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".

A lot of adults would happily recount their Star Trek memories to members of this generation. This techie show seems to be deeply entrenched in many people's lives, that it even served as inspiration for them to do lots of things.

On a lighter note, Google technical writer Tom Galloway refers to Captain James T. Kirk as an early blogger because of the captain's log. He also said that the "flip-open communicators" could be regarded as early models of mobile phones. He adds that the repository of info found on the ship's computer may be an earlier version of Google.

And to celebrate Star Trek, a convention is being held at the Las Vegas Hilton with an expected attendance of a staggering 10,000 Star Trek fans. To commemorate this event, Google duplicated the bridge of the famous Starship Enterprise, much to the joy of numerous Star Trek fans. Google views the said convention as a way to meet new talent, as most Star Trek fans tend to be "tech-savvy."

The said convention is scheduled from  August 17 until August 20, 2006.