Traveling aboard a luxury cruise ship is often the best way to explore new places, but some cruise lines offer experiences that are just a notch above the rest. 

In its most recent issue, National Geographic Traveler put together a list of the 21 best cruises in the world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Nile River.

Below, we've selected our favorites from the list, highlighting ships that include perks like "snow rooms" and spa services, and others that offer travelers unparalleled experiences like tours of tropical gardens in the Marquesas Islands. All captions are by National Geographic Traveler.

SEE ALSO: 13 stunning photos that show why Oman is the next big destination for luxury travelers

The Seychelles islands

"The 62-passenger Crystal Esprit, the first yacht from this famed luxury line, spends winters at these Indian Ocean islands. Release baby turtles into the surf and admire the giant coco-de-mer palms."

The Amazon River

"Aqua Expeditions' Aria Amazon sails through the Peruvian rain forest, with visits to indigenous villages and a chance to fish for piranha. Onboard, menus celebrate local fare with ceviche, river fish, and hearts of palm salad."

The Nile River

"Lounging on pillows stuffed with Egyptian cotton on the top deck of Nour El Nil's Meroë, you'll feel like a modern-day pharaoh as you journey past date palms, ibis, and the temples at Edfu and Kom Ombo."

It's an indisputable fact that no brand has driven sneaker culture like Nike. 

It has connected running, hip hop, and streetwear, made athletes into legends, and helped change American attitudes on exercise. 

Here's just a few of the ways Nike has defined "cool" in American culture since its founding more than 50 years ago.

Drake Baer contributed reporting to an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: Nike's business is 'going to get darker before the dawn'

1973: Nike signs its first athlete to an endorsement deal

Steve Prefontaine, a 22-year-old known as "Pre," as he came to be known, was an elite runner.

He set his first national record at age 15 by running two miles in 8:41:5. He held an American record in every long-distance event, from 2,000 meters to 10,000 meters, before his tragic death in a car accident at 24 years old.

Pre signed his deal with Nike in 1974 for $5,000. The Nike brand was just three years old.

With his flowing hair, punk rock attitude, and unprecedented success, Pre helped brand Nike as swaggering, dominant, and committed to athletic excellence.

1970-1978: Nike helps popularize jogging

Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman was a track coach at the University of Oregon. He was instrumental in luring Pre to the University of Oregon and having him sign on to Nike. 

Bowerman was a huge proponent of running recreationally, or, as it would become known, jogging. While it seems like running has always been popular, it didn't actually become a common pursuit until the running boom of the 1970s.

"Certainly running was already popular among kids and athletes in the 1970s, but it wasn't the social activity that we see it as today," says marketing analyst Garrett Moon. "The growing white-collar workforce helped pave the way for social activities that included the promotion of cardiovascular health. Once the trend was ingrained, the need shifted and the 'jogging shoes' themselves became the felt need."

Bowerman helped push running into the mainstream with "Jogging," a book he wrote with a medical doctor explaining the benefits of running recreationally. As a sportswear maker with a US market share of close to 50% in running shoes, Nike was able to benefit from this.

1985: Nike launches the Air Jordan.

No one could have predicted what Michael Jordan's Nike endorsement would mean for the brand. The first shoe the two collaborated on, the Air Jordan, was released in September 1985. 

The shoes were famously "banned" from the court by the NBA in October 1985, as they didn't fit the required color scheme. The league fined Jordan $5,000 each time he wore the sneakers during a game, and Nike gladly covered the expenses.

Nike created a TV commercial with this fact, giving the shoes an infamously cool vibe. The attention gained from the incident helped the shoe become a runaway success.

The Air Jordan brand later became its own sub-brand of Nike. It developed a cult following, with sneaker fans lining up for every new limited release.

When a man turns 30, he turns around and looks back at his life.

But he should also turn around and look back at his wardrobe because, chances are, it's been neglected in his younger years.

We've identified 22 of the most important essentials that every guy should have by the time he turns the big three-oh.

If you're approaching or over 30, it might be time to go shopping.

SEE ALSO: 14 apps every modern gentleman should have on his phone

A full suit that is tailored and fits well.

No more excuses. There's no questioning you're an adult now. You need at least one suit, preferably in navy or gray.

Really, you should have both by now. What have you been doing all this time? Come on. Get on it.

A nice blazer to add some variety.

As American dress skews more informal, blazers have become more important than ever.

A nice blazer will make sure that you don't overwhelm a room with a full suit when the occasion doesn't call for it,  but it will also separate you from the crowd a bit. You'll get more use out of it than you'd expect.

An expensive wristwatch for special occasions.

Even if you're not a watch guy, you should realize the importance of wearing a watch on occasion. They complete a formal outfit in a way that's hard to describe, but you'll know it when you feel it.

Drop a few hundred to have a timepiece that you can call your own.

Billionaire casino magnate Steve Wynn went back for more, but yet again a court slapped down the notion that he was slandered by famed short seller, Jim Chanos.

Wynn appealed a 2015 district court decision to throw out a lawsuit against Chanos accusing the short seller of slander after remarks made in a closed talk.

In a three page decision upholding the dismissal viewed by Business Insider, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals maintained that Wynn had failed to make a "plausible" claim of liability on Chanos' part as Chanos was not stating fact, but asserting his opinion.

"Wynn asserts the district court erred when it determined Wynn had not spelled out the case for slander. We disagree," the Court wrote.

The decision also maintained Wynn's liability for Chanos' legal fees.

In case you missed the first go-round, back in 2014 Wynn sued Chanos for slander based on comments Chanos made during a closed talk about the casino industry in Macau. 

You can see video of the event here.Chanos starts speaking around 4:00 and again around 36:00.

Chanos launched his short-only firm, Kynikos Associates, back in the 1980s and catapulted to international fame after helping to bring attention to accounting fraud at Enron before the energy trading company went bankrupt. 

Chanos has been publicly short the casino industry in the past, and during his 2014 talk he expressed concern about potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 

Wynn was livid and filed suit against Chanos in September 2014. The matter was dismissed in March 2015.

"I need look no further than the transcript and video of the symposium to conclude that Chanos’s words do not amount to a statement of fact, but rather an opinion that is not actionable. For these reasons, and because I grant Chanos’s motion to dismiss," California District Judge William Orrick wrote in his 2015 decision.

Undaunted, Wynn appealed, but he lost. And here we are. Jim Chanos declined to comment for this story.

Billionaires, man. They have problems just like us.

Read the full decision, embedded below:

SEE ALSO: The most powerful meeting of young Silicon Valley players you've never heard of

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NOW WATCH: These are the states you should live in to pay the least taxes

Here's how self-described "couch potato" Joel Cohen trained to finish the NYC marathon. He chronicles his training journey and best tips and tricks for regular, non-runners to attempt marathon running in his new book "How to Lose a Marathon". 

Following is a transcript of the video.

Before I even started running, most of my fitness regimen was my arm muscles needed to open a bag of chips. But, I then read this book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall, and I started thinking about running and then I took the next step which is actually running.

Well, when I first got into running, I — my diet did not change. Actually, running was a great excuse to keep eating what I wanted because I thought,  I’m gonna run it off anyhow. So it was just pure bacon diet. But, I ran — the very first run I did was a 5K, the first organized run I did was a 5K. Just to experience what’s that like to be in a race with other people. And I lost that as well, miserably, setting a pattern of consistency I’ve kept up to this day. 

The one thing I definitely found I relied on immensely was this app called Runkeeper which is a free app, mostly, on your phone. And it literally ... I never consulted a coach or anybody else really to tell me how to prepare for a marathon and it literally took me from never having run all the way to running a marathon just by telling me the schedule of what to run every day. Another important piece of gear is maybe surprising to some people is shoes. You put them on your feet and run in them.

You know, just thinking about running a marathon, I guess I never anticipated that, hey this proves what an idiot I am. There’s a lot of running involved. Like, you know, when I ran the marathon it took almost four and a half hours, but you build up steadily to longer and longer runs to prepare for that. And at some point, you’re running three hours without a break which is — that’s a lot of running.  So I didn’t think about that. I mean, it’s pleasurable in a way, and it’s very peaceful and solitary, but it’s a lot of time devoted to running.

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Sophia Bera, a certified financial planner and the founder of Gen Y Planning, explains why you should negotiate your salary when starting a new job. Following is a transcript of the video.

So what a lot of people don't realize is that the best time to actually negotiate a salary is when you get a new job. So a lot of times, we are so excited to be offered a new job that we forget that we can actually negotiate our salary or we forget that we are actually in a really good position to be able to do so, that his company really wants us and that we are bringing a unique set of skills to the table and so I really recommend that you always negotiate your salary.

The other thing is your employer is expecting you to do this and so, that was the other thing that I didn't realize when I was younger and I actually made this money mistake. Early on, my first job in financial planning, they made me an offer, they were like, "we are going to pay you", you know, "$40K a year" and I thought that I had won the lottery. I thought this was the most money that I had, you know - I just didn't even think that I would be earning that much money at 23 and I quickly said yes and was very excited about it.

But what was interesting is when I was getting into this profession, it was around the height of the market so they had the budget to be able to offer me a competitive salary and then the stock market crashed and guess what, our 401K match, got taken away and then the next year, salaries were flat, and then the next year, I switched jobs and was really trying to negotiate that new salary but because of the market downturn, you know, I got like a $2K raise but they weren't paying for my health insurance premiums anymore. So I basically made about the same amount of money my first five years in the financial planning profession because I didn't negotiate that first salary and I really feel like I learned a lot from that experience and I don't want you to make the same mistake.

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Whether you want to experience the glamor of the Roaring '20s or see what life was like for a Soviet billionaire, this $85 million property on New York's Long Island has you covered.

Built in 1928, this 8-acre Long Island estate has all the modern luxuries you would hope to get in a home of that price.

The estate was owned by Tamir Sapir, who emigrated from the former Soviet republic of Georgia and made his fortune in New York real estate. He died in 2014.

The current owner, whose identity is shrouded in mystery by a limited-liability corporation, bought the estate in 2013 for $15.9 million but reportedly never moved in.

The mansion listed for $100 million in 2015 with no takers. Paul Tyree of Laffey Real Estate has the new listing.

SEE ALSO: George Soros' former right-hand man is selling his 20-acre estate for $31.5 million

One of the largest and most expensive homes on Long Island's North Shore is up for sale again.

Located in the village of Kings Point, the 8-acre estate lies about 25 miles from Manhattan.

Much of that acreage is taken up by manicured lawns and gardens. Long, winding driveways lead to the several structures situated on the property.

It is teeming with thousands of different species of bacteria. In one spot, the unruly Lactobacillus acidophilus dominates; in another,Propionibacterium acnes is taking over.

No, it's not a toilet seat — it's your skin. Good old L. acidophilus line our digestive tract, and P. acnes can be found on our faces and arms. On average, bacteria account for about three pounds of our body weight. Fortunately, most of them are harmless. Some even help us.

Toilet seats and other surfaces host bacteria too, of course — and some of it can be pretty icky. So it's no surprise that most of us, in an effort to protect our bodies from these germs, sheathe the seats in thin liners. But these flimsy sheets actually don't do much good.

By the time you sit down on a public toilet seat — even if it was recently shared by someone else — the vast majority of harmful pathogens lingering on its surface will no longer be harmful. Plus, your skin is a pretty effective block against any meandering microbes (unless of course you have a cut or open wound, which could allow the bacteria to get in).

So where'd the idea of stocking bathrooms with flimsy, frustrating sheets come from?

In the 1920s, a husband and wife patented the first toilet seat liner after reasoning that toilet seats could spread dangerous infectious diseases.

Don't worry — they can't.

Viruses like HIV and herpes are fragile, meaning they don't survive very well outside of a warm human body. And while a public toilet seat could host a common microbe like E. coli or even an infection-causing streptococcus, these bacteria can't get you sick simply by coming into contact with your skin.

So if toilet seat covers are useless, what should you do instead?

In order for that E. coli or strep to successfully make its way into your system, you'd have to touch it with your hands and then touch your unwashed fingers to your mouth or eyes soon after that.

This is why you should always remember the rule you've probably heard since you were a kid: Wash your hands! The best way to do it, according to the World Health Organization, involves rubbing your hands palm-to-palm first, then with interlaced fingers, and finally by rubbing your fingertips (thumb included) against each palm. That's it!

SEE ALSO: All the things you do to avoid germs are useless

DON'T MISS: You’ve been washing your hands all wrong

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NOW WATCH: You're better off giving up these 7 'healthy habits'

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NOW WATCH: Take a look inside the Laguna Beach vacation home Warren Buffett listed for $11 million

Impossible Foods, a startup selling "bloody," plant-based burgers that even the most ardent meat-lovers can get behind, was in talks with McDonald's to supply the fast-food giant with its buzzy burger, The Guardian reported in March. It's unclear how recent these conversations were.

David Lee, COO and CEO of Impossible Foods, tells Business Insider that such partnerships are likely as consumers demand more plant-based alternatives. But the startup can't team up with the Golden Arches — or any other global food service retailer — until it can produce at scale.

"I think in some ways what constrains our ability to partner with large-scale [retailers], is the fact that we're just in the midst of creating the supply for demand that exists already today," says Lee, who left social-gaming company Zynga for Impossible Foods in 2015.

The company declined to comment on the specifics of its relationship with McDonald's, but says it is "in ongoing discussions with numerous high-quality restaurants, distributors and chains, both big and small."

Impossible Foods currently supplies its signature product — a "meat" made from wheat and potato protein, coconut oil, and a "secret sauce" molecule derived from plants — to eight restaurants in New York and California. In March, the company announced its first large-scale production facility on the West Coast. The factory will produce at least one million pounds of meatless meat per month, or four million burgers, once the site is up and running later in 2017.

The new facility will increase production capacity by 250 times, allowing the company to supply burgers to more than 1,000 restaurants someday and bring its fake beef to grocery stores within the next few years.

It's an exciting development that shows the company is preparing to scale beyond a niche, foodie customer base. But Impossible Foods will need to grow a lot bigger if it wants to replace conventional meat entirely, as the company hopes to do. Compared to the eight restaurants that Impossible Foods supplies, McDonald's has over 36,000 locations worldwide.

Pat Brown, founder and CEO of Impossible Foods, left his teaching job at Stanford in 2009 because he saw how animal agriculture took a toll on the planet. Raising cows, chickens, and hogs for food takes up about a third of the world's land, and accounts for roughly 9% of greenhouse gas emissions. Brown wanted to put a dent in animal agriculture's environmental impact by giving consumers a better option: a meatless, "uncompromisingly delicious" burger.

While consumers probably won't find the Impossible Burger in McDonald's anytime soon, plant-based foods are gaining traction in grocery aisles across America. They're starting to actually taste good since tech startups moved into the space. Sales of plant-based foods, which include almond milk, eggless mayo, and veggie burgers, topped $5 billion last year.

Lee is optimistic that talks with large-scale retailers will continue, as the number of conscientious eaters rises. It's likely consumers will continue to drive the food industry into green territory. Fast-food giants will want to pay attention to Impossible Foods' efforts.

"I think anyone that serves delicious burgers have to be part of the conversation," Lee says.

SEE ALSO: Google wanted to buy this startup that makes fake meat — here's why the CEO will never sell

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NOW WATCH: CaliBurger plans on using these burger-flipping robots

Douglas Burdge and his team of designers have built more than 300 homes in the Malibu, California, area, many of them for celebrities, entertainment execs, and Fortune 500 CEOs.

Over the years, their projects have varied in style from hacienda-style to contemporary, with lots of modern, clean lines. 

These days, regardless of the home's overall style, Burdge says, it seems that many of his clients are looking to add the same amenity, one that would make their new house more like a five-star hotel: a spa and health club.

"The reasoning is that a lot of people can't go to gyms because of their celebrity status, or maybe there isn't one close by," Burdge recently said to Business Insider. The architect has also worked on homes in the similarly ritzy enclaves of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Los Cabos, Mexico. 

When it comes to building out a home spa, Burdge's clients are looking for the full slate of perks, from indoor pools, saunas, and steamrooms to massage rooms and hair wash sinks. The firm partnered with an Italian design group and toured boutique spas in Italy to achieve its signature look.

"We have a mentality of not just building a spa or a steam room, but creating the whole environment," Burdge said. "We design our houses so that you feel like you're staying in a hotel."

The best place for these ritzy home spas is often the basement, where square footage usually isn't as heavily regulated in local building codes.

"It's even better if you have geology that allows you to build really deep," Burdge said. 

His team of architects will often incorporate design elements that mimic natural lighting, like an LED fixture that looks like a skylight in the ceiling.

Even for those wealthy clients who don't have spas at the top of their list of priorities, the basement is a place where homeowners can build more creatively. Some people will add an extensive wine cellar, extra bedroom, or a game room. 

Or, they might use it for something a bit more over-the-top. Burdge mentioned a 12,000-square-foot home that his firm is working on in the Palisades. 

"We're building a car lift that will take you down to a car collection in the garage below." 

SEE ALSO: Live like a Russian billionaire in this over-the-top Long Island mansion, which is back on the market for $85 million

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NOW WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres is selling her Santa Barbara mansion for $45 million — take a look inside

As someone who loves both meat and chain restaurants, I was only half prepared when I adopted a 100% fast-food diet with no meat allowed.

After spending a week trying to eat healthy while consuming nothing but fast food, I figured that going vegetarian for five days would be a breeze. I already knew fast-food menus like the back of my hand, and I had plenty of vegetarian friends I could consult.

Plus, a growing percentage of the American population has already gone vegetarian. While about 3% of the US identifies as vegetarian or vegan, an increasing number of people are cutting meat from their diet; 26% to 41% of Americans report that they cut down on the amount of meat they ate in the past year.

If fast-food chains want to compete with the new wave of trendy fast-casual restaurants, they need to appeal to the vegetarian market — including people who want to decrease the amount of meat they eat without cutting it from their diet.

So, I became a short-term vegetarian to see which fast-food chains were evolving to meet the meatless needs of consumers.

My first and most important rule was that I could eat only at fast-food chains. (I would consume at least three meals a day.)

That means no notoriously veggie-friendly fast casuals like Sweetgreen or Chipotle.

My orders would be 100% vegetarian, so no burgers or chicken fingers. I would not, however, be going vegan, so I could still eat things like eggs and cheese.

The challenge would last for one work week, from Monday to Friday.

I kicked off the week with the biggest name in fast food: McDonald's.

McDonald's has an extensive breakfast menu with a lot of range when it comes to health and meatiness. I ordered an ice coffee and a fruit-and-maple oatmeal. 

The McDonald's oatmeal was certainly more flavorful than my typical morning bowl, packed with apples, cranberries, and (according to McDonald's) two types of raisins. It was also sweeter than I'm used to, with 32 grams of sugar — more than half of the daily recommended dosage. Clearly, vegetarian does not necessarily mean nutritious. 

For lunch I visited a chain highly recommended by vegetarian friends: Taco Bell.

Taco Bell is the only national fast-food chain to have a menu certified by the American Vegetarian Association. Even before the chain rolled out the certified menu last October, Taco Bell had plenty of vegetarian cred thanks to the ease with which customers could substitute beans and rice for meat in most menu offerings. 

"Vegetarian has been really big for us recently," because of its relevance to millennials, Taco Bell's dietitian and product developer Missy Nelson told Business Insider. 

Looking at Taco Bell's menu, it's clear there is plenty to choose from. I decided on a bean burrito and a spicy potato soft taco. The burrito was straightforward but tasty, while the soft taco packed a bit of heat into the potatoes — two solid options I'd order again. 

Business Insider covers Elon Musk quite a lot, because let's face it — he's a visionary.

From making electric cars the standard with Tesla to making space travel affordable with SpaceX, Musk is the Thomas Edison of our time.

Here are 12 of our favorite things that he's said about the future of the planet.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk has launched a company that hopes to link your brain to a computer

DON'T MISS: Elon Musk reveals how much sleep he gets each night

On flying cars:

On innovation:

On invention:

As more and more of your friends go gluten-free, you may be wondering: Is there something to this craze? Is gluten intolerance a thing? Is it getting more common?

The answer is no.

Only about 1% of people worldwide actually have celiac disease, the rare genetic disorder that makes people intolerant to gluten. And that number is not on the rise, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Just this month, a group of experts tasked with deciding if we should screen healthy people for celiac concluded that the jury is still out on whether doing so would improve people's health.

And as for all those people who say they don't have celiac but are just "sensitive" to gluten, a 2013 study out of Monash University suggested that's probably not a thing, either.

Alan Levinovitz, an assistant professor at James Madison University, studies the intersection between religion and medicine, and says the recent uptick in self-diagnosed gluten sensitivities comes down to a mix of psychology and behavioral change.

In his book "The Gluten Lie," Levinovitz interviews Peter Gibson, a Monash University professor of gastroenterology who helped write the 2013 study that found non-celiac gluten "intolerance" was probably not real. Gibson says the reason many people who've cut gluten out of their diets claim they feel healthier is that they've changed how they eat.

"I've noticed [this] lots of times, even with family members," Gibson told Levinovitz. "They've decided they're eating a lot of takeaway foods, quick foods, not eating well at all. They read this thing about gluten-free, and then they're buying fresh vegetables, cooking well, and eating a lot better."

In other words, while cutting gluten may seem like it makes your stomach feel better or clears up your complexion, there could be many other causes.

"Blaming the gluten is easy, but you could point to about a hundred things they're doing better," Gibson said. 

That reality can be a tough pill to swallow, however.

"When it comes to food sensitivities, people are incredibly unwilling to question self-diagnoses," Levinovitz wrote. "No one wants to think that the benefits they experienced from going gluten-free ... might be psychological."

On top of that, many people are not good at reliably connecting what they've eaten to physical symptoms. Studies have shown that we have trouble remembering what we ate and when we ate it, and that we're poor judges of what's healthy and what's not.

So rather than jumping to self-diagnose, see a doctor. And stick to the science.

SEE ALSO: Fresh fruits and veggies aren't always healthier than frozen ones — here's why

DON'T MISS: One of the most popular ways of telling if you're a healthy weight is bogus — here's what you should do instead

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NOW WATCH: The Science Is In — Why Gluten Sensitivity Is Probably Fake

Hundreds of thousands of high-school students around the world will learn Thursday at 5 p.m. ET whether they were accepted or rejected into the Ivy League.

It looks as if the Ivy League is on track to receive an historic number of applications. Every school except Dartmouth that has reported its figures has seen an increase in application numbers.

Harvard University, with 39,494 applicants, again received more than it did the year before (39,040).

Good luck to all of the aspiring Ivy Leaguers out there.

Here's how many students applied to each Ivy League school:

• Brown University— 32,699 applicants
• Columbia University — To be determined
• Cornell University — To be determined
• Dartmouth College — 20,021 applicants
• Harvard University— 39,044 applicants
• University of Pennsylvania— 40,394 applicants
• Princeton University — To be determined
• Yale University— 32,891 applicants

We will update this post as the rest of the numbers come in.

If you have something to share about your college admissions experience email ajackson@businessinsider.com

SEE ALSO: Ivy League colleges offer free tuition to certain students — here's how financial aid packages stack up

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NOW WATCH: This simple stretch helps neck pain caused by staring at your phone

Apple's biggest launch in 2017 isn't a new iPhone or iPad.

It's a new campus in Cupertino, California, that looks like a spaceship and reportedly cost over $5 billion to build. The project was one of the last that Steve Jobs was involved with.

Apple named the campus "Apple Park" in February and said it would open in April for employees. There will also be an Apple Store on the premises and a visitors center for non-employees, although the opening date for the public hasn't been announced yet.

"The main building, parking structure, theatre, and fitness center are under construction," said a progress report delivered to the Cupertino City Council on March 7. "Occupancy for main building will begin in April and phased to end of 2017. Phase 2 and ancillary building expected to be completed by 2018." 

Our latest look at Apple's "spaceship" headquarters comes from Matthew Roberts, a drone pilot and photographer who has been making Apple Park videos for years. 

Take a look:

Apple Park is right on Interstate 280, but a military-grade fence shields it from the noise and intruders.

The building is nearly complete, but there's still some landscaping work to be done.

The roof is covered with solar panels ...

Good parents want their kids to stay out of trouble, do well in school, and go on to do awesome things as adults.

And while there isn't a set recipe for raising successful children, psychology research has pointed to a handful of factors that predict success.

Unsurprisingly, much of it comes down to the parents.

Here's what parents of successful kids have in common:

SEE ALSO: 21 books successful people read to their kids

SEE ALSO: 19 things teachers say parents should do at home to help their kids succeed

They make their kids do chores

"If kids aren't doing the dishes, it means someone else is doing that for them," Julie Lythcott-Haims, former dean of freshmen at Stanford University and author of "How to Raise an Adult" said during aTED Talks Live event. 

"And so they're absolved of not only the work, but of learning that work has to be done and that each one of us must contribute for the betterment of the whole," she said. 

Lythcott-Haims believes kids raised on chores go on to become employees who collaborate well with their coworkers, are more empathetic because they know firsthand what struggling looks like, and are able to take on tasks independently.  

She bases this on the Harvard Grant Study, the longest longitudinal study ever conducted.

"By making them do chores — taking out the garbage, doing their own laundry — they realize I have to do the work of life in order to be part of life," she previously told Business Insider.

They teach their kids social skills

Researchers from Pennsylvania State University and Duke University tracked more than 700 children from across the US between kindergarten and age 25 and found a significant correlation between their social skills as kindergartners and their success as adults two decades later.

The 20-year study showed that socially competent children who could cooperate with their peers without prompting, be helpful to others, understand their feelings, and resolve problems on their own, were far more likely to earn a college degree and have a full-time job by age 25 than those with limited social skills.

Those with limited social skills also had a higher chance of getting arrested, binge drinking, and applying for public housing.

"This study shows that helping children develop social and emotional skills is one of the most important things we can do to prepare them for a healthy future," said Kristin Schubert, program director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the research, in a release.

"From an early age, these skills can determine whether a child goes to college or prison, and whether they end up employed or addicted."

They have high expectations

Using data from a national survey of 6,600 children born in 2001, University of California at Los Angeles professor Neal Halfon and his colleagues discovered that the expectations parents hold for their kids have a huge effect on attainment. 

"Parents who saw college in their child's future seemed to manage their child toward that goal irrespective of their income and other assets," he said in a statement.

The finding came out in standardized tests: 57% of the kids who did the worst were expected to attend college by their parents, while 96% of the kids who did the best were expected to go to college.

That parents should keep their expectations high falls in line with another psych finding — the Pygmalion effect, which states "that what one person expects of another can come to serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy" — as well as what some teachers told Business Insider was most important for a child's success.

What's old is new again at the watch industry's largest worldwide expo in Switzerland.

Baselworld is often an occasion for the world's largest and most popular watch makers to release their shiny new models. It's about as exciting as the watch industry gets — think Christmas for watch geeks.

A whole lot of new models were announced at the show this year, as were tweaks to existing models. And it seems that with the scorching vintage watch market and a struggling Swiss watch industry, brands are trying to capture the zeitgeist with new, updated releases to classic 20th-century watches.

We rounded up eight of the biggest announcements and rew releases.

SEE ALSO: Rolex unveiled a new watch that's shinier than anything we've seen from the brand before

Grand Seiko

Grand Seiko, newly spun out from under the larger Seiko brand, is its handmade luxury division.

Seiko watches have a great reputation for a good reason — they're excellent pieces. This year, the brand is releasing a modern version of its original 1960 classic piece in three different metals: gold, steel, and platinum.

Seiko Prospex Diver

Seiko has a rich history for its main watch brand, too.

In 1965, the company made its first diver watch. This a close reproduction of that piece, but with the expected modern upgrades.

Rolex Cellini Moonphase

The Rolex Cellini Moonphase is the newest entry to the brand's 20th-century-inspired dress watch line. The addition of a moonphase marks the first time the brand has included that complication since the 1950s, according to Hodinkee.

The moonphase complication will remain accurate for 122 years without adjustment, according to Rolex. It tells the current lunar phase with a blue disk carrying an empty ring and meteorite appliqué moon.

Every town has its local celebrities, and in New York City some of those celebrities are steaks.

That is to say, we eat here. New York City is not Los Angeles, where a "green-something" is considered an appropriate meal for an adult human. This is a town where a cut of meat can reach near Beyonce-level fame.

Of course, not all of the best cuts of meat have achieved such heights. Some remain unsung heroes, consistently pleasing but flying under the radar, and that's likely best.

Sometimes you don't want to have to make a reservation or dress up for a steakhouse to get down on something juicy.

Knowing that, Business Insider compiled a list of some of the best of New York City's lesser known steaks. Some are in unexpected locations, others are cult favorites, and some have just never felt the need to put on a show for anyone.

The steak speaks for itself.

New York Yankees Steakhouse, NYY Signature Rib Eye ($78)

The New York Yankees Steakhouse is in Midtown, the neighborhood of steakhouses, yet it  feels more like a sports club than anything else.

No matter, the steak there is actually top notch. Definitely on par with some of its better neighbors. Go try it. 

Fun fact: They'll carve anything you want into the bone of your steak.

7 W 51st St, New York

Employees Only, Seared Rib Eye ($68)

We'll say this until we are blue in the face — Employees Only is the best cocktail bar in New York City and possibly the world. There a few reasons we'll list here.

• If you're there long enough, you'll get a bowl of chicken soup at 3:30 am.
• Despite rising to international fame, it's still a local joint where you can eventually become a regular.
• Even your mom can drink the Amelia.
• This steak (and the Cavatelli. We dream about them).

510 Hudson St, New York

Lalito, Baby Steak ($15)

Lalo is a restaurant that has wowed critics from the moment it opened thanks to its creative Mexican fare. That's great — cool even, but Lalo's baby steak (Lalito) knows no nationality. It's just an incredibly juicy awesome cut of meat.

104 Bayard St, New York

There's nothing like a tropical getaway. And if you have your sights set on the Caribbean, there are plenty of stunning islands to choose from.

We recently ranked the 25 best islands to visit in the Caribbean, but determining which one is the right fit for you is no easy task.

So we've broken down the best Caribbean islands for each type of traveler, whether you're looking for incredible food, a thrilling adventure, or fun activities for the kids.

Talia Avakian contributed reporting to an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: The 25 best Caribbean islands, ranked

DON'T MISS: These are the most extravagant hotel amenities money can buy

Best for a romantic getaway: St. Lucia

St. Lucia is a popular honeymoon destination in the Caribbean, as it's packed with secluded resorts like Jade Mountain and Ladera Resort, where guest rooms include private plunge pools and stunning views.

Home to several rainforests, waterfall trails, botanical gardens, and hot springs, there's plenty here for you and your loved one to explore together.

Best for families: Bahamas

Easily accessible from the US, the Bahamas have a variety of all-inclusive resorts where both parents and children will enjoy their trip.

One of the best known is Atlantis, which has its own water park, aquarium, movie theater, kids' club, and game room.

Best for divers: Curacao

With 40 different diving areas that cover 65 individual sites, Curacao is a premiere destination for divers and snorkelers.

Divers can explore incredible underwater wrecks like the Tugboat and Superior Producer, explore the Curacao Underwater Marine Park, or take a peek at the famous Mushroom Forest, made of coral formations that resemble mushrooms.