More than 28,400 artefacts unearthed at six excavation sites in the Son La Hydro-electricity Plant reservoir construction site have been handed over to the Dien Bien Museum.

The objects, unearthed by Viet Nam Archaeology Institute graduates, have been identified as being from the Palaeolithic era (around 20,000 years ago) to Neolithic (3,000-4,000 years ago). They were found at Huoi So, Tua Thang communes and Muong Lay town of Dien Bien District.

They include simple tools like stone pestles, mortars, and ceramic objects.

Institute Professor Nguyen Khac Su said the objects were from tribes living in connected groups along the Da River, judging from the groups of objects.

Archaeologists have discovered an oriental 'Pompeii' in Hunan, China.

As Pompeii in Italy was destroyed by the volcanic eruption, the Chengbu Shiwangutian was destroyed by a plague of locusts during the Qing Dynasty.

'Shiwangutian' refers to an ancient farming and settlement site in Chengbu County in Hunan.

According to Zeng Xiaoguang, Deputy Director of Cultural Heritage Bureau in Shaoyang City in Hunan, after the locusts plague, the site was turned into an uninhabited area and a large amount of cultural relics were preserved, reports the People's Daily Online.

Shiwangutian is in a trapezoid shape that is higher in the north and lower in the south. It has been divided into upper part, middle part and lower part with a big circle with the diameter of 300 meters in the middle part of the farmland.

Using 21st century technology, including DNA and CT scanning, a team of scientists attempted to put to rest the mystery of King Tut's death -- concluding he was a victim of his incestuous lineage, according to an article in the September issue of National Geographic.

For years, scientists have tried to unravel ancient clues as to why the boy king of Egypt, who reigned for 10 years, died at the age of 19.

Several theories have been put forth. One was that he was killed by a blow to the head. Another put the blame on a broken leg. As recently as June, German scientists said they believe there is evidence he died of sickle cell disease.

A team of researchers using a combination of CT scans, DNA testing and archaeological information now believe his fate was sealed by the fact that his parents were brother and sister. His body was just not built to last.

Archaeologists have discovered a large Gallo-Roman religious complex located only a few kilometers from the ancient city of Le Mans. The ancient sanctuary is thought to have been an important pilgrimage area, visited by thousands to honor the gods.

The religious complex unearthed in Neuville-sur-Sarthe - about 5km north of Le Mans, France - is excavated by archaeologists from the French National Institute of Archaeological Research (INRAP) and dated to the 1st to 3rd century AD. Traces of the complex were first revealed on aerial photographs taken in 2003, when an long period of drought scorched much of the vegetation on the site, yet nobody anticipated its sheer size - the complex spans more than 4 acres.

The ancient sanctuary, clearly divided in three areas, contains several Gallo-Roman temples (fana) in various shapes - quadrangular, polygonal and circular - and sizes, linked by roads and galleries.

In the west, the main temple and five shrines are located. The temple (or fanum) is a 15m square structure characterized by a sanctuary, a central altar dedicated to the gods, surrounded by a gallery where the faithful would worship. The few architectural fragments discovered, suggest that it was a Corinthian style building with plaster wall paintings. The structures are surrounded by a 60m by 40m quadrangular brick wall enclosure (or temenos).

A galactic super-volcano is erupting in massive galaxy M87 and blasting gas outwards, and NASA scientists view that the huge volcano in M87 is very similar to the recent Icelandic volcano that caused heavy air traffic disruptions across Europe.

Computer monitoring system was infected with Trojan horse, authorities say

Authorities investigating the 2008 crash of Spanair flight 5022 have discovered a central computer system used to monitor technical problems in the aircraft was infected with malware.

An internal report issued by the airline revealed the infected computer failed to detect three technical problems with the aircraft, which if detected, may have prevented the plane from taking off, according to reports in the Spanish newspaper, El Pais.

Flight 5022 crashed just after takeoff from Madrid-Barajas International Airport two years ago today, killing 154 and leaving only 18 survivors.

What about carbon dating? Doesn't that give accurate dates of "prehistoric" civilizations?

Carbon dating is the ultimate benchmark of the evolutionary dating world. Everyone assumes that dates that follow the word "radiocarbon" are accurate, precise and sure. But are they?

The basic principle of radiocarbon dating is that plants and animals absorb trace amounts of radioactive carbon-14 from carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere while they are alive but stop doing so when they die. The carbon-14 in a sample decays at a steady rate after it dies, and thus works like a clock. It is assumed that the amount of radioactive carbon left in the sample indicates how old it is.

But there is a major problem with this method. It is based on several assumptions, one of which is false. For this method to work, the rate of production of carbon-14 in the atmosphere has to remain constant through time. In truth, however, the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere varies with fluctuations in solar activity and Earth's magnetic field, changes in atmospheric conditions and even the exploding of atomic bombs!

As a result, radiocarbon dating isn't so accurate: "Provided they are adjusted, radiocarbon dates are now considered reliable as far back as 5000 B.C.," writes archeologist and professor Martha Joukowsky in A Complete Manual of Field Archeology. "Since the dendrochronological sequence extends back only as far as about 5500 B.C., no way exists at present to check radiocarbon dates from 5500 to 10,000 B.C."

When comparing radiocarbon dates with dates derived from tree rings, known as dendrochronological dating, the dates only agree accurately as far back as A.D. 640, and only generally well back to the time of Christ. Anything further back and the dates are as much as 800 years off. So scientists made calibration charts to make up for the variation. But they still have to verify their calibrations with samples of known dates. There is still a problem!

It's easy to forget that invisible things are actually real. Take air or subatomic particles: out of sight, out of mind, out of reality.

That's why this picture of the Earth's magnetic field interacting with the solar wind last week is so amazing. It makes the magnetosphere real. Far above the tops of the clouds, in seeming emptiness, a fierce collision is taking place, throwing off that eerie green light. And we can see it!

Astronaut Doug Wheelock was hanging out in the International Space Station watching this with his own two eyes, so he snapped a photo and tweeted it.

A coronal hole on the sun is turning to face Earth. Coronal holes are places in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape.

Here is a magnetic map of the hole from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

In the image, magnetic field lines are color-coded. White field lines are closed; they hold the solar wind in. Golden field lines are open; they allow the solar wind out.

Before the end of 2010, China will have launched its second lunar probe. Chang'e 2 is an orbiting spacecraft that was originally built as a back-up for China's first lunar probe, Chang'e 1, which flew to the moon in 2007. The launch is widely tipped for some time in October.

Sending the back-up spacecraft on its own mission makes sense. The spacecraft was already built, and the integrity of its design was confirmed by Chang'e 1's successful mission.

By changing a few instruments, the mission can perform tasks that weren't carried out by the first orbiter. China has added a high-resolution camera to Chang'e 2, and has also added a small surface impactor. The mission will also fly to the Moon with a faster trajectory.

The existence of the back-up Chang'e spacecraft was publically disclosed shortly before Chang'e 1 was launched, and the likelihood of its launch as a follow-up mission was also apparent. But this is not the end of China's plans for robot lunar exploration.