Scientists have just a completed a study called State of the Arctic report which seeks to determine just what state the northern polar region is currently in. The results are not very encouraging. As a matter of fact, one might conclude that they're downright grim.

Scientists now fear that the melting of the polar ice may already have exceeded the "tipping point" which is the imaginary threshold of ice melting without permanently damaging the region. If the worst has come to pass, this will severely impact the world in more ways than one.

The loss of sea ice near the North Pole and the gradual thinning of ice layers in the Arctic are just some of the manifestations that climate change is taking a toll in nature. Scientists now say that ecosystems in land and sea are at risk more than ever.

And unlike in Las Vegas, "what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic," says research administrator Richard Spinrad as he points to the temperate regions as the next in line to become affected of what's going on in the Arctic.

James Overland, a scientist with National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory explains that the damage they've seen this year was so great that it would be a long shot at best to get the region back to where it was two decades ago. "It won’t necessarily be a continued acceleration of more ice lost, but we’re certainly not going to go back to where we were before," he adds.

Scientists continue to disagree on when exactly the Arctic tipping point lies, or if we've already crossed the line. The only thing certain is that if we're not there yet, we're certainly closing in on "full steam ahead".

 

While it may seem like something out of an old Japanese cartoon about giant robots saving the world, the technology actually does exist, and may be replacing today's conventional prosthetics sooner than you think. Yes, the people hard at work at using robotics to help our differently-abled brothers and sisters to lead more productive lives have discovered an alternative power source for functioning artificial limbs. What's that alternative power source, you ask? Rockets.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, the rocket-powered bionic arm uses a miniature rocket the size of a pencil to generate pure steam from hydrogen peroxide - and it's this steam that forces pistons to move up and down, thereby powering the advanced machinery in the arm to function and provide motion. And provide it does - the arm quantified as ten times more powerful than other robotic arms, and can do the same amount of movement three or four times faster.

With the arm using rocket technology and all, shouldn't the thing be as noisy as...well, a rocket? Researcher and roboticist Michael Goldfarb reassures that it isn't. "You can be in a room where people are talking at very low levels and never hear it. You have to be very quiet to hear this thing operate."

What about the steam, though? Apparently, the bionic arm is made so that the steam used to power its motors gets vented out through a porous skin-like cover, evaporating like so much sweat. And even then, it's not going to be that noticeable, as Goldfarb reports that the amount of water involved in the entire process is pretty much the same as what a person would normally sweat from their arms.

So when are we going to see the rocket-powered Bionic Arm on the market? Probably not for a while. The arm itself is still in its prototype stages, and the minds behind it are busy thinking up on how to make the model lighter, sleeker and more affordable. It might not be too long a wait, however, provided that DARPA doesn't pull its fundings on the project - as the agency plans on releasing a commercially-available version in two years' time.

Certainly good news that even with today's advancements in entertainment technology, we're also using what we know to help better the lives of everyone around us.

News from down south. Waaaay down south.

Mount Erebus has a couple of interesting features. First, it's surrounded by chimney-like projections called fumaroles. Hot steam and gas escape from the volcano's sides, melting the ice and forming ice tunnels. The steam goes up the tunnels and freeze as soon as it hits the colder air above ground. These towers can grow to up to 60 feet before collapsing. Second is its lava lake with the molten lava visible. The scalding pool gets as hot as around 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit and is miles deep.

McMurdo Station, US' main research base in Antarctica is 20 miles from Mount Erebus and they monitor the volcano's activity for most of the year. The poles would be getting a lot more attention this year for the fourth International Polar Year (since 1882). Scientists will study how the poles affect the world's weather and what forms of life can survive in extreme cold.

Mount Erebus has been erupting regularly in 2005, spewing up to 50 lava bombs every time. Imagine being bombarded with ten foot wide blobs of lava. Pretty scary, especially when Erebus can throw it up to a mile from the actual mountain.

Here's a clip of Mount Erebus' eruption.