The red flags in the uni PR are not so curious compared to the ones in the paper.

From figure 4 (& backed up by simulation fig 3E) it looks like stuff begins to happen only at 97% relative humidity & after a few minutes (at micrometer scale)

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adu8349

Granted, it's almost easy enough to try at home: melt some poly gloves into "freeze dried" silica powder