ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Training brain patterns of empathy using functional brain imaging
• Shattering past of the 'island of glass': Pantelleria, a little-known island near Sicily, was once covered in a searing-hot layer of green glass
• Red queen hypothesis: Does exposure to parasites makes species resilient?
• Better bedbug trap: Made from household items for about $1
• Bacteria and fungi from 1,500-year-old feces support archeological theories of Caribbean cultures
• Brain steroids make good dads: Fish study provides insight
• Roundworms to unlock new information on fertility

Training brain patterns of empathy using functional brain imaging Posted: 21 May 2014 03:00 PM PDT An unprecedented research conducted by a group of neuroscientists has demonstrated that it is possible to train brain patterns associated with empathic feelings. Volunteers who received neurofeedback about their own brain activity patterns whilst being scanned inside a functional magnetic resonance machine were able to increase empathic brain states. These findings could open new possibilities for treatment of clinical situations, such as antisocial personality disorder and postpartum depression.

Shattering past of the 'island of glass': Pantelleria, a little-known island near Sicily, was once covered in a searing-hot layer of green glass Posted: 21 May 2014 06:47 AM PDT A tiny Mediterranean island visited by the likes of Madonna, Sting, Julia Roberts and Sharon Stone is now the focus of a ground-breaking study by geologists. Pantelleria, a little-known island between Sicily and Tunisia, is a volcano with a remarkable past: 45 thousand years ago, the entire island was covered in a searing-hot layer of green glass.

Red queen hypothesis: Does exposure to parasites makes species resilient? Posted: 20 May 2014 03:46 PM PDT In a new study, researchers addressed whether a particular prediction of the Red Queen hypothesis was met -— that exposure to parasites increases multiple mating in New Zealand freshwater snails. The conclusion? One researcher speculates that multiple mating could increase genetic diversity among offspring, thereby making them more resistant to the risk of infection from parasites found in nature.

Better bedbug trap: Made from household items for about $1 Posted: 20 May 2014 09:30 AM PDT The contraption seems so simple, yet so clever, like something The Professor might have concocted on "Gilligan's Island." Researchers have devised a bedbug trap that can be built with household items. All you need are two disposable plastic containers, masking tape and glue, said an urban entomology professor. The traps catch and collect the bugs when they try to travel between people and the places where bedbugs hide, he said.

Bacteria and fungi from 1,500-year-old feces support archeological theories of Caribbean cultures Posted: 20 May 2014 08:59 AM PDT By evaluating the bacteria and fungi found in fossilized feces, microbiologists are providing evidence to help support archeologists' hypotheses regarding cultures living in the Caribbean over 1,500 years ago. Scientists examined the DNA preserved in coprolites from both Saladoid and Huecoid settlements and compared the bacterial and fungal populations found in each.

Brain steroids make good dads: Fish study provides insight Posted: 19 May 2014 01:07 PM PDT Insights from a highly social fish can help understand how other androgenic steroids, like testosterone, can shape a male's parenting skills. Once bluebanded gobies become fathers, they stay close to the developing eggs, vigorously fan and rub them until they hatch, and also protect them from mothers who would eat them.

Roundworms to unlock new information on fertility Posted: 15 May 2014 11:27 AM PDT The fertility of roundworms may have implications for everything from captive pandas to infertile couples struggling to conceive, researchers report. The sexual behavior of the roundworm C. elegans is unusual, to say the least. This is an animal that can carry around its own sperm and eggs, producing offspring by itself early in its three-week lifespan. The worm's fertility is finely tuned to its environment. When times are good -- that is, the bacteria it eats are plentiful and there aren't too many other worms around -- each worm produces some 300 progeny before shuffling off this mortal coil. If food is running low and there's a crowd growing, the worm's reproductive system shuts down.

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