Replanted soils show fungal function still recovering after six years while the whole community moves little
Flinders University researchers resampled replanted sites over six years and found different parts of the soil fungal community recover at different rates. Vegetation, the usual yardstick of replanting, does not automatically show soil recovery, the Flinders researchers warn.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap−5
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Oslo-led team finds intruder DNA in household air, with success that varies by conditions
Oslo University Hospital researchers took 391 air, dust and surface samples from simulated 15-minute burglaries in 22 homes in Oslo and Australia. Success varied with temperature, humidity, dust and the household's own DNA.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap−10
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Sexual minority men who used one type of dating app reported more anxiety in a Flinders survey
Flinders University researchers surveyed 578 Australian men and found sexual minority men who used one type of dating app reported more anxiety. A survey of this kind can show an association but not that adding a second app lowers anxiety.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence45
Genetic and carrying-capacity models put Australia's 1788 Indigenous population at 2.22 million
Researchers with an Australian Research Council centre put Australia's Indigenous population before 1788 at a median 2.22 million. They also estimate 2.06 million excess deaths by 1861, a 93% fall that depends on a modeled baseline.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives45
- Confidence35
Archaeologists and Murujuga rangers have documented two seabed sites off Western Australia that were drowned by rising seas at least 9,000 years ago. More than 20 stone artefacts were recovered, and the study says they could be considerably older.
Reality
- Evidence68
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives40
- Confidence65
Flinders University team sees wound-care potential in vanillin, the vanilla flavor compound
Flinders University researchers say vanillin has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that could suit chronic-wound treatments. The team also points to its low cost and to its potential for delivering drugs that dissolve poorly in water.
Reality
- Evidence25
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+40
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence45
Mock suspects who broke observers' expectations in interviews were judged more harshly, autistic or not
Flinders University psychologists found mock suspects, autistic or not, drew harsher ratings when their interview behaviour broke observers' expectations. The authors say police and courts must guard against inferring guilt from a suspect's communication style.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence40
Flinders researchers argue vanillin's antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity makes it a candidate for chronic-wound formulations. Most of their case rests on cheap supply and a long record in food, and the published account does not say how much vanillin speeds healing.
Reality
- Evidence32
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+40
- Incentives70
- Confidence55
Flinders interviews with 12 people with dementia point to a four-phase approach to stopping driving
Flinders researchers interviewed 12 people aged 65 or older with dementia or mild cognitive impairment about how clinicians handled giving up driving. The four-phase plan built from their accounts sets out what patients want, though without a comparison group it cannot show which approach eases adjustment.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence40
A review of 22 flush studies puts aerosols in the adult breathing zone for over 20 seconds
Flinders University researchers pooled 22 air-sampling studies of toilet flushing and found aerosol concentration tracked flush volume and the load in the bowl, while the data on closing the lid stayed too thin to settle the question.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives20
- Confidence58
Genetics and carrying-capacity models put Australia's pre-1788 Indigenous population at 2.22 million
Researchers writing in Nature Human Behaviour estimate a median pre-colonial Indigenous population of 2.22 million and 2.06 million excess deaths by 1861, built from genetics and environmental modelling instead of colonial head counts.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+14
- Incentives66
- Confidence55
Bite simulations split eight ancient armoured fish into crushers and piercers
Flinders University researchers loaded 3D models of placoderm jaw plates from a Western Australian reef and found the smallest and the largest species both had the strongest jaws for hard food, built on opposite designs.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+14
- Incentives66
- Confidence54
Flinders lab tests two diatom species for how pH changes their trace-metal uptake
A Flinders University study in Marine Ecology used neutron activation analysis to track how acidified seawater changes what two diatom species take up, and the authors still want the carbon-pump consequence tested.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+32
- Incentives50
- Confidence60
Ten years of hip scans place coffee's bone-density signal above five cups a day
Flinders University followed nearly 10,000 women over 65 for a decade and found tea drinkers with slightly denser hips, while coffee tracked with thinner bone only past five cups a day. That is a statement about dose, pinned to intake above five cups a day.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+28
- Incentives58
- Confidence50
Sideline hostility climbs with the age group in junior rugby league
Amy Hardwick, Sam Elliott and colleagues argue the unit of reform is the club culture rather than the individual parent. That is a fair read of what they saw at two English clubs. So far, though, it is a prescription nobody has tested.
Reality
- Evidence52
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+22
- Incentives55
- Confidence58
The ankle buys stability with energy: what a 107-person gait study says about slowing down
Flinders University researchers report older adults stiffen the ankle by co-contracting opposing muscles, gaining stability and losing push-off. The mechanism is specific; the training advice is not yet tested.
Reality
- Evidence42
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+34
- Incentives58
- Confidence46