I did not know that yesterday!

There are a few theories, though -- like this one from the MadSci Network .

The post argues that girls often have neater handwriting because they "tend to be more calm and patient at younger ages." Assuming that's true, girls may pay closer attention to lessons on penmanship. Of course, this is a generalization, and many other factors contribute to whether a person scrawls chicken scratch. Age, coordination, and personality each play a part.

Christina Hoff Sommers explains a few unfortunate side effects of poor penmanship in males. According to her article, handwriting appears to be correlated with a child's grades. "Several studies have confirmed that, when teachers are asked to grade papers of comparable quality, those that are neatly written get higher marks." Bad news for grade-grubbing boys.

While we wouldn't call poor penmanship a crisis, the gender discrepancy is cause for concern. Unless, of course, you're hoping your son grows up to be a doctor...

Source: ask.yahoo.com

Negotiating the value of your dead body would be a strange process. Would you get more money if you have an interesting mole or unique eye color? Would you get less if you have some plastic or metal parts?

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act makes certain types of payment for body parts illegal. Section 16 prohibits someone from buying or selling body parts for transplantation or therapy. However it does allow people to charge a fee for the "removal, processing, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation, implantation, or disposal of a part." And according to The Straight Dope, trafficking in body parts for education and research still isn't well regulated, leading to abuse and some gruesome stories.

Living people can participate in clinical trials -- a legal way to score cash from the scientific community. If all goes well, you finish up with some extra dough and go your merry way. But there may be some drawbacks to being a human guinea pig, and not everyone has a happy story to tell.

If that doesn't sound appealing, you can always donate your blood, bone marrow, sperm, or eggs. After all, wouldn't you rather reap the benefits of your contributions to science while you're still alive?

Source: ask.yahoo.com

The official Play-Doh web page wasn't very helpful, so we poked around the "Corporate Info" section of Hasbro's web site. Eventually, we found a page on the history of Play-Doh. Unfortunately, the page didn't name names, so we searched for " Play-Doh" on Yahoo! and found a wealth of information.

In 1956, Noah W. and Joseph S. McVicker of the Rainbow Crafts Company received U.S. patent number 3,167,440 for a pliable plastic modeling composition called Play-Doh. Although the Patent Office claims that the compound was originally designed as a wallpaper cleaner, Home & Garden Television states that Joe McVicker created the soft, reusable, non-toxic "clay" for his sister's preschool class. Play-Doh was first sold by Rainbow Crafts in the toy department of Woodward & Lothrop Department Store in Washington, D.C. Even though it only came in off-white (primary colors were introduced in 1957), Play-Doh was an immediate hit.

In 1965, General Mills purchased the Rainbow Crafts Company, and in 1970, Rainbow Crafts was merged into General Mills' Kenner Products line. Over the years, the company introduced many new colors and Play-Doh toys. The Tonka Corporation purchased the Kenner line in 1987, and Play-Doh's current owner, Hasbro, purchased Tonka in 1991 -- the year Play-Doh celebrated its 35th birthday.

Source: ask.yahoo.com

Most folks believe mucus causes a stuffy schnozz. But according to Medline Plus, inflamed blood vessels are the real culprit. They cause swelling in the membranes lining our noses.

Interestingly, there's a normal cycle of congestion and decongestion called a "nasal cycle." WebMD explains that the length of the cycle varies, but usually takes one to four hours. "If you hold a finger over one nostril and blow air out the other nostril, you will notice a different amount of air coming from each side. This should normally vary from side to side according to your nasal cycle."

A plugged-up proboscis can result from more than just a cold or the flu. Other causes include allergies or a non-allergic inflammation in the nasal blood vessels (which can occur in response to stress, cold air, spicy food, or exercise). MayoClinic.com recommends these measures to breathe freely: steam, drinking fluids, eating chicken soup, nasal saline spray, breathing strips, or decongestants.

source: ask.yahoo.com

Maybe Americans are more in tune with the cosmos. Perhaps aliens want to chat about "American Idol" with real Americans. Whatever the reason, this is a hard question to crack because (attention, conspiracy theorists!) there isn't an official site for reporting UFOs.

The National UFO Reporting Center lists thousands of "close encounters" submitted by users. According to its database, the United States has far and away the most reported UFO sightings. In fact, California alone has reported more than China, England, India, and Brazil combined.

But this doesn't necessarily mean Americans see UFOs more than other people. It just means more Americans report seeing UFOs to this particular site. The Center for UFO Studies explains, "No one is sure why the number of UFO reports varies from country to country, but cultural, religious, and political factors are probably involved." In other words, seeing a UFO in the United States might be kind of cool. In other countries, that may not be the case.

The truth is, UFOs have been (allegedly) seen just about everywhere -- from the hills of Switzerland to the coast of Australia. Should you ever spot one, the Center for UFO Studies advises you get witnesses, take pictures, and write down the details. Oh, and don't forget to report it.

Source: ask.yahoo.com

Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, is generally considered to be the oldest university in the world. It was founded roughly the same time as the city of Cairo, in 969 AD. The first lecture was delivered in 975 AD.

Like many centers of learning, Al-Azhar University was originally intended as a place of worship and religious instruction. The mosque at Al-Azhar is one of the most famous in the Muslim world, and is still considered the seat of Sunni Islamic study.

The university pioneered systems of advanced academic instruction with its hierarchy of regular instructors and visiting professors. Its history follows the turbulent rise of the Islamic Empire, replete with political revolutions and competing religious philosophies. While Al-Azhar University has a storied history of religious instruction, it also boasts a robust secular curriculum, offering advanced degrees in engineering and medicine.

As with all matters medieval, historical facts and figures are up to academic interpretation. Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez, Morroco, has also laid claim to the title of oldest university in the world.

Europe's oldest university was founded in 1088 in the northern Italian city of Bologna. The United States's oldest university, Harvard, opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1636, not long after the first English colonists arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Source: ask.yahoo.com

While most folks consider DJ Kool Herc to be the "father of hip-hop," other sites credit Afrika Bambaataa as the first rapper.

OldSchoolHipHop features an interesting biography of DJ Kool Herc. Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1955, Kool Herc was particularly interested in the song's "break section" -- the part of the song without vocals. Extending the song's break was Herc's trademark and "would be a very important one for hip hop."

Does that qualify Herc as the first rapper? Maybe, maybe not. An article on VH-1's official site lists Afrika Bambaataa as "one of rap's founding fathers." User-edited site Wikipedia writes that Bambaataa is often credited "as being the first rapper ever."

Rap is a fusion of different musical genres. No one person can or should be given credit for "inventing" it, but we did find an article on the origin of rap by Kwaku Person-Lynn, Ph.D. Person-Lynn quotes Bambaataa as saying, "A lot of people always think it (rap) started in the South Bronx, but officially it came from the West Bronx, 'cause Kool Herc (credited with being the first rapper), was from that area."

If Bambaataa believes Herc came first, that's good enough for us. Peace.

Source: ask.yahoo.com