Las Vegas attractions

Cirque du Soleil has opened a new show at the MGM Grand hotel-casino featuring pyrotechnics, puppets, graceful martial arts sequences and the use of multimedia, including video.

The show will also include the Montreal-based troupe's trademark heart-stopping acrobatics.

In one scene, two performers duel with something called the "Wheel of Death," performing a variety of stunts as the wheel propels them high through the air.

The show, called "KA," lacks a traditional stage and instead relies upon a massive, retractible platform that almost seems to float in the void normally reserved for a stage.

This the fourth Cirque du Soleil show to open in Las Vegas. After the lucrative "Mystere," Cirque du Soleil launched "O," a water-based show, and the risque "Zumanity."

Cirque du Soleil (French for "circus of the sun") is known for acrobatic performances that mix athleticism with music and artistry. More than 7 million people saw its shows around the world last year.

The 90-minute "KA" tells a story of twins -- a boy and girl -- separated at youth, following a path of discovery filled with danger. The twins are hunted and their journey takes them through mountains, forests and to a mysterious seashore.

The $30 million show with its $135 million theater is the latest development in the transformation of the MGM Grand from a less-than-hip hotel-casino to a must-see property.

The MGM Grand has a slew of new restaurants and a sexy new club that recently landed on the cover of Time magazine.

KA will also rank as one of the most expensive shows in Las Vegas. Tickets are $99, $125 and $150. For details, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/cirquedusoleil/ka or www.mgmgrand.com/, or call 1-877-880-0880.

Coming Insanity

The Stratosphere, Casino Hotel and Tower, the 100-story building and thrill park at the end of the Las Vegas Strip, has unveiled plans for its latest extreme ride, joining the Big Shot, High Roller and X Scream.

Named Insanity, the Ride, it will be located on level 109, on the outdoor observation deck. The inverted centrifuge will dangle 10 riders in five pods that will be swung out 64 feet from the side of the tower and spin them 906 feet above the ground facing north, with an unobstructed view of Las Vegas.

Expected to open in the spring, Insanity, The Ride, will cost $15, which includes admission to the tower. Repeat rides will cost $4.

New hotel opens

The $100 million Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel opened Friday, three months ahead of schedule, with an introductory rate of $129 a night through Dec. 30. Adjacent to the city's convention center a half-mile from the Strip, it calls itself the largest non-gaming hotel in Nevada, with 518 rooms and 30 suites. Although the Renaissance has no casino, it does have a spa, high-speed Internet access, flat-screen televisions and WiFi-equipped meeting rooms. For information: 1-866-352-3434 or www.renaissancelasvegas.com.

Shanghai maglev

A new maglev train now conveys travelers to and from Shanghai's airport at a record-breaking speed of 267 mph. The 18.6-mile trip takes just eight minutes, reports Civil Engineering magazine. By car, it's 45 minutes. The authors say the magnet-driven system is safe and reliable, having already transported 2 million passengers.

Happy Hanukkah

A host of events around the world will celebrate the eight-day Festival of Lights, which starts this week. Here's a quick tour.

At Columbia University in Upper Manhattan, a 15-foot menorah made from food cans will be lit each night of Hanukkah. In Krasnoyarsk, Russia, the menorah at the center of a public Hanukkah celebration is actually a giant ice sculpture. In Miami Beach, the menorah is made of seashells, and in New Haven, Conn., it's made from Legos.

In Bangkok, participants in a Hanukkah celebration will ride elephants, and in San Antonio, they'll be on a boat. In Morumbi, Brazil, they'll be at a soccer stadium, and in Upland, Calif., look for a parade of Hummers, each outfitted with a menorah on top.

These are just a few of the unusual Hanukkah celebrations taking place this year, sponsored by outposts of ultra-Orthodox Lubavitcher Jews around the globe but open to all, Jews of every level of observance as well as non-Jews.

Other events include a Hanukkah celebration in Washington, D.C.'s, Lafayette Park, where a menorah has been lit every year for 25 years, and a menorah lighting at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. At Universal Studios Hollywood, a Hanukkah celebration in the CityWalk section of the park is expected to draw 20,000 people. A menorah made from balloons will be on display in Atlanta, and another made from chocolate is the centerpiece of a celebration in Mount Olympus, Calif.

All lightings will take place for eight nights beginning Tuesday, around sundown. Check exact times and locations for these and dozens of other Hanukkah events around the world, from small towns and college campuses to big cities and remote locales, at www.chabad.org/events.

Don't just surf, kayak

Just as travelers begin to understand that no single Web site displays prices from all travel sellers, a group of companies is betting they can attract customers by making the search process less of a chore.

The latest search site to enter the travel landscape is Kayak.com, which joins companies like CheapFlights, SideStep, Mobissimo and Yahoo!'s FareChase in the race to become, essentially, the Google of travel. These sites don't sell tickets or accept reservations; they simply display prices available for flights, hotel rooms or car rentals, and refer customers to other sites to buy, typically getting a fee for the referral. (Another site, ITASoftware.com, earns money from licensing its technology, not referrals.)

"We're a technology company that focuses on travel search, we're not a travel agency," said Steve Hafner, co-founder and chief executive of the Kayak Software Corp., which unveiled its search tool at kayak.com on Sept. 30. For now, visitors can search for round-trip flights and hotel rooms; the company is still developing the technology for a broader range of searches, like one-way tickets or rental cars.

One of Kayak's most useful features is the ability to sort and filter results. Once you've searched for a flight, Kayak offers a toolbar that lets you narrow down the options displayed -- say, by eliminating flights on airlines you don't want to fly, restricting the results to a particular price range or specifying the time of day you want to travel.

But much as these sites aim to build a better search engine, they still have some quirks. Travelers complain that the prices they find at these sites aren't always available, and that they don't necessarily display flights from all airlines -- Southwest being a notable holdout. Plus, SideStep.com requires travelers to download software to use its search tool, though the company plans to introduce a Web option in January.

So it remains to be seen whether more choice means a better shopping experience for travelers -- or just more clicking around.

Smithsonian awards

A landmarks preservation program and a Central American eco-lodge won awards for "Sustainable Tourism" from Smithsonian Magazine and the Travelers Conservation Foundation.

Finca Esperanza Verde Ecolodge and Nature Preserve (www.fincaesperanzaverde.org) in Nicaragua won the conservation award. Income from tourism is part of a larger effort in the area that includes reforestation, wildlife habitat restoration, and promotion of organic coffee cultivation by local farmers and cooperatives.

Hampton Hotels' Save-A-Landmark program (www. hamptonlandmarks.com) won the preservation award for donating nearly $1 million toward refurbishing 21 North American historic sites, including a Georgia lighthouse, a Santa Fe pueblo and a Route 66 diner.