1 . Four of the Best Science Museums in the World

Entering a world-class museum is like opening a door to another world. Your admission ticket is a passport to learning, culture,and fun.

California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco houses an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum in one location. It’s home to a popular lecture series covering subjects as diverse as birding and engineering for grade-schoolers. In addition, it offers nightlife events for adults and it’s one of the museums where you can spend the night.

American Museum of National History

The American Museum of National History is famous for being the one of the best dinosaur museums in the world, but it is so much more than that. The museum also features a butterfly conservatory, an Alaska brown bear exhibit, and so much more. It also features a big screen for movies and a planetarium.

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum is devoted to popularizing science and making it more accessible. Permanent exhibits focus on the animal world, space, light, human beings and an interactive children’s playground. In addition, there’s an Imax Theatre along with activities like science shows and training camps.

Ontario Science Center

The Ontario Science Center in Toronto is one of the finest museums in Canada. Popular permanent exhibits include Kidspark where children can build their own roller coaster, play musical instruments, or blow big bubbles. Other exhibits are devoted to the human body, space, and Canadian forests. It features an Imax Omni dome theater, planetarium, and children’s camp.

4 . Snowsports School

Are you aged 16 or older and ready to learn a new sport or need to improve your skills in the snow? The Seven Springs Snow Pros will help you get the most out of your experience on the mountain, no matter your ability level.

No-touch online lesson bookings

We have moved ski and snowboard rentals and snowsports school lessons to a convenient, easy-to-use online purchasing system. This means you will need to plan ahead and make your purchases in advance. The good news is that with these changes we will see everyone spending less time indoors, less contact with high-touch points and more time on the snow!

Snowsports school lessons & rates

Our snowsports product offerings this year focus on private lessons or “ski with your herd” lessons.

*Prices do not include applicable taxes.

Other information

 We offer a one-hour or two-hour lesson from 9 a.m. — 5 p.m., daily.

 Advance reservations are strongly recommended due to limited availability.

 Rental equipment is not included in your private lesson rates, but lift tickets are.

 Midweek is defined as Monday through Thursday.

 Weekend is defined as Friday through Sunday.

 Tips for snowsports instructors are not a requirement but an appropriate and appreciated gesture.

For reservations and more information, please call our winter adventure reservations at 800-452-2223.

6 . Summer is coming, and soon beaches will be full of the sounds of people having fun: splashing (泼洒) in waves and playing in the sand. But imagine finding a quieter spot of ocean. If you could stick your ears under the water, you might hear other sounds. And many of those sounds are made by fish.

People have known that fish make sounds since ancient Greece; that is why they gave some fish names like red drum, pig fish or croaker. “They’re based on the sounds these fish make,” said Audrey Looby. She studies fish sounds at the University of Florida.

So far, about 1,000 fish species have been recorded making sounds. Looby’s favorite-sounding fish is the Gulf toadfish. It makes an amazing sound like a boat whistle. Scientists are not sure how many fish make sounds. Some think that it might be as many as 22,000 types, about two-thirds of the 34,000 fish species known. And those are just the sounds fish make on purpose.

Fish sounds are important because they give a lot of information about what is going on to other fish, and to scientists. If scientists hear a fish chewing, then they know there is food available. The warning noises of certain fish species give information, too. They can tell scientists how many fish are living on a reef and where they are located. And fish sounds can tell where the endangered species are located, too, said Looby.

Fish sounds might even help preserve and bring back fish habitats. For example, scientists want to try playing healthy fish sounds in a reef that is dying. The healthy sounds might encourage fish to return and live in the dying reef. “Learning about fish sounds lets us learn about underwater environments and hopefully manage them at the same time,” Looby said.

7 . Despite the fact that there were a lot of great Hong Kong movies and singers in the 1990s, Hong Kong has been called a cultural desert for quite a long time.

But since the handover, the situation has changed. Currently known as one of the world’s top international financial centers, Hong Kong also wants to achieve the status of a global art center.

Galleries from the Chinese mainland began to come to Hong Kong in 2008. After three years, international galleries also set their sights on Hong Kong. Within three months, 10 international galleries opened locations.

After Art Basel, an international art fair, launched in Hong Kong in 2013, the region became one of the three global art markets, after New York and London. The Hong Kong Tourism Board seized the opportunity to make art the region’s new cultural and tourism product. “Art March” became a regular art festival along with Art Basel and Art Central, an event showcasing talent from innovative galleries.

In just 25 years, commercial art in Hong Kong has seen a lot of development. The number of galleries has increased from 10 to hundreds. Famous auction（拍卖）houses have also set up offices in Hong Kong, all of which represent Hong Kong’s flourishing art trade.

In the past couple of years, Hong Kong’s museums and art galleries have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

In 2021, Hong Kong’s new landmark cultural and art project - the M+ Museum - officially opened. It has received positive feedback from people in Hong Kong. It is the world’s largest museum dedicated to modern visual art from Asia.

What’s more, in July this year, the Hong Kong Palace Museum will also be completed. With a new curatorial （策展）approach of presenting both global and local perspectives, it will promote the public’s appreciation for Chinese art and culture.

8 . Have you ever thought about what happens to people’s assets (资产) when they die? That’s where wills come in.

Traditionally, wills were only made by the elderly. Many young people think they don’t need wills if they don’t have kids or houses yet. But in recent years, this perception has started to change.

A while paper released by the China Will Registration Center in March revealed that more people in their 20s and 30s are now getting wills in China, reported China Daily.

The Daily Mail also reported that more young people are writing wills thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the UK, only 18 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds had wills in 2019, compared to 27 percent in 2021.

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Emily James, 22, said the main reason she wrote a will was the pandemic. “In the current climate, you can’t really get away from death — it’s something my generation has never been faced with so distinctly before. The death count is broadcast every day, and most people know someone who has been affected by the virus, which starts to make you think and want to plan for your future.”

Apart from the pandemic, public knowledge of notable people’s health conditions, like the British royal family, has led to more people writing wills. The highest number of wills written on a single day in 2021 was on Feb 18, following the late Prince Philip’s admission to hospital, according to data from Farewill, one of the UK’s biggest death planning companies.

Farewill’s data also show that the legacies people leave in their wills are reflections of current society.

Music and pop culture collections were among the top things included in wills. The most common pop culture collections mentioned were Disney, Star Wars and Harry Potter memorabilia (纪念品).

The pandemic increased people’s likelihood of including a gift to a charity in their will. Furry friends are also not forgotten. Farewill’s data show nearly one-fifth of the people were making wills to ensure their pets were well looked after, with a total of 37 percent of will writers including plans for their pets.

10 . Have you ever dreamed of traveling to space? With many developments in space travel, you may soon be able to book a ticket.

Fly me to the moon

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, 46, has invited eight members of the public to join him for a trip around the moon with the help of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

The mission, called dearMoon, will take three days to fly to the moon, orbit and then spend three days returning. In addition to its historic first as a private lunar mission, the rocket’s flight path means it will go beyond the distance traveled by the US Apollo missions, Musk told CNBC, an American news channel. DearMoon is scheduled for 2023.

Living in space hotel

Instead of squeezing into a space cabin, how about enjoying your time in a hotel? The world’s first space hotel is due to start construction in 2025.

Developed by US company Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC), the space station will be a large circular structure. It will rotate (旋转) to generate artificial gravity, similar to the level found on the surface of the moon, according to the Daily Mail. The hotel is expected to have restaurants, cinemas and rooms for up to 400 guests.

Short space trip

While some people may like to stay in space for a long time, others may prefer to simply have a taste. Tickets for a 90-minute journey have been on sale to the public since Feb 16. The first commercial tourist flights with Virgin Galactic, a private space tourism company founded by British businessman Richard Branson, are set for later this year.

The journey to the edge of space will begin with the spacecraft attached to a twin-fuselage (双机身) aircraft. At a certain altitude, the craft detaches (分离) from the jet and fires its engines. It then climbs to reach the edge of the atmosphere, according to The Independent.

The spaceship gracefully flips (翻转) while astronauts enjoy several minutes of out-of-scat weightlessness and breath-taking views of Earth from the spaceship’s 17 windows, according to the company.