this trend and is once again being depleted. https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/25/16833/2025/

Skeptical Quote of the Week.

‘A mind not wholly wishful to reach the truth, or to rest it in or obey it when found, is to that extent a mind impervious to truth an incapable of unbiased belief.’ William Leslie Davidson – (1848–1929) Scottish philosopher