Have you ever thought, “It might be nice to go on vacation by myself”?

If so, you’re not alone. Roughly one in four Americans say they will travel solo this year, according to an annual survey by marketing firm MMGY Global. One of the benefits of vacationing by yourself, of course, is the freedom. “You can do what you want, when you want,” says Janice Waugh, author of The Solo Traveler’s Handbook and founder of the online resource Solo Traveler. Want to eat lunch at 4 p.m.? Go for it! Have no desire to see, for instance, that world-famous boardwalk? Just drive right by and on to your next destination.

Read the whole story at Budget Travel

Flying may get you to your destination quicker, but you'll miss out on the stunning scenery below the clouds and hidden gem attractions that are best explored via a car. That's why we love a good road trip, whether along California's breathtaking coast or through Iceland's geologic wonders. But before you hop in your car, consult our ultimate road trip packing list to make sure you have everything for a comfortable, safe, and stress-free drive.

Read the whole story at Oyster.com

To anyone other than an airline bean counter, airfares make absolutely no sense. They have no relation to the distance flown or the duration of your journey —in fact, the cheapest tickets often send you off on multiple, time-wasting detours. There’s little transparency in the process of how airlines arrive at their prices, and they’re in a constant state of flux. Indeed, the industry worldwide logs more than 3.9 million fare changes every single day, according to the Airline Tariff Publishing Company (APTCO), an industry data provider.

Read the whole story at Condé Nast Traveler

While much of the nation (and the world) is in the midst of a cold, harsh winter, the desert oasis of Palm Springs, California is sitting pretty with an average daily temperature hovering right around 75 degrees and sunny.

Yes, the palm trees, warm desert breeze, and poolside cocktails are indeed calling your name this winter, beckoning you to come for a long weekend from Los Angeles, or an even longer stay from far off places. But once you land in paradise, hold off on sliding onto a lounge chair, because the Greater Palm Springs area, which includes Coachella, Indio, Palm Springs, and more, has much to offer beyond the pool.

Read the whole story at Travel + Leisure

Travel gear has changed more in the last ten years than in the previous hundred. Suitcases, in particular, are getting lighter, better, stronger — even smarter. The decision to pick just one has never been harder. Here, we narrow the list to five of our favorite carry-ons, broken down by travel style.

Read the whole story at The Manual

Google is enabling its built-in ad blocker for Chrome tomorrow (February 15th). Chrome’s ad filtering is designed to weed out some of the web’s most annoying ads, and push website owners to stop using them. Google is not planning to wipe out all ads from Chrome, just ones that are considered bad using standards from the Coalition for Better Ads. Full page ads, ads with autoplaying sound and video, and flashing ads will be targeted by Chrome’s ad filtering, which will hopefully result in less of these annoying ads on the web.

Read the whole story at The Verge

• Heads of the FBI, CIA and NSA have warned against using smartphones from Chinese manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE.
• The comments were made during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.
• The intelligence chiefs said they were “deeply concerned” about the risks posed by these devices, though Huawei denies any wrongdoing.

Read the whole story at Android Authority

Reflectors placed on the moon during manned moon missions have let earthly astronomers accurately measure the moon’s distance. That’s how we know that – today – the moon’s distance from Earth is increasing at a rate of about 1.6 inches (4 cm) per year. What we haven’t known with any accuracy is how fast the moon was retreating long ago. Now researchers have announced results of new dynamic model – a computer simulation over time – based on the current size of the moon’s equatorial bulge. The model sets parameters on how fast or slowly the moon was receding from Earth, billions of years ago. It has implications for what the Earth, moon and other solar system bodies were like early in the history of our solar system.

Read the whole story at EarthSky

Scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London and the University of Roehampton have just completed a “pilot” study that may lead to teaching schizophrenic patients how to control their verbal hallucinations.

The study, published in Translational Psychiatry and titled "Real-time fMRI neurofeedback to down-regulate superior temporal gyrus activity in patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations: a proof-of-concept study," involved 12 patients being placed in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and shown a computerized rocket ship that reacted to the part of the brain that registers speech. They were instructed to land the in-game rocket ship safely but were not told how. They were only advised to “develop their own mental strategies to move it.”

Read the whole story at TechSpot

Atmospheric conditions that helped create the recent multiyear California drought have returned, leaving the state dry and exceptionally warm this winter and its residents wondering if another long dry spell is on the way.

A ridge of high-pressure air off the West Coast has persisted for much of the past three months, blocking many Pacific storms from reaching California and weakening others that do get through. Normally such ridges tend to come and go, but they also lingered during the 2012-16 drought, the worst in the state’s history.

Read the whole story at The New York Times