Skeptics Guide #1073

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1073 January 29th 2026 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Artemis Getting Ready for Launch https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/artemis-2-astronauts-enter-quarantine-ahead-of-historic-nasa-moon-launch News Item #2 – New Extinct Branch of Life https://phys.org/news/2026-01-scientists-extinct-life.html News Item #3 – Why We Need Wikipedia https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00074-1 News Item #4 – Ideological Bias in Research https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz7173 News Item #5 – Expanding the Habitable Zone https://theness.com/neurologicablog/rethinking-the-habitable-zone/ Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Kesterite Solar Panels 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 Notes: copper, zinc, tin, sulfur. Study – stable with 3 months of sun exposure. Theoretical 33.5% efficiency Highest actual efficiency in the lab – 14.3% Defects in crystal lattice Segment #4. From Tik Tok Coincidence? https://www.tiktok.com/@knightfallenangel/video/7599671324679671071 Segment #5. Science or Fiction Each week our host will come up with three science news items or facts, two genuine, one fictitious. He will challenge our panel of skeptics to sniff out the fake – and you can play along. Item 1: A comparison between in-person and virtual jury deliberations found no significant differences in attentiveness, engagement, fair-mindedness, or outcomes. Item 2: Engineers have demonstrated a self-powered nanocomposite material that detects and wirelessly reports crack formation without the need for any external power. Item 3: 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. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "A mind not wholly wishful to reach the truth, or to rest in it 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