Bronze is a high-grade copper-tin alloy. Articles made of bronze are durable collectibles because they are not as brittle or fragile as earthen tiles and bricks, bone oracles, porcelain, paintings or copies of stone inscription. Bronze antiques also come in a great variety of elegant designs with distinctive outlines far superior to other types of antiques.

Sing a song,
A rainbow song,
With voices ever wide.
Sing a song,
A rainbow song,
Shining across the sky.

During the reign of Emperor Wu in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–23 AD), the Crown Prince of that time was framed by his enemies and executed for planning to overthrow the Emperor. At the time of his execution the Crown Prince had a grandson who was only a few months old. Due to this tragedy the baby boy lost his entire family as they too were executed along with the Crown Prince.

The evolution of furniture in ancient China reveals that the transformation of ancient people’s living style from sitting on the floor to sitting on high chairs occurred only after the Song dynasty. This means the custom of sitting on high chairs has a brief history of one thousand years in Chinese culture. One might wonder why it hadn’t occurred to the ancient Chinese people before that sitting on a taller chair might be more comfortable? It doesn’t make much sense especially if you’ve read about the incredible technological developments and inventions in ancient China recorded in Meng Xi Bi Tan by Shen Kuo of the Song dynasty. Can it be true that only after the appearance of Hu Chuang that the ancient Chinese people realised they could sit on stools?

"Many details of subsequent human evolution over the period of the ice ages remain unclear, but one certain finding from both anthropological and genetic data is that there was no later time when the size of the human species became small again," says Hawks. "So the 'Eve theory' of modern human origins, which states that modern human populations very recently arose as a new African species that replaced all other indigenous peoples such as Neanderthals, can be put to rest."

The archaeological team, under the direction of Dr. Tim White from the University of California, found that the fossilised partial skulls were dated to be 160,000 years old. They were found in what is today central Ethiopia, and include the skulls of two adults and one 6 or 7 year old child. The fossilised partial skulls look very similar to those of modern human beings. The facial character of the skulls looks almost the same as modern humans, especially the skull of a child, which has no visible difference from that of a modern child. It was determined the skulls date back to 154,000 to 160,000 years ago.

Somewhere between waves,
Rising toward endless shores,
Inside the measure of horizons
Touching the blue of our known firmament.

Horizons come light, clouds departing,
A new dawn awakens where darkness reigns no more.
Worlds turning, embracing virtue,
While others now wither and fall.

The location of the carvings indicate that at that time humans mostly inhabited the area the Danube River and that the artistry at that period is very different from ours today. This discovery completely overthrows the traditional idea that art developed gradually from that of the primitive and rough style to the fine, contemporary craftsmanship today. "It seems that the first modern humans in Europe were astonishingly precocious in their skills," says Sinclair.

Deep in the heart of the Emerald Forest lies the quiet pulse of 1000 jade dragons.
Ruby snowflakes cap the tips of sapphire mountains,
While Diamond Waterfalls cascade down like the sands of time.
Many ancient mysteries and wonders call this forest home.
Suspended high above lays a golden palace governed by a king and queen.

Awake child,
As graceful eyes cast first glance at the new day.
Heaven and Earth are not separated,
In the beginning moments of consciousness.

ESA's X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, has returned tantalising new data about the nature of the Universe. In a survey of distant clusters of galaxies, XMM-Newton has found puzzling differences between today's clusters of galaxies and those present in the Universe around seven thousand million years ago. Some scientists claim that this can be interpreted to mean that the 'dark energy' which most astronomers now believe dominates the Universe simply does not exist…

"We've discovered that our magnetic shield is drafty, like a house with a window stuck open during a storm," says Harald Frey of the University of California, Berkeley, lead author of a paper on this research published Dec. 4 in Nature. "The house deflects most of the storm, but the couch is ruined. Similarly, our magnetic shield takes the brunt of space storms, but some energy slips through its cracks, sometimes enough to cause problems with satellites, radio communication, and power systems."