Confucius lottery tickets draw ire Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher who prodded his fellow countrymen to seek their fortunes in a decent manner, would now find his portraits and sermons printed on lottery tickets, the only form of gambling allowed by the government. Late last month, lottery stands in east China's Shandong province began selling Confucius-themed tickets that carry a top prize of 300,000 yuan ($44,000). But the tickets have drawn ire from netizens and columnists who claim that putting Confucius' image on lottery tickets has tarnished the image of the wise man who lived more than 2,000 years ago. Lottery officials said they were surprised by the criticism. "The center is... Iranians celebrate ancient Persian fire fest AP CHAM, Iran -- Thousands of Iranians gathered at dusk against a snowy mountain backdrop to light giant bonfires in an ancient ... Ancient crocodile relative likely food source for Titanoboa, largest snake ever known The concept of ancient crocodyliforms as snake food has its parallel in the modern world, as anacondas have been documented consuming caimans in the Amazon. ... Ancient Asian skeleton unearthed in Italy But only the bones from one gravesite have yielded ancient DNA evidence of Asian ancestry. A tooth recovered from the man's grave was used to trace his genetic roots."Grave goods from this individual's burial gave no indication that he was foreign by birth, so the isotopic and ancient DNA evidence from the human remains are the only clue to his origins," Prowse said. "This find ... suggests that there were connections beyond the borders of the Roman Empire."Vagnari is believed to have been an industrial site for tile-making and ironworking, with artisans and enslaved workers producing material for Rome's expanding empire. The estate itself would have been owned by the reigning... Romans made forerunner of Swiss Army Knife The ancient craftsmanship blew away modern architects of the Swiss Army Knife. "It looks very functional," said Dennis Piretra, vice president of marketing ... Experts Find Source of Ancient Roman Aqueduct By AP ROME (AP) -- Experts have located the source of an ancient aqueduct built by Emperor Trajan nearly 2000 years ago to supply Rome. ... Could museum's gold be from ancient Troy? The scientist had traveled from Germany to examine the ancient items that lay before him on the University of Pennsylvania laboratory table, and he was dazzled. Earrings with cascades of golden leaves. Brooches adorned with tightly coiled spirals. A necklace strung with hundreds of gold ringlets and beads. The jewelry bore a striking resemblance to objects from one of the world's great collections - a controversial treasure unearthed long ago from the fabled city of Troy. Were the objects on the lab table also from the city that inspired Homer's epic poem of war? Ernst Pernicka suspected they were, but he could not be sure. The 24 pieces had been purchased fro... McIlroy Joins Grooves Fray Both the USGA and the Royal & Ancient of St. Andrews have rules banning the use of clubs with square grooves, claiming that skilled tour professionals enjoy ...

Internet Explorer 6 is holding back the Internet Following unprecedented moves by both the French and German governments to wean their populations off of Microsoft's ancient and irreparably insecure web browser Internet Explorer 6, a Downing Street petition is urging the UK government to follow suit. Many government departments, including the NHS, still use the creaking browser and the petition says that developers are being put under unnecessary pressure to develop packages which work with the decade old software. IE6 still accounts for more than 20 per cent of browser use with the latest iteration, IE8 grabbing just over 22 per cent. IE6 was somehow blamed for the security breach which caused Google to fa...

It's All Ancient History... Or Is It? A photograph he'd taken in the early 1970s of my father's ancient godparents sitting in their equally ancient truck revived both them and my early childhood ...