Give Until It Hurts

What would a world without moms look like? It probably wouldn't be pretty. And it is unlikely, although there is an Algerian tree, an Asian clam and Sicilian insect that are always motherless children.

More usually we think of a dad giving to his child(ren), but this, too, can be a fairly passive process. Brit Kevin Pyle gives his son a role model of prize-winning laziness and new research says dads (not moms, as formerly thought) are the ones who regretfully pass along the hair-loss gene they wish they hadn't received from their pop.

Passivity can flow both ways — if the right example has been set — as exemplified by Lee Seung-min, who lounged through some surgery so as to pass along a part of his kidney to his fellow seaman and father, Lee Ho-keun.

In fact, whether or not there are moms, nature mandates dad give (and teach giving) directly.