After digging to a depth of 100m last year,
Russian scientists found traces of copper
wiring dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion
that their ancestors already had a telephone network
one thousand years ago.

Not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed, American
scientists dug 200m, and the headlines in the US newspapers
read: "U.S.scientists have found traces of 2000 year old
optical fibres, and have concluded
that their ancestors already had advanced high-tech digital
telephones 1000 years earlier than the Russians."

One week later, the Irish press reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 500m, Irish scientists have
found absolutely nothing. They have concluded that 5000
years ago, their ancestors were already using mobile phones."