Headlines from December 9, 2010

History is filled with stories of convent rebellion and nuns plotting escape.
Concert pianist pays tribute to the teachers, games, and charades that paved the way for his creativity.
Zoos fight the business mindset in hopes of saving ugly animals too.
Research suggests being too clean can result in depression.
We think cyborgs are "Terminators," but scientists argue that using hearing aids and Bluetooth mean they're among us now.
Q&A with T.S.A. chief on risk, inevitable attacks, and profiling passengers.
There's more to Silicon Valley start-ups than Facebook: There's Blippy, Swipley, Teevox, and all are determined to rule the future.
China creates its own peace prize, since it has more citizens than Norway and its "biased and fallacious" Nobel Prize panel.
Evolutionary, environmental, and physical explanations of the Santa Claus scenario.
Long read: The saga of rising golf star Erica Blasberg from childhood potential to tragic suicide.
Hyper-realistic latex mask used in bank robbery leads tellers, police to accuse the wrong man--even the suspect's mother was convinced.
"Take my game to the next level (from the concrete streets, to the executive suites)." Pimp's business plan.
Before and after Deepwater Horizon, several serious spills and close calls on offshore rigs hinted at potential disaster.
The web is..."a corporate sphere that tolerates public speech." Anti-Wikileaks attacks place Twitter, Facebook in unenviable positions.
With Bush 41's support, Senate will likely pass nuke treaty with Russia, cut warheads to 1,550.
Sixteen billionaires--including Zuckerberg--pledge to donate the majority of their fortunes, at some point.
Four city employees charged with fleecing $8 million from New York's food stamp program.
Mr. Ivkovic clutched a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and made frequent trips to the bathroom in Loehmann's. Catching up with the Tree Man, who's caught something horrible.
Thank your ER nurse, your cymbal sponsor, your spouse: Write your 2010 liner notes.
While the White House gardens and Congress extols nutrition, Capitol Hill sucks down pretzels with Cheez Whiz.
The world's most expensive book is full of pictures of birds.
Creepy horned dinosaur unearthed in South Korea.
You don't have to be especially postmodern to see Paris as a text, and a remarkably allusive one at that. Luc Sante on Paris's many-layered history.
Travel posters for fictional cities, inspired by old minimalist propaganda.