this peanut looks like a duck more inside

"Child raising in non-violent cultures." There are perhaps many reasons for the varying expressions of violence in different cultures, from historic patterns to genetic propensities to economic influences. But whatever the predisposing factors are, there seem to also be some characteristic child rearing practices common to most of the known non-violent cultures.

SAC Dean Tabreham feels like dancin'.

According to a study into our primate cousins which found that male macaques pay for intercourse by using grooming as a currency. [...] Michael Gumert of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore made the discovery in a 20-month investigation into 50 long-tailed macaques in Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia, New Scientist reports on Saturday. [...] If there were several females in the area, the cost of buying sex would drop dramatically -- a male could "buy" a female for just eight minutes of nit-picking.[...] more inside

The Story of Stuff Possibly guilt and/or New years' resolution-inducing. Also, flash-based video. via.

Protagonize collaborative choose your own adventure stories more inside

Nanosolar - looks like some neat chemistry. There was quite a buzz around these guys last year; they won Popular Science's Innovation of the Year. And though Nanosolar isn't saying much about the technology, there are some worthwhile clues in their patents. more inside

Too Indigent To Quit? MC Hammer is back, grabbing a hold of that new "internet" thing, taking on YouTube with a dance video website (coming soon -- get your videos ready!). more inside

Questioning the banality of evil. "Until recently, there has been a clear consensus amongst social psychologists, historians and philosophers that everyone succumbs to the power of the group and hence no one can resist evil once in its midst. But now, suddenly, things don’t seem quite so certain." (Via.)

Cook (almost) anything at least once. This is where I go when I'm not sure what to kick over the next week or three.

Can a study of Rhesus Macaque monkey behaviour determine how far back in evolutionary time the "ability to impute thoughts and intentions to another individual" developed? more inside

Your Daily WTF: Hallelujah (possibly NSFW).