If your interests run more to science than surfing or sunbathing, you may find yourself shouting "Eureka!" when you discover the list of geeky getaways in Popular Science magazine's May issue.
The list includes cryogenic facilities, earthquake simulators and ape camps. "These are perfect destinations for the truly curious," Mark Jannot, editor-in-chief of Popular Science, said in a press release. "This summer, wow your family with reality by visiting atom smashers, space labs and other wild scientific hotspots. Many of the locations we suggest even give free or low-cost tours."
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 http://www.popsci.com or see the May issue of Popular Science.
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Copyright 2009 AP Features
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