The oceans on the Earth contain more microorganisms than previously thought, according to scientists, who say that just one liter of any seawater can hold almost 20,000 different types of bacteria. Reporting in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, lead researcher Mitchell Sogin and colleagues say that the microbial biodiversity is immensely more than estimated. "Microbiologists have formally described 5,000 microbial species

Apple Computer Inc. has issued a recall for batteries included with MacBook Pro notebooks sold from February through May 2006. According to Apple, the batteries "do not meet our high standards for performance" but do not pose a safety risk. The recall is voluntary, and users may "continue to use your current battery until a replacement arrives," Apple said on its Web site

South Africa plans to launch a low earth orbiting satellite in December this year for disaster monitoring and other purposes, the country's Science and Technology Ministry announced on Monday. The satellite, named Sumbandila which in local Tshivenda language means "Lead the way," will be launched from a submarine in Russia, the ministry said in a statement

Invisibility could be possible in the not too distant future, according to newly published research. Harry Potter accomplished it with his magic cloak. H G Wells's Invisible Man swallowed a substance that made him transparent. But Dr Ulf Leonhard, a theoretical physicist at St Andrews University in Scotland, believes the most plausible example is the Invisible Woman, one of the Marvel Comics superheroes. "Objects are visible because they reflect light rays

The midnight move of space shuttle Atlantis to the launch pad was delayed by almost a day because of heavy rain and lightning. NASA had planned to try to move the shuttle just after midnight yesterday. The space agency will make another attempt at the four-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad tonight. Hauling the space shuttle to the launch pad takes at least six hours. The window for launching Atlantis opens August 27th and lasts until September 13th

Novell said that it has received a warm welcome for Suse Linux Enterprise 10, which launched on July 18. To date, over 165,000 users from around the globe have downloaded components of the Suse Linux Enterprise 10 suite, which includes the Suse Linux Enterprise Server and Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop products

Verizon Wireless is eliminating the monthly $15 fee for its music download service in conjunction with the launch of a cell phone featuring an iPod-like click wheel and a memory card that can hold up to 1,000 songs. The new "Chocolate" handset made by LG Electronics Inc

A cluster of large hydrocarbon lakes has been spotted on Titan, Saturn's planet-size moon, scientists reported this week. The lakes near Titan's North Pole were spied during a Cassini spacecraft flyby last weekend within 590 miles of the moon. Researchers counted about a dozen lakes six to 62 miles wide. Some lakes, which appeared as dark patches in radar images, were connected by channels; others had tributaries flowing into them. Several were dried up

The EU has begun an examination of the licensing policies of the two DVD formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD. HD DVD, supported by Toshiba, and Blu-ray, supported by Sony, are fighting for dominance of next-generation audiovisual formats. European Commission antitrust officials declined to elaborate on the details of their inquiry, saying only that they have contacted the makers of both high definition formats to request licensing information

The five main UK mobile operators have pledged to block around 80% of stolen or lost mobile phones within 48 hours of them being reported missing. The move comes as part of a charter to reduce mobile phone crime drawn up by the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF), which includes Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Orange and 3. Home Secretary John Reid, who has promised £1.3m in funding for a specialist national phone crime unit, has welcomed the initiative