It's starting. Satellite images have revealed that the Arctic ice has retreated from its neighboring continents. The region has become an island for the first time in recorded human history. A further sign indicating that the North Pole will lose its ice this year. More details in the full article.

Good news, 2008 is set to be the coldest year this century! Hold yer horses though - remember, this century is only a few years old. This year is actually also set to be the 10th warmest year since 1850. Mother Nature has a weird sense of humor that way. More in the full article.

It's been potpourri for the Science blog this week. We have news from everything between evolution to the secret of immortality, from life via diamonds to ... mutant pig-monkeys? I did say it was potpourri week. Let's get started with this week's Science Weekend Warrior!

Santa Claus is coming to town... because his home is melting. A four square-kilometer chunk of ice has broken off the Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf. Is this the beginning of the end of the North Pole as we know it?

Human beings have a bad habit of making the place they inhabit quite uninhabitable. (I like the word "habit" for some reason.) The sad thing is, human beings as a race would probably be the last to suffer its own mistakes - it's the rest of the world that would suffer first, and it looks like the polar bears of the Arctic are the next casualties. In this edition of the Science Weekend Warrior, we take a look at what it's like to be on top of the food chain.

So the North Pole is melting and polar bears are on the verge of extinction. Solution? Ship 'em off to the other pole, to Antarctica. Lame. Story in the full article.

If "when hell freezes over" means a firm "no," then "when the North Pole melts away" should mean "yes," yes? Am I mixing metaphors or something? Anyway, it seems that the North Pole is in danger of being bare of ice this year. Santa and his elves are reported to have moved to Hawaii.

The sequel to Viva Piñata, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, has been attracting a lot of attention lately. If you've been keeping an eye out for more information on the game then you should head on over to the full article because two Rare developers have let out quite a bit of information about this upcoming game. Just click on the "read more" link below to get there.

Promising development to protect the atmosphere is underway, as NASA just shed light on the launch of its Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS). What's believed to be the most extensive field campaign ever to study the chemistry of the Arctic's lower atmosphere, the project employs three airborne laboratories that intends to explain how pollutants cause climate changes in the Arctic sea. Fly to the full article for more details.

Can't wait to get your hands on Bungie's Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack? Well, you might want to know that the developers behind the downloadable content has released a little more information about Blackout, one of the maps included in the pack. In addition, a few new screenshots were also released. To find out more, head on over to the full article.