Popular Science suggests eight geeky getaways
NEW YORK -- If your interests run more to science than sunbathing, you might find yourself shouting "Eureka!" when you discover the list of geeky getaways in Popular Science magazine's May issue.
The eight ideas, all in the U.S., are:
• Iowa's Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, which Popular Science describes as the largest great-ape research facility in North America, with 13 resident animals. Membership to the trust entitles visitors to a tour and special lectures.
• The Wildlife Research Institute in Ely, Minn., where four-day black-bear field-study courses are offered May through August.
• The nation's only frozen cemetery, Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., where Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams is cryogenically preserved. Tours are free.
• Body farms at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville; Texas State University-San Marcos; and Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, where you can learn "CSI"-style crime-sleuthing and forensic-anthropology skills.
• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which offers free tours of its lab, including a Space Simulator and a Marscape where prototype rovers practice maneuvers.
• Soudan Underground Laboratory at Mine State Park in Minnesota, where visitors can travel 2,400 feet underground to see a subterranean atom smasher.
• Oregon State University's Tsunami Research Center in Corvallis.
• Earthquake simulators in Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation facilities at the University of California-San Diego, the University of Buffalo, N.Y., and the University of Nevada at Reno.
For more details, visit popsci.com or see the May issue of Popular Science.
NEW YORK -- The Metropolitan Opera is replacing its live summertime park productions with simpler recitals and a 10-day "festival" of outdoor HD screenings.
The six live recitals start July 13 in Central Park with baritone Paulo Szot joined by a soprano and tenor.
The economic crisis has not spared the Met. In past summers, the company offered live performances that included a full orchestra, chorus and soloists -- costing much more than screenings from the Met's "Live in HD" productions.
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Whether you're recovering from an illness, getting over a lost love, celebrating a milestone or reinventing yourself, a new book called Travel Therapy: Where Do You Need To Go? has destinations and activities that match your frame of mind.
The new $20 paperback from Berkeley-based Seal Press, by Karen Schaler, plots out a different situation and the possible travel remedies. Chapters start with a quiz to determine your taste, style and mood, then offer a diagnosis and prescription.
For example, the chapter called "Heartbreak Hotel," for the lovelorn, can help you figure out whether you'd best be served by a daring adventure, physical activity or relaxation and healing -- or some combination. Recommended adventures include shark diving, hang-gliding or car racing. For soothing escapes, spas are recommended.
Cayman Islands: Sand, sun and skateboarding
NEW YORK -- The Cayman Islands are home to Black Pearl Skate and Surf, one of the world's largest skateparks, and this summer the park is hosting Skate Cayman, a camp that will showcase professional skateboarders and instructors from around the globe.
Skate Cayman will run June 8-Aug. 21 and will kick off with professional skateboarder and snowboarder Shaun White, who has won gold medals at the Olympics and in the Summer and Winter X Games. The camp costs $62 a day or $280 for five days. Minimum age for campers is 4 (kids 4-6 must be accompanied by parent), maximum age is 17. But the skate park itself is open to all ages; skatecayman.com.
Families traveling to the islands should check out the Cayman Summer Splash promotion, where kids 11 and younger fly free on Cayman Airways, June 1- Sept. 7, and stay and eat free at various resorts.