Mysterious clay pots in China are 20,000 years old - baked 10,000 years before humans settled down and became farmers

• Pots are oldest pottery ever discovered
• Date from 10,000 years before humans 'settled down' and became farmers
• Push invention of pottery back to last ice age
• Archaeologists struggling to work out how and why they were made
• Thought to have been used by roving hunter-gatherers

Pottery fragments found in a south China cave have been confirmed to be 20,000 years old, making them the oldest known pottery in the world, according to archaeologists.
Earlier theories have held that the invention of pottery happened during the period about 10,000 years ago when humans moved from being hunter-gathers to farmers.
The new find has been carbon dated by a team of Chinese and American researchers and shows scorch marks that indicate it may have been used in cooking.
These pots push the invention of pottery back to the last ice age - and archaeologists are trying to understand how and why they were made.

Pottery fragment from Xianrendong Cave in northern Jiangxi Province, China. Bits of the oldest known pottery, some 2,000 years older than previously found pieces, have been uncovered in China

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UNEARTHED - A SHORT FILM By Dalang Films

On the edge of space, a mining ship, The Ezekiel, finds an uncharted planet that reveals signs of a possible fuel resource. Two crew members undertake a mission to the desolate rock to take samples for later analysis. The mission goes well until they unearth a dark and terrifying truth.

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With physics, you can get universes: There is no need for a God to cause the Big Bang, says scientist

By EDDIE WRENN

The divine spark? The Big Bang exploded our universe into existence -
but astrophysicists say there is no need for a God to be involved in the process

You do not need God to fill in the blanks of the Big Bang, says an astrophysicist.
That isn't to say there is no God, simply that the universe is explainable without the need for a divine being to bring something out of nothing, says Alex Flippenko, of the University of California.

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The Internet Changes Wednesday, But Most People Won’t Notice

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With IP addresses now depleted, the Internet Society is leading the launch of IPv6 to allow the web to continue growing.

Without adopting IPv6, people surfing the web will have to go through a transitional gateway before entering a non-updated site using IPv4, making the experience slower. On launch day Wednesday, website owners are encouraged to permanently enable IPv6 — the next generation of Internet protocol.

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Forget touch screens ... Touch everything! Disney (the masters of bringing objects to life) unveils new technology that can turn ANYTHING into a button

• Any material - from bedknobs to broomsticks, and even water - can be become gesture-sensitive
• Technology is similar to smartphone screens - but can create 3D 'map' of touch inputs
• Sofas could become TV remotes, clothes could become mp3 controllers, doors could be 'password-protected' by gesture

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Researchers Develop Wireless Heart Pump System

The wireless mechanical pump system  (Source: University of Washington)

The development of a wireless system allows the patient to use mechanical pumps over a long period of time without worrying about infections in the stomach from cords

Joshua Smith, study leader and a University of Washington associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, along with Dr. Pramod Bonde, a heart surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and a team of researchers, have created a wireless mechanical pump that could improve a heart patient's quality of life.

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The Mayans reveal their darkest mysteries: New excavation reveals secrets of their calendar - including black-clad figures and symbols never seen before

A vast city built by the ancient Mayan civilisation and discovered nearly a century ago in modern day Guatemala is finally starting to yield its secrets.

Excavating for the first time in the sprawling complex of Xultzn in Guatemala's Peten region, archaeologists have uncovered a structure that contains what appears to be a work space for the town's scribe.

Its walls are adorned with unique paintings - one depicting a line-up of men in black uniforms, and  hundreds of scrawled numbers - many calculations relating to the Mayan calendar.

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The painted figure of a man - possibly a scribe - is illuminated in the doorway of the Mayan dwelling, which holds symbols never seen before

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