An international team of scientists say they may have discovered why female killer whales have the longest menopause of any non-human species - it could be they worry about their adult sons. New research says that males over 30 have an almost 14-fold chance of dying during the year following the death of their mother. 

A massive Roman mosaic, from the apex of Imperial reach and power, has been unearthed in southern Turkey.

A natural product secreted by a soil bacterium may lead to a new drug to treat tuberculosis, report scientists in a new study. 

Pyridomycin, a natural antibiotic produced by the bacterium Dactylosporangium fulvum, has been shown to be active against many of the drug-resistant types of the tuberculosis bacterium that no longer respond to treatment with the front-line drug isoniazid.

Elsevier and SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) have announced the integration of more than 18,000 geological maps from SEPM into Elsevier's web-based research tool, Geofacets. The integration grants geoscientists access to scientific information that can provide key insight into the potential of regions for oil and gas exploration, allowing geoscientists to make predictions and guide exploration with greater confidence. As a result of adding maps from SEPM, Geofacets now houses over 225,000 maps providing essential information to geoscientists. 

The latest test drive marks the final chapter in a three year long project which has seen the development of the next step in autonomous driving technology, 'vehicle platooning'. Since 2009, Volvo Car Corporation has been the driving force behind the EU funded SARTRE project (Safe Road-Trains for the Environment), bringing vehicle platooning technology one step closer to becoming a reality on Europe's roads. 

The MESSENGER spacecraft has been orbiting Mercury since March 2011 and has been revealing new information about the surface chemistry and geological history of the innermost planet in the solar system.

Weider et al. recently analyzed 205 measurements of the surface composition from MESSENGER's X-ray spectrometer, focusing on the large expanse of smooth volcanic plains at high northern latitudes and surrounding areas that are higher in crater density and therefore older than the northern plains.