We’ve talked about exoskeletons in the past – modern-day companies are working on systems that assist humans to enable feats of strength that would not be possible without the skeleton. Enda noticed a new one – this one is called the HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier), which just got a new power source that will allow users to perform for 72+ hours. We’re definitely getting closer to the Spartan project! (Louis Wu 15:09:23 UTC)

Hedgemony rounded up some cool Halo-related artwork on DeviantART – a two-page spread posted by the artist of Halo: Bloodlines, a cool shot of the Master Chief on a dorm room wall, and some funky pixel art. Enjoy!(Louis Wu 15:07:21 UTC)

GrimBrother One noticed a bunch of new wallpapers available at Game Informer (he got the URL wrong, but don’t worry, this one works). They make nice use of the assets released in the past couple of weeks. (Louis Wu 15:06:50 UTC)

mr.sci-fi pointed out a news announcement on Spawn.com, with additional info about the McFarlane Reach figures coming this fall. Go read!(Louis Wu 15:06:14 UTC)

SK CRISIS stopped in last night with some cool hi-res versions of the ONI logo – and Stephen Loftus followed up with his own version (along with an NMPD logo). Great stuff! (Louis Wu 15:05:47 UTC)

Silvac let us know that Retrograde Episode 4 (Affliction) is now live – the story becomes a little less confusing, but no less bizarre.(Louis Wu 15:05:09 UTC)

Game Informer has finished up their ‘Noble Team Profile’ series – yesterday, they posted both Jun-266 and (as a bonus) Noble 6. Check these out for great little tidbits of info about the characters you’ll interact with (and be) in Halo: Reach! (Louis Wu 15:04:46 UTC)

The Bungie Weekly Update is so full of real information this week it’s not even funny. Tons of rumors busted, tons of new tidbits, tons of STUFF. Go read it. (And listen to it. And stuff.) As always, there’s a (validating) copy in our Weekly Update Archive.(Louis Wu 02:03:54 UTC)

Congrats to leafman343, who reproduced the remaining Round 8 screenshot from our Hide, Seek, Snap giveaway – another Johnson code, out the door! Swing by the contest page for a pair of Round 9 images – these two come from ODST, rather than Halo 3! Get to work!(Louis Wu 15:55:49 UTC)

Halo Waypoint will be presenting ‘Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, Episode 3’ beginning tomorrow – the banner below leads to a teaser pic. If you’ve got Xbox LIVE Gold, don’t miss this! If you’re intrigued by Waypoint, you should take the opportunity this weekend to partake in the Double XP Weekend Playlist. The Waypoint team will be playing all weekend (but specifically on Sunday from 1-5pm PST); meetups will be random, but the best footage from the games they play will be included in a highlight reel showcased on Waypoint at some point. Good stuff! (There’s no press release about this – yet – on the Waypoint website, but we’ll update this newspost if one appears.) (Louis Wu 14:47:24 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy has posted a new edition of Friday Caption Fun – great captions from the last round, along with a pretty cool shot that’s looking for your wit for this week. Go play!(Louis Wu 14:46:44 UTC)

Game Informer has posted a Special Edition Podcast, focused on Halo: Reach. It claims to feature ‘exclusive music from the Halo: Reach soundtrack’, though this seems to be simply the Lone Wolf score from the VGA trailer. The podcast has impressions from GI writers that saw the game in December, along with questions from fans (answered by those writers). One hour long. Thanks to big ander, over at NeoGAF, for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:45:16 UTC)

FyreWulff wants you to to join him – he’s kicked off Firefight Friday, a site designed to facilitate ODST Firefight challenges and overall fun. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 14:43:49 UTC)

Halo Wars has become the most recent entry into the ‘Games on Demand’ collection – you can download it straight to your Xbox via LIVE, if you choose. It’s not the CHEAPEST way to get it (in the US, the price is $29.99, a few bucks more than Amazon’s price) – but it’s certainly convenient!(Louis Wu 14:42:27 UTC)

mr.sci-fi noticed (via Halo Waypoint’s Twitter feed) that Todd McFarlane is working on Reach action figures, to be released at launch. Not a HUGE surprise, I guess – but cool to know!(Louis Wu 14:41:50 UTC)