The Grand Canyon, the Matterhorn and the Great Barrier Reef compete with 25 other spectacular natural landmarks for inclusion among the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The Amazon rainforest, the Dead Sea, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Galapagos Islands also are finalists, according to the organization New 7 Wonders, led by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. People can vote by Internet or phone. Winners will be announced in 2011. More than 1 billion people are expected to join in the voting, Weber said.

You can see all 28 finalists at www.new7wonders.com.

ON THE ROAD

GET ONE CHARGER FOR ALL YOUR PORTABLE DEVICES

Don't run out of juice when you travel. The Portable Charging Mat, from Charge4All, charges up to four devices at once, using a single power source. Devices include digital cameras, cell phones, MP3 players and Bluetooth devices but not laptops or other high-current electronics.

The mat comes with an AC adapter. After hooking up a device to be charged, it lies on a silicon mat, which rolls up for easy storage. Included are four charging ports along with five popular smart plugs: Mini USB, Micro USB, Samsung SCH, LG Chocolate and iPods or iPhones. $39.95, www.charge4all.net, and from next month at www.amazon.com.

NATIONWIDE

SIX-PART PUBLIC TV DOCUMENTARY TELLS STORY OF U.S. NATIONAL PARKS

Writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner called it "the best idea we ever had." This fall, PBS will air "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," Ken Burns' 12-hour, six-part documentary series about the history of the national parks.

Filmed over six years from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska, the series explores how the most special places in the nation should be preserved. Burns also documents how not just Roosevelts and Rockefellers but people from all backgrounds devoted themselves to saving the land they loved.

"The national parks are really about 'Who am I?' " says Burns. "They provide an incredibly powerful force that holds ourselves up to ourselves."

Other forces were played out, too — conflicts, struggles, idealism and opportunism — making Burns' tribute to the spirit of adventure all the more powerful.

The series begins Sept. 27. See www.pbs.org/nationalparks.

— Chris Oliver