Travel
FOUR SEASONS RESORT MAUI ANNOUNCES DIVERSE NEW SUMMER EXPERIENCES IN 2024
From private wellness experiences at sea to complimentary kids and family activities designed to connect guests to the destination and each other, the luxury beachfront Resort is more ready than ever to welcome summer travelers
WAILEA, Hawaii /PRNewswire/ — Hawaii’s five-star, five-diamond Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea announces an exciting calendar of new and returning summer programming, offering a wealth of experiences for travelers seeking a luxury beachfront escape this June through August, 2024. The offerings are infused with the Resort’s legendary spirit of aloha, and each is designed to connect guests to one another, creating Maui moments that will last a lifetime.
“The Resort is thrilled to unveil a new chapter in family adventure,” says General Manager Ben Shank. “The team has developed activities that were inspired by the cherished nostalgia that summer evokes. From family-friendly pickleball tournaments to pool parties under the full moon, each experience has been crafted to build enduring memories.”
Kids for All Seasons
Young visitors ages 5 through 12 can immerse themselves in Hawaiian culture through hands-on learning experiences, marine exploration, culinary adventures, and enchanting storytelling under the stars at Wailea’s only complimentary children’s camp, Kids for All Seasons. Reinvigorated Four Seasons Maui Academy summer activities include: ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language), Hawaiian Star Stories, Tide Pool Exploration, Chef’s Garden Club, and more.
Camp Manitou
From July 16 through July 29, 2024, the Resort invites children ages 9 through 17 to join Camp Manitou, an adventure camp offering meaningful exploration around the island through counselor-led activities such as the Road to Hana, surfing excursions, island hikes, and more. For families, Camp Manitou also offers customizable family adventure days. And this summer, teens will enjoy an after-hours pool party for the first time, with special access to the Resort’s iconic Adult Pool.
Sugar Shack
Summertime tastes even sweeter with the addition of Sugar Shack, an open-air pastry pop-up open nightly. Over-the-top desserts dreamed up by the Resort’s talented pastry team feature an array of decadent milkshakes and other sweet treats.
Tropical Pickleball Showdown
Join a pickleball round-robin family tournament on the Resort’s newly unveiled Laykold GEL Plus surface pickleball courts. Meet other families as you go head-to-head in this friendly and complimentary competition. Winners will be rewarded with sweet treats at the Sugar Shack.
Waves and Wellness
Sail into summer on Waves and Wellness, a private morning excursion that starts aboard a luxury Trilogy catamaran. The customizable morning includes options like a “deep blue” swim or exploring vibrant marine life on a tropical snorkel. As the sail concludes at Wailea Beach, guests trade in their catamaran for stand-up paddleboards (SUPs). An instructor will guide a SUP Yoga class to help increase balance and focus amidst Maui’s beautiful natural backdrop. At the end of the class, guests paddle into their home away from home, where refreshing healthy green juice awaits before enjoying the rest of their day in paradise.
*Available beginning May 15, 2024.
MoonShine
The Resort proudly announces MoonShine, a summer full moon pool party series. Set for June 21, July 19, and August 16, 2024, at the Resort’s stunning Adult Pool, the event features classic tropical cocktails served alongside DJ-spun dance vibes. Whether they dip their toes into the shimmering pool, dive right in, or dance all night, the evening is guaranteed to transform a summer night into a lifetime memory. Admission is complimentary for Resort guests.
Poke Pop Up
Sample different variations of Hawaii’s beloved dish: poke. Paired with Maui Brewing Co.’s handcrafted beer, this not-to-be-missed weekly complimentary gathering featuring the Resort’s talented culinary team has become a guest favorite.
The Resort’s summer experiences join a long list of activities and amenities available to families year-round. Favorite pastimes include a robust cultural calendar of complimentary activities that features hula lessons, lei making, ukulele lessons and more. For more information or reservations at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, visit fourseasons.com/maui.
About Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
Maui’s iconic Forbes Five-Star resort is nestled on 15 acres of the breathtaking Wailea Coast. The 383-room oceanfront property is world-renowned for its comfortable opulence, impeccable service, luxurious amenities, and for living in harmony with its environment and community. The resort in Maui is also home to one of the nation’s top-rated spas committed to wellness and three of Hawai’i’s most acclaimed restaurants—Ferraro’s Restaurant & Bar, Spago Maui, and DUO Steak and Seafood. This sophisticated home away from home caters to the needs and interests of all generations—offering world-class activities and one-of-a-kind Unforgettable Experiences, a museum quality art collection, three pools overlooking the azure-blue Pacific Ocean including an infinity-edge Adult Pool with exclusive Missoni-designed cabanas, and more. Four Seasons Resort Maui, a Hawaiian vacation destination geared to action adventurers, those guests wishing to practice the fine art of doing nothing at all, and everyone in between. For more information, please visit https://www.fourseasons.com/maui/
SOURCE Four Seasons Resort Maui
Author
astronomy for hobbyist
I found a new meteor shower, and it comes from an asteroid getting broken down by the Sun
New Meteor Shower
Across the Earth, every night, thousands of automated stargazers are waiting to take pictures of shooting stars. I am one of the scientists who study these meteors.
Most movies and news alerts focus on large asteroids that could destroy the Earth. And your phones notifies you every few months that an object nine washing machines wide is going to just narrowly skim past. However, the small dust and rubble that enter our atmosphere daily tell an equally interesting story.
My planetary science colleagues and I use camera observations of the night sky to better understand dust, car-sized asteroids and debris from comets in our solar system.
In a study published in March 2026, I searched through millions of meteor observations collected by all-sky camera networks based in Canada, Japan, California and Europe and found a small, recently formed cluster. The 282 meteors associated with this cluster tell the story of an asteroid that got a little too close to the Sun.
Meteor formation
When a sand-sized crumb of space rock hits our atmosphere, it heats up almost instantly, vaporizing its surface layer and turning it into an electrically charged gas. The whole fragment starts to glow — this is what we call a meteor. If the object is larger, like a boulder, and brighter, it’s called a bolide or a fireball. On average, these objects hit our atmosphere going over 15 miles per second. For small dust or sand-sized objects, the whole process lasts only a fraction of a second before they completely disappear.
Most of these sand-sized fragments in the solar system originate from comets – cold, icy objects from the outer reaches of the solar system. As comets pass by the Sun, their icy components turn to gas, releasing tons of dust. This is why comets are often called “dirty snowballs” and appear fuzzy in telescopic images.
Asteroids, on the other hand, are leftovers from the early solar system that formed closer to the Sun. They are dry and rocky, and do not have the same ices that give comets their characteristic tails.
What does it mean to be active?
Astronomers call an asteroid or comet “active” when it sheds dust, gas or larger fragments. This activity is caused by some external force on the object in space, like heat from the Sun, a small impact, or when asteroids spin too fast and fly apart.
Understanding and identifying activity helps scientists better understand how these objects change over time.
For comets, sublimation of ices – when solid ice turns directly into gas, skipping the liquid phase – is the primary culprit. However, for asteroids, the reason for activity can vary greatly.
For example, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which launched into space to study an asteroid named Bennu, saw activity from its surface, with heat stress and small impacts among the leading explanations.
Other sources for asteroid activity include breakup when an asteroid spins too fast, tidal forces ripping apart asteroids during close encounters with a planet, or gas release.
Researchers most commonly search for activity using telescopes. Astronomers can look for a “tail” or fuzziness around the object. This tail is a clear sign that there is gas and dust around the body. But there is another way to search for activity – meteor showers.
Finding hidden asteroids via meteor showers
The most famous active asteroid is 3200 Phaethon. It is the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower that occurs every year in mid-December. During past close approaches with the Sun, Phaethon released vast amounts of dust and larger fragments. These morsels of Phaethon have spread out along its entire orbit over time, leading to the present Geminid meteor stream.
Each meteor shower we observe occurs when the Earth passes through one of these debris streams. So if astronomers can detect meteor showers, they can also be used to find active objects in space.
At first, debris shed by an asteroid or comet travels closely together. Imagine squeezing a single drop of food dye into a moving stream of water: Initially, the dye stays in a tight, concentrated cloud. But as it flows, the water’s swirling currents pull at the dye, causing it to spread out and fade.
In space, the gravitational tugs from passing planets act like those currents. They pull on the individual meteor fragments in slightly different ways, causing the once-tight stream to gradually drift apart until it completely dilutes into the background dust of our solar system.
The discovery of a rock-comet
In a study published in March 2026 in the Astrophysical Journal, I used millions of observations of meteors to search for recent, unknown activity from asteroids near the Earth. I found one clear cluster of 282 meteors that stood out.
What makes this discovery so exciting is that we are essentially witnessing a hidden asteroid being baked to bits. This newly confirmed meteor stream follows an extreme orbit that plunges almost five times closer to the Sun than Earth does.
Based on how these meteors break apart when they hit our atmosphere, we can tell they are moderately fragile, but tougher than stuff from comets. This finding tells us that intense solar heat is literally cracking the asteroid’s surface, baking out trapped gases and causing it to crumble. This is likely a major source of past Phaethon activity and the main reason the meteorites on Earth are so diverse.
The search for the source
Why does finding a hidden, crumbling asteroid matter? Meteor observations act as a uniquely sensitive probe that lets us study objects that are completely invisible to traditional telescopes.
Beyond solving astronomical mysteries, analyzing this debris helps us understand the physical evolution of asteroids and comets in our solar system. More importantly, it reveals hidden populations of near-Earth asteroids, which is vital information for planetary defense.
The new meteor shower’s parent asteroid remains elusive. However, NASA’s NEO Surveyor mission, launching in 2027, offers a promising solution. This space telescope, dedicated to planetary defense and the discovery of dark, hazardous, Sun-approaching asteroids, will be the ideal tool for searching for the shower’s origin.
Patrick M. Shober, Postdoctoral Fellow in Planetary Sciences, NASA
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Travel
What’s Trending in Travel in 2026
In 2026, travelers are prioritizing immersive experiences over quick vacations, with a strong demand for personalized, intentional trips. Despite economic concerns, a survey reveals nearly all respondents plan to travel, often seeking the guidance of travel advisors. Trends include spacious accommodations, cultural immersion, wellness experiences, and multi-generational travel.
Last Updated on April 10, 2026 by Daily News Staff
What’s Trending in Travel in 2026
(Feature Impact) After years of fast-paced itineraries and social media-inspired vacations, travelers are looking to slow down in 2026, instead focusing on more personal, immersive experiences.
That’s not to say Americans will be looking to travel any less – just more intentionally. Despite economic, political and cultural shifts, travel shows no signs of slowing down this year. In fact, according to a survey conducted on behalf of ALG Vacations, 100% of respondents plan to take a vacation in the next year, with 97% likely to travel for leisure in the next 6 months despite those concerns.
Even with tightened budgets, 95% of those surveyed would still travel – even if it meant scaling back. To help travelers zero in on what they’re looking to experience in 2026, working with a travel advisor when starting to plan that annual getaway can make the process easier.
Additional survey data shows 7 in 10 travelers are turning to professionals to plan their next trips with the younger generations leading the way; 83% of Gen Z and 78% of Millennials are likely to turn to a travel advisor for help with planning and booking.
“What’s really interesting is that travel advisors are resonating with a new wave of travelers,” said ALG Vacations’ Travel Advisor Champion Carson Kressley, the renowned style expert and world traveler best known for his role on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and his current Emmy Award-winning judge role on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “They want help uncovering hidden-gem destinations and great-value packages, and a new generation of advisors is meeting them exactly where they are.”
In addition to booking your next excursion with the assistance of a travel advisor, consider these trends Kressley identified for the year ahead.
Space and Privacy
In 2026, spaciousness is an expression of luxury – private villas, low-density boutique resorts and nature-framed hideaways where quiet feels curated and beauty isn’t shared with the masses. As travelers prioritize serenity over scene, this trend reflects an emotional need for clarity as they look for time to reset and environments that support genuine presence.
Immersion in Culture and Hyper-Local
Travelers desire authentic experiences shaped by local chefs, artisans and storytellers who bring a destination’s heritage to life. It’s no longer about observing culture from a distance; it’s about actively participating in it with the destination’s native citizens, reflecting a desire for meaning and perspective.
Longer, More Intentional Vacations
Instead of rushing through multiple destinations, travelers are embracing itineraries that allow them to breathe through longer stays and experiences that unfold naturally. From a lingering lunch to an unstructured afternoon, this shift toward savoring prioritizes depth and connection.
Transformational Wellness
As wellness continues to evolve into deeply personal territory, travelers seek experiences that restore mind, body and perspective such as sunrise rituals, nature-led healing, cultural wellness traditions and programs designed for renewal.
Screen-Inspired Destinations
Pop culture continues to influence travel, but today’s travelers seek more than filming locations. In 2026, they’re searching for dramatic landscapes, atmospheric architecture, richly layered cultures and experiences that evoke emotion and capture the feeling of their favorite cinematic worlds. This evolution of set-jetting is about stepping into a story rather than tracing its steps.
Shared Multi-Generational Moments
Multi-generational travel is shifting toward more purpose-driven experiences – milestone celebrations, cultural reconnection trips and meaningful moments together. The emphasis is on togetherness, personalization and experiences that feel like legacy.
To learn more and start booking your next adventure, visit traveladvisorsgetyouthere.com.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock
Source: ALG Vacations
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Travel Advisory
Traveling to Mexico this spring? Here’s what to know about current advisories
Traveling to Mexico this spring? Visitors should be aware of state-specific travel advisories, as safety concerns in one region do not affect major resort areas like Cancun and Los Cabos, currently rated Level 2, which encourages increased caution. Monitoring official updates is essential for informed travel decisions amidst evolving conditions.
Last Updated on March 30, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Traveling to Mexico this spring? Here’s what to know about current advisories
(Tiffany Miller for ALG Vacations) For some travelers counting down to spring break, recent headlines about violence in parts of Mexico have sparked a new question: Should I cancel my trip? Travel advisors say they are seeing a surge in calls and emails from clients trying to determine whether developments in one region affect major resort areas elsewhere.
The questions follow several days of unrest in parts of Mexico after security operations targeting organized crime leaders prompted temporary flight disruptions and shelter-in-place guidance for U.S. government personnel in areas including Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. In this article, ALG Vacations explains what current travel advisories mean for spring break travelers heading to Mexico.
The U.S. State Department evaluates Mexico state by state, not as a single destination, and advisory levels vary by region. Many major beach destinations, including Cancun, Riviera Maya, Tulum and Los Cabos, are currently under a Level 2 advisory, which encourages travelers to exercise increased caution. It does not discourage travel.
Part of the confusion stems from geography. Puerto Vallarta, on the Pacific coast, is roughly 1,300 miles from Cancun and the Riviera Maya on the Caribbean side, about the distance between New York and Miami. Because advisories are assigned state by state, developments in one region do not automatically alter another.
In recent days, that uncertainty has translated into additional inquiries about whether specific resort areas are experiencing disruptions. U.S. Embassy security alerts issued this week indicate that temporary shelter-in-place guidance affecting Puerto Vallarta was lifted and that flight operations resumed. The advisory level for the Mexican state of Quintana Roo remains unchanged.
Some clients are asking about alternatives, advisors say, but many are continuing with their plans after reviewing official updates. Travel patterns often shift in response to breaking headlines, they add, before stabilizing as clearer information becomes available.
The State Department assigns travel advisories on a four-tier scale ranging from Level 1, exercise normal precautions, to Level 4, do not travel. While Level 2 encourages increased awareness, Level 3 and Level 4 carry stronger language discouraging or restricting travel.
Advisories are reviewed regularly and can be updated as conditions evolve. The State Department’s Mexico advisory page breaks down conditions by state, reflecting the country’s federal structure rather than issuing a single national designation. Travelers can also enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which provides real-time security updates and allows U.S. officials to contact citizens in an emergency.
Embassy notices state that airports, hotels and tourism services in Quintana Roo are operating normally. Security conditions across Mexico vary widely by state, with some regions carrying higher advisories and others designated Level 1. Most destinations popular with U.S. travelers are currently classified as Level 2.
As spring break approaches, advisors say informed decision-making depends on reviewing the advisories assigned to a specific destination and monitoring official updates, rather than reacting to national headlines alone. Travel decisions ultimately depend on individual comfort levels, they add, but advisory levels are assigned regionally and should be evaluated accordingly.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
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