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Was 0 a good year? June 21 2003 at 09:45AM Beijing - Aged wines don't get much older than this. Archaeologists in western China discovered five earthenware jars of 2 000-year-old rice wine in an ancient tomb and its bouquet was still strong enough to perk up the nose, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday. Xinhua said five litres of the almost clear blue-tinged liquor was found, enough to allow researchers their best opportunity yet to study ancient distilling techniques. Archaeologist Sun Fuzhi was quoted saying the tomb dated from the early Western Han dynasty, which held sway over...

Saké is a drink that comes mainly from fermented rice. But to start talking about this drink that so popular in Asia, we must go back to the first recipes in the history of saké. It is said that the first saké was called “kuchikama no saké,” which means “mouth-brewed saké.” It was called so because it was prepared with chewing rice mixed with herbs, like chestnuts, millet, and acorns. All this was spit-chewed and then the whole mixture was put in a barrel. Although the procedure seems unappetizing, it was done because thanks to the enzymes in saliva, rice...

Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa has resigned, amid claims that he was drunk at a recent G7 meeting. Mr Nakagawa said earlier that he would wait until parliament had approved a supplementary budget to step down. But he brought forward his departure after calls for his immediate exit escalated. .... He has already apologised for his behaviour at last weekend's news conference in Rome but blamed cold remedies for a slurred performance there. He said he had not drunk more than a sip of alcohol before facing the media.

One of Japan's largest sake manufacturers, Gekkeikan, has announced the development of a new "super yeast" able to produce cellulosic ethanol from non-edible parts of plants, such as paddy straw and chaff. The super yeast that produces alcohol was created with genetic engineering, by integrating koji mold genes that produce cellulolytic enzymes into sake yeast. These enzymes become densely displayed on the surfaces of the yeast cells. Since this super yeast has the functions of the standard koji mold, it achieves one-step production of ethanol from pretreated cellulose. The company claims the whole process is completed with a new easier...

Veteran’s Day   by Roger W Hancock   We honor you, who fought for us, for country’s sake of freedom’s plight. You kept the greatest country great, by sacrifice of you who served.   Honor to military, soldiers served. There seems no risk in peace to serve. When war breaks the silent peace, no peace when security cease.   Sacrifice of civilian life, careers succumb to enlist, or draft. Families wait in fear, in prayer, for loved ones return alive, not dead.   Returned Heroes and those deceased, we honor, thank, though insufficient. Parades, programs, our pride convey, We honor...

Boys compete 'for the sake of it' 09:30 25 August 02 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition Boys will compete just for the sake of it, but girls will not waste effort on competition unless it pays, a Canadian study has revealed. Rosanne Roy from McGill University in Montreal and her colleagues got 40 groups of four boys or four girls, aged 5 to 6 or 9 to 10, to play two specially designed games. In one, for instance, the children had to thread beads on a stick until it was full, taking the beads from either a common pot...