Coin Toss

Some images feel like they're flooding your living room: a frightened mother jammed into a motorboat, an elderly man clutching a sodden dog — the tiny huts swept into kindling on a remote island. Who in the family turns off the TV? Who calls the charity hotline in the neighboring state? And who pulls out a credit card to help someone on the other side of the world? Rice Professor Vikas Mittal says the answer has to do with gender.