News briefs: July 28, 2021

News briefs: July 28, 2021.

Bucket list before bubs

Australian parents have revealed the top milestones they wanted to complete before having babies.

Research from comparison site Finder, in a survey of more than 1000 parents with children younger than age 12, found 52 per cent of parents wanted a stable relationship or marriage as their top goal prior to having kids.

The survey found 45 per cent of parents listed buying a house as their second objective pre-children.

Third on the list of items to tick off before kids was travel, with 24 per cent of parents stating this was a goal.

One in eight parents (12 per cent) said they didn’t have any milestones, while 7 per cent said their firstborn was unplanned.

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Misinformation on rise

Australians are becoming more susceptible to misinformation, with new research suggesting up to 20 per cent of social media users act on what they see or hear online, with almost a quarter trusting the information they find on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

According to the latest Togetherness Index, in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic, less than 40 per cent of Australians are engaging with government communication, dropping from 50 per cent.

Researchers say it is now “more important than ever” to ensure people can spot misinformation.

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Why coffee is all the buzz

Perhaps bees aren’t really that different from humans when it comes to work.

As it turns out, they too perform better after a caffeine hit.

International researchers found caffeine helps bees pick the best flowers.

Academics investigated how caffeine impacted bees by giving them some before introducing them to a synthetic, sugary flower.

The caffeinated bees were significantly better at finding that flower again once they left their nest compared with those who weren’t given the additional buzz.

Researchers believe this suggests caffeine does not make bees loopy, it makes them better workers.

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Impawtent study pal

Studying alongside furry companions has a significant benefit for emotional wellbeing, new research has found.

A project at the Edith Cowan University where a wellness dog, named Watson, joined 89 students during study sessions contributed to improved mental health, aided communication and helped provide a sense of belonging within the university community.

“Watson acted as an icebreaker, creating more opportunities for communication between students and their peers and lecturers, which in turn improved their sense of belonging,” paramedicine lecturer and researcher Lisa Holmes said.

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Where to catch the big fish

Big fish are harder to find in areas sprawling with human activity, unless you’re looking in no-take marine reserves, a new study along 10,000km of Australia’s coastline has found.

“Larger fish were consistently more abundant in areas further away from human activity,” University of Western Australia PhD student Nestor Bosch said.

“Despite this, big fish can be found within marine reserve areas, some of which are located on the doorstep of our largest cities.”

Marine reserves and sanctuaries are areas of the ocean that people are encouraged to visit, but prohibit activities such as fishing or mining.

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Ariarne Titmus will become the first individual athlete to feature on Australia Post‘s Tokyo 2020 gold medallist stamps.

The swimmer won the women’s 400m freestyle event in an epic battle with American Katie Ledecky.

The stamps will have an image of Titmus holding her gold medal in Tokyo and will be available in participating Australia Post retail outlets from Thursday while stocks last.

Her fellow Olympians Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris, Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell also feature on a stamp after they won gold in the women’s 4x100m relay.

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State with fastest internet

Victoria has topped the nation as the state with the fastest internet, new research has found.

Online comparison service Finder analysed more than 24,000 speed tests on its website between October 2020 and July 2021 to uncover the fastest and slowest states, as well as the fastest days of the week.

Victoria clocked up an impressive download speed of 49.5Mbps on average, with South Australia coming in second at 47.2Mbps. Tasmania was last with 36.8Mbps.

And according to Finder, Friday is the best day to surf the net on average across the nation.

Friday has a download speed of 47Mbps compared with Monday, the slowest day, at 43.8.

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Aussie birds’ clever trick

Aussie birds that display bright colours when fleeing danger may use it to confuse predators rather than startle them, new research shows.

Carleton University researchers built a computer model of birds with and without flash-displays fleeing from human predators, finding that birds with flash-displays had better survival if they fled from further away.

They tested this in the real world with Australian birds, finding that birds with flash-displays would flee from a further distance than non-flash-display birds, suggesting that fleeing from further away increased the chance of confusing a predator.

Originally published as News briefs: July 28, 2021