• The Hershey Company owns the rights to manufacture Cadbury chocolate in the US.
• It banned imports of British-made Cadbury chocolate in 2015.
• British expats claim that Cadbury's chocolate in the US tastes nothing like its UK counterpart, but according to Hershey, there's barely any difference in the ingredients.
• We tried both to see if we could tell the difference.

The difference in taste between Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate on either side of the Atlantic has become one of the most contentious debates of our time. 

For chocolate enthusiasts from the UK, the American version tastes like chalk and cheese. For others (with muted taste buds, perhaps), there's no real difference. 

This debate is especially significant to a Brit brought up in a country where Cadbury chocolate abounds and now finds themselves living at the mercy of Hershey in America. That is not to say that all American chocolate is inferior to the UK's — it is not.

Unless we are talking about Cadbury's Dairy Milk, that is.

The mysterious history of these two bars dates back to 1988, when Hershey paid $300 million for the US operations of the British candymaker Cadbury. This included Mounds, Almond Joy, and York Peppermint Patties, as well as Cadbury products such as Dairy Milk and Carmello. At the time, Cadbury used this as a way to enter the US market, which was dominated by Mars and Hershey. 

Then, in 2015, Hershey took legal action to bar US imports of Cadbury products that had been manufactured in the UK. A Hershey representative told The New York Times at that time that the company had the rights to manufacture Cadbury chocolate in America using different recipes. 

The Cadbury Dairy Milk bar that you'll find in the US today tastes almost nothing like its British counterpart, and there are different explanations for this.

The New York Times reported in 2015 that the British version of Cadbury has a higher fat content, as its main ingredient is milk. In an American-made Cadbury bar, the first listed ingredient is sugar.

But, according to Hershey, this is an incorrect interpretation of the bars' ingredients.

The Cadbury bars' contents appear to be different on each side of the pond because of different labeling standards in the EU and the US.

A Hershey spokesperson told Business Insider: "Our Cadbury Milk bars [in the US] start with quality ingredients we get straight from the Cadbury plant in the British Isles. Our 'chocolate crumb' — the core mixture of chocolate, sugar and milk — are made at the Cadbury plant using the same amounts of milk, sugar and chocolate as the UK version. In fact, it's the same milk sourced by Cadbury from cows in Europe. We add cocoa butter and mould the milk chocolate into bars for sale in the United States."

The only differences are the fat content and the amount of cocoa used in each bar. The US Cadbury bars use only cocoa butter as the "fat," in order to meet FDA standards. In the UK, the company is also allowed to use vegetable oils such as palm and shea.

We put them to the test to see how different they tasted:

SEE ALSO: We compared grocery shopping at stores in the US and the UK — and it was shockingly clear which country does it better

Here are the two bars side by side.

The packaging is the first difference we notice.

The US packaging is significantly more glitzy.

As the summer TV season gets underway, several fan-favorite shows are returning with new seasons next month.

To find out which returning shows audiences are anticipating the most, the TV-tracking app TV Time analyzed data from its 2.1 million global users to see which upcoming TV shows viewers had followed the most frequently on its platform.

The list includes the upcoming seasons of the popular Netflix original shows "GLOW" and "Marvel's Luke Cage," along with the USA drama series "Shooter."

Here are the 5 returning TV shows that viewers are anticipating the most in June, according to TV Time:

SEE ALSO: 7 great movies you can watch on Netflix this weekend

5. "The Bold Type" (Season 2) — Premieres June 12 on Freeform

Summary: "Ladies working at a global women's magazine navigate life, love and friendship together. Inspired by the life of Cosmopolitan editor Joanna Coles."

4. "12 Monkeys" (Season 4) — Premieres June 15 on SyFy

Summary: "Two time travelers, Cole and Cassie, must journey throughout time to prevent the Army of the 12 Monkeys from destroying all reality."

3. "Shooter" (Season 3) — Premieres June 21 on USA Network

Summary: "A drama based on the best-selling Bob Lee Swagger novel by Stephen Hunter, Point of Impact, and the 2007 Paramount film starring Mark Wahlberg."

• A sunscreen's sun protection factor (SPF) is only fully effective for two hours after you put it on. 
• Experts recommend carrying a bottle of SPF 30 to SPF 50 sunscreen around with you, even on cloudy or rainy summer days, so you can throw some on if the sun comes out.
• You can still get a tan with sunscreen on, because while SPF blocks damaging UVB rays, it doesn't prevent deep-seeping UVA rays from penetrating your skin and giving it color. 

Sun-soaking season is here, and that means that if you don't lather up with sunscreen, you could be doing serious damage to your skin cells' DNA, setting yourself up to develop a potentially deadly form of cancer.

Melanoma kills more than 10,000 Americans every year, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. 

Those deadly cancer cases are typically caused by UV radiation you get from either baking in the sunshine, or lounging in a tanning bed.

Indulge in either of those often enough, and you may start to develop cancerous moles. If those marks aren't caught in time, the melanoma can spread to other areas of your body, and become tough to control, even deadly cancer. 

So it's important to lather up with some protective sunscreen if you're going to be spending time in the sun —especially during warmer summer months, when the UV Index rises and the sun becomes more potent.

We enlisted the help of two skin experts to explain just how long sunscreen lasts and how to re-apply it correctly. Here's their best advice: 

You sunscreen's SPF is only 100% guaranteed for two hours after you put it on.

"When we talk about reapplying sunscreen every two hours, that number comes from how SPF is tested," John Zampella, a dermatologist at NYU Langone Health, said. He explained that SPF numbers are based on how much protection a certain sunscreen will give you against the sun for two hours. 

When you're active and enjoying the sun, like at the beach or a ballgame, it's important to reapply after that. 

If you put on an SPF of 50 at 10 a.m., by noon, "you're probably still getting some protection, but your SPF 50 is no longer accurate," Zampella said. "Maybe you're getting SPF 10 at that point."

For full-fledged protection, use at least SPF 30.

That's what the American Academy of Dermatologists suggests.

SPF 30 also happens to be the dose that skin expert David Leffell, author of "Total Skin: The Definitive Guide to Whole Skin Care For Life," and chief of dermatological surgery at Yale School of Medicine, keeps on hand for himself at home. For most people, that protection factor gives enough of a shield to fight off about 96% of the damaging, burn-inducing UVB solar rays outside, whether you're at the beach or on the golf course.

Sensitive and fairer skin tones may opt for SPF 50 to get a little extra boost of protection, but Leffell says any SPF higher than 50 only offers minimal extra benefit.

It's especially essential to "refresh" sunscreen in certain burn- and skin cancer-prone areas of the body and face.

That includes the top of the ears, the forehead, the cheeks, and the nose.

Carry sunscreen with you during the day.  

Zampella says he totes a bottle of sunscreen with him every day. 

"Do I apply it every two hours? Probably not," he said. Realistically, he's probably applying twice a day while in the city. But he's more vigilant when he's spending the entire day outside. "At the beach, I do try and get it on every two hours." 

Make it a daily habit.

According to Leffell, you should make putting on sunscreen everyday a part of your morning routine, "just like brushing your teeth." 

"By making it a regular behavior, you have a much increased chance that you won't see it as an annoyance, and that you won't forget to do it," he said.

Zampella agrees. He says making sun care a daily reflex will "give you the best long term benefits of both skin cancer prevention and also anti-aging protection." 

Women should pay extra attention to their chest, while men should watch out on top of their head. 

Leffell says women should be especially careful to protect the "v" of their chest from getting burned, since damage there is "very hard to reverse cosmetically with lasers."

For men, he recommends anyone who's lost a bit of hair should liberally apply sunscreen to their bald spots and their neck, and probably add a hat.

"We see a lot of skin cancer on the scalp," he said.

Once you've lathered up, get out there and enjoy a little sun!

There's plenty of scientific research that suggests a little sunshine on a regular basis can be good for your bones, your mood, and your waistline.

SEE ALSO: How often you actually need to shower, according to science

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what the SPF number on every bottle of sunscreen you buy actually means

• Tomatoes are both a vegetable and a fruit.
• The confusion arises because of the two different ways we define "fruit" — one is a scientific term and one is culinary.
• Even the Supreme Court has weighed in on whether tomatoes are actually fruits.

No food straddles the line between fruit and vegetable more famously than the tomato.

And while your elementary-school teacher or know-it-all friend may have informed you that tomatoes are technically fruits, the answer isn't so clear-cut. In reality, tomatoes are both fruits and vegetables at the same time.

The explanation lies in the two different ways that "fruit" is defined. First, it is true that scientifically speaking, tomatoes are fruits. 

According to Merriam-Webster, a fruit is "the usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant." In a blog post, the dictionary explained it in simpler terms: "Any thing that grows on a plant and is the means by which that plant gets its seeds out into the world is a fruit."

That definition includes apples, tomatoes, and anything else that grows from a plant and contains seeds. (Cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, and avocados are all fruits too, according to science.)

Vegetables, on the other hand, have a slightly murkier definition. It's a word we use to group together a wide range of plants whose parts are edible and herbaceous, like roots, stems, and leaves. The critical distinction is that, according to the dictionary, a vegetable must be part of a plant or the whole plant itself, while fruits are just the means by which certain plants spread their seeds.

"The thing a tomato plant produces isn't a part of the plant itself, any more than the egg a chicken lays is part of the chicken, or the apple is part of the tree on which it grew," Merriam-Webster wrote.

But the confusion arises because "vegetable" isn't a botanical classification so much as it is a culinary one. And "fruit" can be a culinary term, too — described as "having a sweet pulp associated with the seed" and "used chiefly in a dessert or sweet course," according to Merriam-Webster. So scientifically, fruits don't have to be sweet, but in the kitchen, most people would classify the fruits that fall on the savory side, like tomatoes, as vegetables.

Nutritionists recognize the terms as they are commonly used, and tomatoes are listed as a vegetable under USDA guidelines.

Even the Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue. In 1893, the high court was forced to rule on whether imported tomatoes should be taxed under the Tariff Act of 1883, which only applied to vegetables and not fruits. Although both sides cited dictionary definitions of the two words, the court sided unanimously with #TeamVegetable.

Justice Horace Gray summed up the argument succinctly:

"Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas," Gray wrote in the court's opinion.

"But in the common language of the people … all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert."

That idea was channeled more than 100 years later in a quote attributed to journalist Miles Kington, who may have settled the debate once and for all:

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad," he said.

SEE ALSO: 8 common words you probably didn't know came from TV shows

DON'T MISS: A made-up word from a 22-year-old 'Simpsons' episode has finally made it into the dictionary

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 words that make you sound smarter without sounding like a jerk

• Many of your supposedly "bad habits" may actually be perfectly good for you, according to scientific research. 
• Whether you like naps, can't commit to a 2-hour daily workout, or occasionally indulge in fatty foods, there are studies to support you.
• Read on to find out if your shameful practice is really a science-backed tactic.

Admitting you enjoy naps, the occasional glass of wine, or hitting the couch instead of the gym every once in a while can often land you a prime spot in the shame corner. But there's plenty of scientific research to support many of these allegedly bad habits.

Instead of contributing to our collective guilt, we've taken a look at where the studies stand on a range of supposedly unhealthy tendencies — from making a pit-stop for an energy drink to indulging in an omelette for breakfast. Here's what you should know before you prepare for another Walk of Shame.

DON'T MISS: I tried a science-backed eating plan tied to a better memory and longer life — and never felt like I was 'dieting'

SEE ALSO: What your daily routine should look like, according to science

Skipping breakfast

Breakfast is not mandatory, despite what you may have heard.

Although it was once believed that skipping the first meal of the day leads to weight gain, several recent studies have found the opposite — that fasting, or occasionally skipping meals, may actually help some people lose weight.

These eating plans are known as intermittent fasting, and one of the most popular involves abstaining from food for 16 hours and eating for eight. That leads most people to shift their eating window back a few hours from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m, essentially foregoing breakfast.

Large studies have found intermittent fasting to be just as reliable for weight loss as traditional diets. A few studies in animals suggest it could have other benefits, such as reducing the risk for certain cancers and even prolonging life— but those studies need to be repeated in humans.

Drinking coffee

In March, a California judge ruled that Starbucks and other coffee businesses must include cancer warnings on their products.

Despite this frightening announcement, there's extensive scientific research on coffee which suggests that, if anything, regularly drinking the brew is linked with a reduced cancer risk as well as a range of other health benefits, such as protecting against diabetes and boosting heart health. 

That said, doctors recommend limiting your caffeine intake to 400 milligrams per day, or about 3 to 4 standard cups of drip coffee.

Eating eggs

The latest advice on healthy eating seems to change as frequently as the seasons.

Eggs— an animal product high in cholesterol, fat, protein, and several key vitamins and minerals — have been vilified for years. But as it turns out, eggs are actually pretty healthy. And ordering just the whites, a practice that low-fat food advocates say is a way to shave off calories, fat, and cholesterol, is completely unnecessary.

Whole eggs are high in a handful of key vitamins and minerals that you can't get from many foods like vitamin B12 and phosphorus. They're also rich in muscle-fueling protein and satiating fat, which makes them filling and unlikely to be overeaten.

Plus, the cholesterol eggs contain does not appear to lead to high cholesterol levels in healthy people. Just as eating fat does not translate into being fat, recent research has shown that eating cholesterol doesn't necessarily translate into having high cholesterol.

Warning: MAJOR spoilers if you haven’t seen “Deadpool 2.”

After successfully bringing the complex Marvel character Deadpool to the big screen in 2016, screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick quickly became one of the top screenwriting teams currently working in Hollywood. And their stock in town is only going to rise after the box-office success of "Deadpool 2" over the weekend.

Thanks to the rule-breaking mentality Reese, Wernick, and franchise star Ryan Reynolds (who received a writing credit in the sequel) have always had about the character, “Deadpool 2” is more outlandish than the first. And because of all the Easter eggs, funny lines, and cameos buried throughout the movie, it needs to be seen more than once (to the glee of the studio behind the franchise, 20th Century Fox).

Reese and Wernick gave Business Insider insight on many of the big spoilers and Easter eggs scattered in the movie:

SEE ALSO: "Deadpool 2" director opens up about the pressures of jumping into a hit franchise and what working with Ryan Reynolds was like

Why this huge star decided to do the voice of Juggernaut.

The massive Juggernaut made a glorious return to the Marvel franchise (he was previously seen in 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand”) in “Deadpool 2.” There was no actor playing him on screen this time (he was CGI), but the voice was done by quite a big star.

Though in the credits Juggernaut is credited as only “Himself,” Reese and Wernick revealed that it was Ryan Reynolds who did the voice — thanks to some voice manipulation by the audio team.

Reese and Wernick said during post production, Reynolds was the one coming up with lines for the character.

“We just looked at him and were like, ‘You should just do the voice,’” Wernick said.

But what really sold Reynolds was when the sound department began modulating his voice to sound like the character. Reynolds fell in love with it. And then there was the ease with which Reynolds could do it.

“Ryan essentially recorded the lines into his iPhone, emailed it to the editor, and it gets plugged into the cut of the movie; it’s that quick,” Reese said, as opposed to Reynolds having to spend a day in an audio booth recording lines.

Reynolds also used the same method when new lines or jokes were added in post production for Deadpool.

How the movie nabbed all those great cameos.

From Brad Pitt as Vanisher, to Matt Damon as a redneck with a lot to say about toilet paper, “Deadpool 2” has some major cameos. And the screenwriters have a simple answer for why: once you’re making a successful franchise, everyone says "yes."

“We got a fair amount of people saying 'no' last movie,” Wernick said. “This one, it was 'yes' across the board. It was a real treat for us.”

And for the audience, too (if you caught them).

Pitt shows up in the blink of an eye when mutant Vanisher accidentally glides into power lines due to the rough winds, as X-Force does its skydive to rescue the young mutant Russell. “Deadpool 2” director David Leitch told Business Insider that getting Pitt was a combination of Pitt’s kids loving the first movie, an ask by Reynolds, and Pitt knowing Leitch from the days when he was the actor’s stunt double.

Damon is even harder to catch in the movie. He’s completely unrecognizable as one of the men Cable encounters when he shows up in the present day from the future. Damon is the redneck in back of the pickup truck talking to his friend about toilet paper. Reese and Wernick said it was a chance encounter with Reynolds that led to Damon getting in the movie.

“I think they were at some event together and Matt was telling Ryan how much he loves ‘Deadpool,’” Wernick said. “We were in the process of writing the script and around that time Rhett had written this fantastic diatribe about toilet paper. Ryan told Matt about it, Matt said to send him the pages and he just fell in love with it and told Ryan he would do it.”

And the yeses kept coming. Reese and Wernick said Hugh Jackman approved the footage used in the post credit sequence from “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” and the footage of “Yentl” is in the movie thanks to Barbra Streisand — with an assist from her son-in-law Josh Brolin, who plays Cable in the movie (Brolin’s father, James Brolin, is married to Streisand).

“We actually wrote all the Streisand and ‘Yentl’ stuff before we cast Josh,” Wernick said. “So once Josh came aboard it became a lot easier. We said to him, ‘Hey, do you mind picking up the phone?’”

This Christopher Plummer joke is so buried even one of the screenwriters missed it.

When Deadpool decides to try and be part of the X-Men, his first assignment (as a trainee) is to stop Russell from wreaking havoc outside the orphanage he’s staying at. In the scene, a news crew shows up to cover the chaos and there’s a shot of news footage with a crawl at the bottom of the screen. If you look at the right moment, you’ll see the text in the crawl read: “Christopher Plummer turns down role in ‘Deadpool 2.’”

It’s a recognition of the #MeToo movement that was in full throttle toward the end of the movie’s post production. The Plummer joke also seems to reference one of the movie's stars, T.J. Miller, who has been accused of sexual misconduct (Reynolds said Miller will not be in the upcoming “X-Force” movie).

But Reese and Wernick are not taking ownership of the joke. In fact, Wernick didn’t even know about the Plummer line until Business Insider told him.

“I thought that was hilarious,” Reese said. “I don’t know who put that in, probably David Leitch or one of the editors.”

Daniel Fahlström is a Swedish artist who goes by the name Huge. He makes hyper-realistic mylar balloon art that will trick your eye into thinking you can reach out and grab them. We spoke with Fahlström about his work and how he is able to make the balloons in his murals look so real. You can see more of his work on his Instagram and YouTube pages. Videos courtesy Huge, Waller Gallery and FlyMotion Fastighet. Following is a transcript of the video.

Huge: I'm based in Stockholm, Sweden. And I've been painting graffiti since '87. Nowadays I paint photorealistic mylar balloons style. I was having an exhibition in Stockholm and I came up with the idea, why don't I change the traditional graffiti letters into balloons.

I take real balloons to the place where the wall is. And I put them up and take some photos of them. I use photos as a reference. So the reflections you see in the balloons is mostly at the area where the wall is in the background. When I take the pictures, it's a reflection of me there, so there's no hiding.

When I do walls I only use spray cans. I can paint some details with my fingers and stuff like that. And when I do smaller canvases and stuff like that, I sometimes use air brushes. The technique comes from a lot of practice I guess. I don't think about it that much, I just paint. Well, I think you have to focus on where you put the details in the paintings. You can trick your eye if you paint say the background more blurry, they stick out more and pop up. The wrinkles are extremely important to paint. I'm trying to do a lot of sculptures. So that includes the balloon style. So I try to make sculptures as balloons also.

I really like the photorealistic style. I try to manage to make them as photorealistic as possible. I'm pretty fast when I work, so I can do a mural say about, four times five meters in maybe in two days. Something like that. Say eight hour days. Time flies when you're painting. Like you're in a bubble or something.

I have my own firm where I do custom paint. Like painting motorcycles and helmets and tracks and stuff like that. So there's where I get most of my income. It's mostly commission work nowadays. I don't have any murals painted aboard yet, as one request from New York. And a lot from south of the states like Texas and Louisiana. Also Canada and Honduras and Australia.

Well, I've seen a lot of reactions from people and the funniest one was when this old lady that wasn't wearing her glasses she was trying to go up and touch the balloons. And a lot of people do that. They go by and, "Well, I have to check that out." That's good if they think that's real balloons. That's my mission, to make them believe that.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Amazon has renewed the acclaimed science-fiction series "The Expanse" for a fourth season, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on Friday.
• After the Syfy network cancelled "The Expanse" earlier this month, over 130,000 fans of the series signed a Change.org petition asking either Netflix or Amazon to renew the show.
• Fans of the show took to social media on Friday to thank Bezos and Amazon for saving the series.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on Friday that his company has renewed the critically acclaimed, science-fiction series "The Expanse," which the Syfy network cancelled earlier this month after three seasons. 

Bezos made the announcement at a panel at the International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles on Friday night, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

"I was talking to the cast [of 'The Expanse'] half an hour ago, before the break for dinner started," Bezos said at the conference. "I was telling them that we are working hard at Amazon to save 'The Expanse' but it wasn't a done deal yet. During dinner, ten minutes ago, I just got word that The Expanse is saved."

After Syfy cancelled "The Expanse" earlier this month, citing declining ratings, over 130,000 fans of the series signed a Change.org petition asking either Netflix or Amazon to renew the show. 

The Hollywood Reporter reported on Monday that Amazon Studios had entered talks to pick up the series. Amazon already owned the international streaming rights for "The Expanse," which made it a likely home for the show's renewal. 

Alcon Entertainment CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, who produce the series, said in a statement on Friday: "We couldn't be more excited that 'The Expanse' is going to continue on Amazon Prime! We are deeply grateful that Jeff Bezos, [new Amazon Studios head] Jen Salke, and their team at Amazon have shown such faith in our show."

After Bezos' announcement on Friday, fans of the show flooded social media to thank Amazon and its CEO for renewing the series:

SEE ALSO: The 5 most anticipated TV shows returning in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What will probably happen with the North and South Korean peace treaty

The latest “Star Wars” release, “Solo” (opening Friday), looks at not just a young and idealistic Han Solo as he begins his path to becoming one of the most infamous pilots in the galaxy. It also shines a spotlight on the origin story of Han’s true love, the Millennium Falcon.

Before becoming one of the standout ships in the Rebel Alliance fleet against the Empire in the Skywalker “Star Wars” saga, it was the prize possession of card hustler Lando Calrissian. In “Solo,” the ship has a slightly different look (no gap in the front of the ship, and much cleaner), but shows the traits that will make it one of the most beloved aspects of the franchise. The ship’s main highlight in "Solo" happens when Lando teams with Han and Chewbacca and they use the ship to complete what will become one of the Falcon’s most legendary adventures: the Kessel Run.

With Han getting his origin story, we thought this would be the perfect time to recount just how the Millennium Falcon was born through the sweat and tears of a small group of designers who, under the guidance of George Lucas, made the iconic ship for the first movie in the “Star Wars” saga, “A New Hope.”

Business Insider spoke to Roger Christian — who was the set decorator on “A New Hope” (and won an Oscar for his work) — about the movies that inspired the space western style of the Falcon, the truckloads of airplane scraps he collected to create the interior sets of the ship, and how he crafted the famous dice that hung in the cockpit.

SEE ALSO: "Deadpool 2" screenwriters break down the movie's biggest Easter eggs and cameos

Creating references for a space western.

It was around 1975 that Roger Christian began work with production designer John Barry, and art directors Norman Reynolds and Leslie Dilley, at a small studio outside of London on designs for “Star Wars.” All of them worked for a small wage George Lucas paid them out of his own pocket, as no studio had greenlit the movie yet.

“The difficult thing, especially with science fiction in 1975 and 1976, is there’s nothing to reference,” Christian said. “Flash Gordon, ‘Barbarella,’ Robby the Robot, nothing was real at all. So all we had was a communication and it just happened that my DNA matched George’s.”

Christian said Lucas’ vision of “Star Wars” was a space movie that was also a “dusty western.” So for the Millennium Falcon specifically, Christian said he saw the ship having a worn-out look that was “always dripping oil and being repaired again and again.” Those thoughts would then be matched with references to the movies they would watch at night in the studio.

“We used to watch 16 millimeter prints and project them at the studio, we very much related to ‘Solaris,’” Christian said, referring to the classic Andrei Tarkovsky sci-fi epic.

This would all lead to sketches by Ralph McQuarrie that were the first visuals of what “Star Wars” could become.

“Ralph is the unsung hero of this whole process,” Christian said. “He was in the army and understood all of that and the mechanical reality of things. So when George arrived with six paintings from Ralph that included Tatooine, Darth Vader, and the Millennium Falcon, all of it showed exactly what we were all thinking.”

Building the Falcon out of junk.

By the end of 1976, “Star Wars” had found financing and the team moved to Elstree Studios in the UK to begin making the sets. Immediately they realized they didn’t have the space to build a full-scale set of the Millennium Falcon, so they built half of the exterior along with specific sections of the interior of the ship.

Christian’s idea of the Falcon having this look of, well, as Luke Skywalker famously said in the first movie, “a piece of junk,” led him to the junkyard.

“I had the idea that if I bought scrap junk airplanes I could break it down and build the sets,” Christian said. “That was key to making the Millennium Falcon.”

With an okay from Lucas, Christian set out to get the airplane scraps, which entailed him getting on a prop plane and flying to three different airfields that were basically airplane graveyards.

“I went in and found mountains of junk,” he said. “I could buy it for nothing. I bought 20 jet engines, a ton of cockpit gear, containers that they used to heat up food, anything I could get my hands on."

It was all sold by weight so most if was very cheap to purchase because it was light metal for airplanes.

“It would be 50 pounds for a whole load,” Christian said.

Back at Elstree, the prop room was completely cleared out and a giant 18-wheeler pulled right up and all the airplane scraps Christian bought were unloaded into the room. The prop department was then instructed to break it all down, as Christian would then use certain pieces for the interior Falcon sets.

“I had no clue if any of this would work,” Christian said. “But George loved it.”

Matching the work done in America — sometimes to a fault.

The team at Elstree weren’t the only ones working on making the Falcon. Back in the US, visual effects artist Joe Johnston (he would go on to direct “The Rocketeer,” “Jumanji,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger”) and his team were building a model of the ship, which would be be used for the exterior shots as well as a guide for the art team in the UK.

But this was the 1970s, and the process to see each team’s work took days and led to miscommunication at times.

“There weren’t any fax machines back then, we had a pouch that would be mailed every Tuesday to America and Thursday it would come back,” Christian said. “We were sent pictures of the model and John Barry and the draftsman had to match that. They would build it full scale and I would find scrap that I could match and stick to the sides. It was a brand new process. No one had done this before.”

When they were done with a section in the UK, they would then take pictures of the Falcon set and send them back in the pouch to the US so Johnston and his team made sure the model matched.

However, Christian pointed out that their pouch system wasn’t mistake free. There is one error to this day that’s on the Millennium Falcon, though it’s impossible to find.

Christian said one Thursday the pouch came back and Johnston wrote a note to the team, “You built in my mistake.”

Turns out the previous round of photos of the model sent to the UK were taken when Johnston was still working on it.

“Just before they photographed it, Joe didn’t like one piece and pulled it off, expecting to replace it,” Christian said. “They photographed it before he did that. The photo came back in the pouch and we built it. So somewhere on the Millennium Falcon there’s glue marks where a piece is missing that we built full-scale. Neither Joe or I can remember where it is exactly. It’s on there somewhere.”

• Generation Z renters will spend more money on rent before they buy a home than any previous generation, according to a report from HotPads.
• Gen Z will spend an average of 11 years renting before becoming a homeowner, one year less than millennials.
• The top four cities where Gen Z renters are projected to spend the most money on rent are all in California.

It's no surprise that rent is more expensive for millennials than it was for baby boomers.

But soaring rent costs will hit Generation Z the hardest, those born between 1998 and 2016, according to new analysis from HotPads, a Zillow Group site.

Even when adjusted for inflation, today's youngest adults will spend more on rent in their lifetime than their predecessors, according to the report. Members of Gen Z will spend an average of $226,000 on rent before ever owning a home.

That tops older generations, surpassing the $202,000 millennials will end up spending on rent, and the average $148,900 baby boomers spent on rent before becoming homeowners after adjusting for inflation.

But while Gen Z will spend more money on rent in their lifetime — paying a median of $1,710 a month — HotPads estimates the younger generation will be quicker to buy homes than millennials. Baby boomers spent an average of 10 years renting before buying, Gen Z will spend 11 years, and millennials will spend 12 years renting.

"While there are a lot of unknowns about how the American economy will evolve over the coming decades as Generation Z grows into adulthood, if historical trends hold, the long-term forecast right now suggests that Generation Z is likely to benefit from a stronger job market than millennials," said HotPads economist Joshua Clark.

Clark also said that "while rising rents and home values mean that it won't be as easy for Generation Z to become homeowners as it was for baby boomers, they should get there sooner than millennials did."

HotPads analyzed government data and its own rental data to determine how much total rent each generation paid or will pay in their lifetime before becoming homeowners, as well as how many years they spent or will spend renting. HotPads based their projections on data for the average person in the median birth year of each generation — 1954 for baby boomers, 1987 for millennials, and 2002 for Gen Z. They also assumed renters begin paying rent at age 20. 

Below, see the 10 cities expected to be most expensive for Gen Z renters, plus how much the average millennial and baby boomer renter spent or will spend there before buying a home.

SEE ALSO: How much it costs to rent in 28 Manhattan neighborhoods, ranked from the least expensive to the most

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10. Miami, Florida

Generation Z total rent paid: $305,100

Millennials total rent paid: $258,400

Baby boomers total rent paid: $180,700

9. Denver, Colorado

Generation Z total rent paid: $320,300

Millennials total rent paid: $251,200

Baby boomers total rent paid: $169,500

8. New York, New York

Generation Z total rent paid: $323,800

Millennials total rent paid: $318,700

Baby boomers total rent paid: $194,700

Having a few good cocktail recipes in your back pocket is arguably the best accessory you can carry. 

But overstocking your home bar and trying to learn a bunch of drinks all at once isn't a good idea. Start with one recipe, make it a few times, and then move on to another drink that uses similar ingredients. For instance, start by perfecting the Old Fashioned and then pick up some mint and crushed ice and work on your Mint Julep.

Below, veteran bartender Eamon Rockey lays out a lesson plan for your cocktail education. Here's how to make nine classic drinks, all using a combination of these core ingredients and tools.

April Walloga contributed reporting on an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: This is the final word on whether you can wear a dress shirt without a tie

Old Fashioned

Mint Julep

Whiskey Sour

• "Cobra Kai" creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald talk about how their YouTube Red hit show got off the ground.
• It included getting multiple rights holders to agree on the project and convincing Ralph Macchio to come back and play the role that made him a star.

It was around the time filmmakers Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald started seeing billboards of the lovable character from “Full House,” Kimmy Gibbler, around LA for the release of Netflix’s “Fuller House” series that they realized an update of “The Karate Kid” could be possible.

The three grew up on the iconic 1984 movie that follows Daniel (Ralph Macchio) overcoming the constant torment of fellow high schooler Johnny (William Zabka) by learning the ways of karate through Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita).

The movie wasn’t just the ultimate telling of a kid overcoming a bully, but also showed the importance of respect, hard work, and a killer 1980s soundtrack.

Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald were childhood friends and stayed in touch as they began careers in Hollywood. Hurwitz and Schlossberg launched the successful “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” franchise while Heald was the story creator and one of the screenwriters of the “Hot Tub Time Machine” franchise (the original even starred Zabka).

The idea of continuing to tell the story of the original characters from “Karate Kid” intrigued them, but with the franchise rights owned by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment production company (which made a “Karate Kid” movie in 2010 starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan), they figured the guys behind “Harold & Kumar” and “Hot Tub Time Machine” wouldn’t get a fair shake to make a serious movie that looked at the original guys 30-plus years later.

But then streaming services began making original TV series and suddenly there was a new way of bringing back popular shows and movies that were beloved decades earlier.

“The changes and the evolution of TV led us to think it could work,” Schlossberg told Business Insider.

Two years ago, the guys decided to ditch the movie idea and seriously go for a “Karate Kid” reboot as a TV series. The result is YouTube Red’s first real hit show, “Cobra Kai,” which looks at Daniel and Johnny all grown up and living with the memories of what occurred back in high school and how it's affected them.

But the path to becoming the latest hit streaming series was a gargantuan task that included wooing the multiple rights holders and gaining the trust of Macchio, who for most of his adult life has tried to distance himself from the role that made him famous.

SEE ALSO: "Deadpool 2" screenwriters break down the movie's biggest Easter eggs and cameos

Chasing the movie rights.

The first hurdle to clear for the guys was to get the rights to “The Karate Kid.” It was not just owned by Smith’s Overbrook but also the estate of Jerry Weintraub, who produced the original movie, and the studio that released it, Sony.

Hurwitz and Schlossberg’s agent was able to get a meeting in the books with Caleeb Pinkett, head of creative at Overbrook. Now it was up to Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald to shine.

“We went into that meeting thinking that we would say to him you can still have the movie universe and if Jaden wants to do another ‘Karate Kid’ feature you can still do that, but like Marvel, there’s now a TV show and the movies,” Hurwitz said.

To their shock, Pinkett didn’t need much convincing. The 40-minute pitch turned into a strategy meeting of how to get the show off the ground.

“He said he was going to talk to Jerry Weintraub’s estate,” Hurwitz said. “He was like, ‘We’re doing the show!’”

Pinkett, who has an executive producer credit on “Cobra Kai” (along with Will Smith), became the show’s champion when the project went to Sony.

“He was the one fighting the fights in our meetings,” Hurwitz said.

A big reason for that, the guys assume, is because they brought a package to Pinkett and Overbrook for “Karate Kid” that they hadn’t thought of.

“I got the vibe that there was always talks of doing a sequel but it wasn’t clear where that was,” Schlossberg said. “But TV wasn’t even thought of.”

Getting Ralph Macchio on board.

With a green light to make the show, Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald then went to Zabka with the good news.

“It was just mind blowing to him,” Heald said of telling Zabka. “It took two or three times for him to understand that we were going to further the story of Johnny. He was in shock. There's not a day that's gone by that Billy hasn't thought about Johnny Lawrence because it's such an iconic role for him. The character never really left him.” 

With Zabka on board, the trio turned their attention to Macchio, which they knew right away was going to be a harder sell.

“None of us knew him but we had heard he was very hesitant to engage with anything ‘Karate Kid’ related over the years,” Heald said.

As the decades passed, “The Karate Kid” continued to grow a loyal fan base, but like many things from the 1980s, the movie became a punchline. The memorable scenes became fodder as YouTube grew in popularity and the song from the movie, “You’re the Best,” also became a staple in the comedy community. And it didn’t help that the movies made after 1986’s “The Karate Kid Part II” — “The Karate Kid Part III" (1989), “The Next Karate Kid” (1994) and Jaden Smith’s “The Karate Kid” (2010) — were nowhere as popular as the first two movies.

But Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald didn’t take "no" for an answer and finally got a lunch meeting with Macchio in New York.

“And that lunch turned into a four-hour lunch where we pitched him the whole show and that we were not trying to make a ‘Harold & Kumar’ or ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ experience with this show,” Heald said. “We told him it has this new way in because the guys are adults now. Ralph was not expecting any of that and a couple of days later we had a two-hour phone call with him, and a few days later another two-hour phone call, and by the end of that week Ralph was in.”

Looking back on the process Macchio went through with them to finally agree to do the role, they respect the time he took to finally say "yes."

“Because he knew if he came back as Daniel it would be a big deal to people, not just in this country but all over the world, and he wanted to make sure it was the right decision to do,” Hurwitz said.

“He wanted to make sure we had answers to the big questions that he had,” Schlossberg added. “He didn't want to hear, ‘That's a great question we'll figure that out.’ He wanted to make sure we thought about this beyond memorizing a pitch.”

What’s in store for season 2.

After “Cobra Kai” launched on YouTube Red in the beginning of May, the show was immediately praised by critics (it got a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), and the hardcore fans, as the show reportedly performed better than many shows on Netflix and Hulu. 

The show didn’t just have strong character development for its leads Macchio and Zabka, but also introduced younger characters who are going through their own issues and will be influenced by both older characters — for better and worse.

Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald say season two, which YouTube Red has already renewed, will delve deeper into all the characters. And as the last episode teased, Johnny’s old sensei, Kreese (Martin Kove), is now in the mix.

“We knew from the beginning we wanted him to be on the show but we wanted to wait for the right moment,” Hurwitz said. “There was enough story to be told in season one and we thought it would be really fun for Martin to pop up at the end and be that curve ball for season two.”

When they approached Kove, the actor was immediately into the idea and assumed he would be in the storyline right away, seeing the title of the series is named after his character's dojo. But the guys had to make him understand that it wasn’t his time yet.

“We promised him when he does show up on screen it’s a huge moment and we’ll have more to do with him in the future,” Hurwitz said.

“We have said all along that there’s really no character that’s off limits from the movies,” Schlossberg said. “But we also want to make sure we are introducing the characters the right way. We want it to feel impactful and be connected to the stories we’re telling.”

Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald say season two will pick up right where season one left off and there will be new characters on the horizon, maybe even some from the old movies.

“We had a lot of thoughts about the second season before making the first,” Schlossberg said. “This is something that has a plan.”

• Fitbit is making a big move into health, starting with features that it says will allow it to better track heart rate and align with other medical devices like blood-sugar trackers for diabetics.
  
• It's also developing tools to detect common but serious conditions such as sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation.
  
• Shelten Yuen, Fitbit's vice president of research and development, told Business Insider that the company hopes its clinical trials and its involvement with a Food and Drug Administration program will enable it to make several fresh products available soon.
  

The company behind the simple fitness band aimed at getting people moving now has its sites set higher: playing doctor.

In recent months, wearable-device company Fitbit has made a big push toward healthcare. From an in-app feature for tracking women's menstrual cycles to a redesigned ecosystem that makes it more compatible with diabetic glucose monitors, the company is working to keep its device relevant alongside heavy competition from players like Apple.

As part of the health pivot, the company is also developing features designed to detect two common but dangerous health conditions: sleep apnea, which affects 22 million Americans but goes undiagnosed in some 80% of them, and atrial fibrillation, a tough-to-spot heart disorder that's on the rise in the US.

It's all part of a strategic move to transform its products from casual, single-purpose fitness bands to comprehensive devices that do everything from tracking your steps to detecting and even treating illnesses, Shelten Yuen, Fitbit's vice president of research and development, told Business Insider. In the process, the company will be working closely with the Food and Drug Administration as well as running a series of clinical trials.

"We're consumer-centric and health-centric at same time," Yuen said. "We're moving into a new direction where those lines will become blurred and, I think, Fitbit will play a huge role in giving individuals insight there, and healthcare providers too."

From fitness trackers to far-reaching health tools

One-use devices such as wristbands that exist just to help count steps have fallen by the wayside as all-in-one gadgets like smartphones and smartwatches have taken their place.

Fitbit's share price, in turn, has taken a tumble. When the company went public in 2015, it did so at a $4 billion valuation; now its market cap stands at just over $1 billion.

So Fitbit is looking at broadening out its product to have a more comprehensive role as a health tool. And the company is starting by focusing on populations other wearable-device makers may have overlooked.

In February, the company put $6 million behind a tiny San Francisco startup that's working on a needle-free way to track blood-glucose levels, a key metric that people with diabetes rely on to make decisions about what to eat and when. Around the same time, Fitbit announced a number of new partnerships with diabetes-device companies designed to help better integrate the devices into the Fitbit ecosystem.

In May, Fitbit became the first major wearables company to introduce period tracking. The feature includes an in-app dashboard that allows users to log their periods, record symptoms, and opt into getting push notifications two days before and on the day of their predicted period start date. Eventually, Fitbit wants to use the data it gathers from the initiative to help women take steps to address painful period-related symptoms such as cramps and fatigue, Yuen told Business Insider.

"To take something most women have in their pocket or purse and use that to help give key health information not only to themselves but also to medical providers, that is such a powerful, and still relatively untapped, resource," Katherine White, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University who advised Fitbit on its female-health tracking initiative, said.

Diagnosing heart conditions, sleep apnea, and more

Next, Fitbit plans to roll out a host of more advanced medical features geared at detecting widespread but often unaddressed health conditions.

First on Fitbit's radar are sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, two disorders that frequently go undetected but can have dramatic consequences without treatment.

While sleep apnea is characterized by breathing that repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, atrial fibrillation is an irregular, often quick heart rate that can cause poor circulation.

In 2017, Fitbit enrolled in a new precertification program with the FDA designed to help speed the approval process for new digital health products.

Alongside that work, Fitbit is conducting clinical trials on both sleep apnea and A-fib, to see if their devices could one day replace existing tests for the conditions, which are often invasive and expensive. Right now, diagnosing sleep apnea requires physicians to collect information on everything from your heart rate and blood-oxygen level to your airflow and breathing patterns.

For some people, that can mean spending the night in a sleep lab and spending up to $5,000 a night; others may be able to do so using home sleep-apnea tests that cost between $350 and $500. By comparison, Fitbit's most expensive smartwatch costs $300.

As with its female-health-tracking initiative, the new products would give Fitbit access to a trove of data — in many cases where little or none existed before.

That data could be used as it is now — with researchers who are studying cancer and heart conditions drawing from it for scientific studies — or it could be sold. For instance, genetics-testing company 23andMe has sold anonymized genetic data from millions of customers to drug companies.

Fitbit's data could be more attractive than that of its competitors because it's all stored one place, no matter what device the consumer is wearing.

"We know people like to change their devices," Yuen said. "Regardless of which device you use, Fitbit is able to maintain a big database of this, and we think that's exceptionally powerful over the long term."

If the company can pull from that mass of data and capitalize on conditions that other wearable-device makers aren't addressing, that could be enough to keep customers — and researchers — coming back for more.

"The market is very large for these kinds of tools, but right now they're all behind this regulatory fence, and so we hope there will be some exciting commercial opportunities in the near future," he added.

SEE ALSO: A little-known technology that Fitbit and Apple are exploring could be the answer to healthy eating and peak performance

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Netflix is dominating its competition in consumer perception of original programming, according to new research from Morgan Stanley.
• Thirty-nine percent of respondents in a Morgan Stanley survey said Netflix had the "best original programming" — more than double HBO's second-place tally of 14%.
• The subscriber count for HBO's premium streaming service, however, is surging.
• HBO Now is projected to rapidly expand its lead in domestic subscribers among premium over-the-top services by the end of 2018.

Netflix's original programming is blowing away its competition in the eyes of consumers, but the subscriber count for HBO's streaming service is surging, according to new research from Morgan Stanley and Alphawise.

Netflix will spend an estimated $8 billion on content this year. An increasing percentage of those funds will go toward the production of original shows and movies (with more than 1,000 originals projected this year), as Netflix moves away from licensing content from studios like Disney, which plans to introduce a Netflix competitor in 2019.

And Netflix's massive investment in its "Netflix Originals" appears to be increasingly paying off, as favorability for the service's original programming has grown in each year of Morgan Stanley's annual survey.

In the firm's 2018 survey, 39% of respondents said Netflix had the "best original programming" among all subscription services, a 6-point rise from 33% last year.

Netflix's figure more than doubled that of HBO, which came in second place this year with support from 14% of respondents, roughly the same figure it posted in 2017. Amazon Prime (5%), Hulu (4%), Showtime (3%), and Starz (2%) followed. Thirty-two percent of survey respondents answered "Don't know," while Cinemax, Encore, Epix, and "Other" rounded out the survey with 1% or less each.

Morgan Stanley wrote that the second season of Netflix's "Stranger Things," released in October, was most likely the "largest driver" of Netflix's increase in favorability for this year's survey.

The firm also projects a rapid expansion in the reach of HBO's premium streaming service, HBO Now, which is expected to build on its lead among so-called over-the-top services from traditional media outlets.

By the end of the year, HBO Now is projected to reach 7 million US subscribers — more than double the 3.1 million subscribers that Showtime and CBS All Access are projected to reach in 2018.

Overall, HBO's cable and premium subscriptions reached nearly 38 million US subscribers at the end of 2017, while Netflix reached nearly 53 million domestic subscribers, according to Morgan Stanley.

But it's not an "either/or" situation for the two entertainment giants. Morgan Stanley found that 53% of Netflix subscribers in 2018 were also subscribed to at least one premium network, with many holding an HBO subscription.

HBO Now's rapid growth in 2017 led a massive increase in OTT premium subscribers across all providers. Total OTT premium subscribers hit 10 million last year, which more than doubled 2016's year-end count.

SEE ALSO: All 65 of Netflix's notable original shows, ranked from worst to best

Join the conversation about this story »

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• There are three distinct types of narcissists.
• One of the most difficult types to spot is the covert narcissist.
• They hook in highly empathetic people with their sob stories.
• Then, over time, their victims feel a sense of responsibility for them.
• Their victim is trapped in an abusive relationship because the covert narcissist has made them question reality and will never be held accountable.

Narcissists can be difficult to spot, especially if they are older and more sophisticated. Over time, they learn how to optimally manipulate their victims, and get by with their schemes without anyone questioning them.

What makes it even more confusing is that they don't all act the same way. Certain patterns of behaviour are consistent, such as when they idealise, devalue, then discard their romantic partners. But there are actually three distinct types of narcissists who act very differently on the outside, according to therapist Elinor Greenberg.

One of the toughest sub-types to spot is the covert narcissist, becuase they blend into the background much of the time. They aren't a cliché of a grandiose, self-obsessed, "look at me" narcissist, Greenberg said. Instead, they are quietly cruel and behave in a much more passive-aggressive way.

For example, they may appear calm and professional to most people. But to those they are in a relationship with they are demeaning, cold, and abusive, and they can switch between these Jekyll and Hyde characters with ease.

People with dark triad personalities thrive off other people's chaos, so a common game of theirs is to set their romantic partners up for failure all the time, then punish them for doing so. Sometimes they make empty promises, then get a kick out of the reaction when they don't deliver.

"They do what they want to do when they want to do it," said Shannon Thomas, a licensed clinical social worker who wrote the book "Healing from Hidden Abuse." "And then they make themselves look like the victim."

Some even deny making promises in the first place, gaslighting their partner into think they are losing their mind. Over time, the victim may completely lose touch with reality, known as perspecticide.

Covert narcissists are conflicted

It may stem from covert narcissists wanting to be worshipped. Greenberg said they are conflicted because they think a lot of themselves, but are also incredibly insecure.

"A closet narcissist doesn't say, 'I am special,'" she said. "They point to something else — a person, a religion, a book, a dress designer — and they are special, so they feel special by association."

You may wonder why anyone would be in a relationship with a covert narcissist in the first place, and the answer is complicated. According to Perpetua Neo, a therapist and doctor of psychology, one reason is covert narcissists are highly skilled at sucking their victims in with sob stories. This, she said, is a very effective trap for people who are high in empathy.

"Think about it like the covert narcissist has wormed their way into your heart," she said. "There tends to be a string of misfortune, like every single ex is a jerk, every single friend they have is unhealthy. Always ask yourself what kind of circle of friends this person has. If they have zero friends, that's an alarm bell, becuase the whole world cannot be that unhealthy."

Spinning tales about their abusive childhood, or their battles with addiction, leads highly empathetic people down a path where they start to feel sorry for the covert narcissist. Further down the line you'll develop a sense of responsibility over them, Neo said, because you feel "tethered to their potential."

"But this covert narcissist has no intention of changing their lives," she said. "It's all a way of sucking you in and a way of getting attention, and a way of justifying their s****y behaviour towards you."

They manipulate your empathy

The problem is, whether the covert narcissist is a colleague, friend, or partner, if you are their chosen victim, you will already know about their alleged problems. And often they can be hard to ignore. Some even claim they are suicidal, meaning walking away feels essentially impossible for the victim.

"This will be a way to condition you into a sense of fear and walking on egg shells around them, so next time you are not going to hold them accountable," Neo said. "They may even say this very common statement: 'I've never felt this way about someone before.'"

This, again, gives you this responsibility to take care of them, even to the point you allow them to isolate you from your other friends and family.

With a covert narcissist, their emotions are paramount, but the victim's needs and feelings are up for debate, Neo said. Everything is a competition, and nothing that happens to you even comes close to what they've been through, they say.

They will also never apologise, Neo said. They'll simply give their victim the silent treatment as punishment until they give up and surrender.

Their lies are sophisticated

Essentially, covert narcissists have a high contempt for others, and anything that threatens their superiority is taken as a direct attack, Neo said. That's why they are so hung up on being superior and looking down on everyone else.

"People who are above them in any way, in terms of their assets, or their career potential, or their talent, it'll be 'privilege,' or the government's fault," Neo said. "Everyone else is just a rich w****r. They had rich parents. There's always a way of blaming another person. And someone's fortunes or talents are attributed to something external from them."

They may appear to root for the underdog, but it's just a way of making them look better, Neo said. By supporting liberal parties, or defining themselves as a feminist, they essentially trick people into thinking they have morals, when really their integrity is in the gutter. 

They commonly tell other lies about their past, like beautiful or famous people they have slept with, or amazing job opportunities they've turned down. It's all lies, Neo said. She added that covert narcissists tend to watch a lot of television because they are trying to mimic behaviours they see, such as empathy (which they are incapable of.)

Escaping the clutches of a covert narcissist is hard because they drain their victims of energy and resources until they find a new target. Thomas calls it an "IV drip of poison" that doesn't stop until they move on.

It's not until the covert narcissist is gone that the victim finally realises what they were going through wasn't normal. But hopefully they do, and then they can start the process of healing, realising it wasn't their fault, and putting healthy boundaries in place to never be a covert narcissist's resource again.

SEE ALSO: There are 3 distinct types of narcissists — here's how to spot them

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: NBA ref explains why the James Harden step-back jumper isn't traveling

Globetrotters are always looking for new, under-the-radar travel destinations that provide a chance to escape the crowds and sea of selfie sticks. 

As summer kicks off, Business Insider asked friends, colleagues, and some of the world's top travel experts for their favourite — and most overlooked — European destinations that can be seen in a long weekend. 

From the mystical Arabic influence of Granada to the dilapidated charm of Porto and the gothic churches of Transylvania, here's a selection of their top recommendations, along with some local tips. 

SEE ALSO: 25 under-the-radar places in Latin America to visit in your lifetime, according to the world’s top travel experts

Pretend you're in a Bond film at the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro.

Montenegro provides a less obvious alternative to neighbouring Croatia, and it's not hard to see the draw of the stunning setting of the Bay of Kotor, with its glistening Adriatic sea and mountainous backdrop. The bay is also home to the preserved medieval old city of Kotor which just so happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage site.

One TripAdvisor user from the UK called it "Europe's best kept secret." 

"Despite seeing many images of this place before my visit, nothing really prepared me for just how stunningly beautiful this bay is," the review stated. "The waterside setting (obviously) with its mountainous backdrop was for me a cross between the Norwegian fjords and those lovely Alpine lakes."

Admire the azulejos (painted tiles) and dilapidated charm of Porto, Portugal.

Emma McWhinney, the UK head of editorial at Secret Escapes, recommends a long weekend in Porto, a coastal city on Portugal's northern coast that's steadily growing in popularity as an alternative — possibly even a cheaper one — to Lisbon. 

"Often overshadowed by bustling Lisbon, Porto, with its coastal thrills, postcard-perfect architecture, and eclectic culinary scene, is a must-visit cluster of colour and charm," she said.

Wander through Porto's hilly streets and admire the crumbling buildings and ramshackle colourful houses decorated with azulejos (painted tiles), and you'll soon see why its dilapidated charm is drawing in tourists.

Porto's proximity to some pretty stretches of beach adds to its appeal.

Soak up the Andalusian sunshine, snack on the famous free tapas, and lose yourself in a colourful maze of market stalls in Granada, Spain.

Granada, located in Spain's southern Andalusian region, is a city rich in history and culture —and its Arab influence gives it a mystical edge.

Aside from the tapas — it's one of the few places in Spain where a free tapa is religiously served with every drink — there's the majestic Alhambra Palace, abundant Arab baths that make a perfect first stop to unwind into your weekend, and the intriguing whitewashed gypsy caves of Sacromonte, where some of the city's best flamenco haunts lie. 

Sakshi, a New York-based editor who recently visited the city, told Business Insider: "We enjoyed one free tapa with each drink. So we bar hopped as is recommended, we didn't ever get a second round at the same place.

"A tip for tourists is saying 'que tapa' after letting the bartender know the intention is a drink — either a cana (a small beer) or copa (little glass of wine). Bar Bodegas Castañeda came highly recommended and is somewhat of an institution. We started our bar hop there," she added. 

• The cost of a theme park ticket is just the beginning — with parking, meals, and accommodation, the price to pay for a day of thrills adds up.
• Home2Go recently calculated the total cost to visit 45 of America's most popular theme parks across 31 states.
• Universal Studios Hollywood and Disney parks in California and Florida are the most expensive.

Theme parks are thrilling, but the cost to visit them can be as stomach turning as the roller coasters themselves.

There's a lot more behind the price of an entry ticket — parking costs, meal costs (lunch and dinner, if you're staying late), and accommodation if you live out of town. And it can all add up, especially if you're visiting a major theme park like Walt Disney World or Universal Studios, or if you're bringing the whole family. 

Home2Go recently calculated just how much a day of fun really costs at 45 of America's most popular theme parks, which they selected based on their users' accommodation searches.

To calculate the total cost of a day at an amusement park, Home2Go found the online price for a one-day adult entry ticket during peak season, not including processing fees and taxes. For pay-per-ride parks, they used the "ride all day" ticket price.

They then included the online price for one day of parking; cost for one meal consisting of a cheeseburger, fries, and regular fountain drink, using the meal deal price when available; and the average nightly price per person to stay in a four-person accommodation found on Home2Go. The prices are for a Friday or Saturday from April 1, 2018, to October 27, 2018.

Cliff's Amusement Park not only has the most affordable accommodation, it's also the most affordable park to visit at just $60.39 for a day — that's less than the entry tickets for 15 parks on the list. Universal Studios Hollywood, the most expensive park on the list, costs four times more.

Scroll through below to see how much it costs for a day of thrills, ranked from least to most expensive.

SEE ALSO: The best theme park in every state

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45. Cliff's Amusement Park — Albuquerque, New Mexico

Total cost: $60.39

Cost of a one-day ticket: $25.99

Cost of parking: Free

Cost of accommodation: $27.41

Cost of one meal: $6.99

44. Castles N' Coasters — Phoenix, Arizona

Total cost: $72.55

Cost of a one-day ticket: $29.99

Cost of parking: Free

Cost of accommodation: $33.07

Cost of one meal: $9.49

43. Frontier City — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Total cost: $81.12

Cost of a one-day ticket: $31.99

Cost of parking: $8.29

Cost of accommodation: $28.85

Cost of one meal: $11.99

There are few things more rewarding in life than waking up in the middle of the night, rolling out of a bed, slapping on some hiking boots, and trekking up a mountain for a sunrise.

At least, I think so.

My girlfriend, not so much. She thinks it's more rewarding to skip the hike, sleep late into the morning, and then head to a local market for an early lunch (or late breakfast, depending on your view).

But, on a recent trip to Bali, I convinced her that it would be worth it to do a sunrise trek up Mount Batur(Gunung Batur), an active volcano that most recently erupted in 2000 and is one of the holiest sites on the island.

At 5,633 feet high at the summit, Batur isn't the highest point on the island — that would go to Mount Agung (Gunung Agung), which erupted earlier this year — but it is likely the island's most popular sunrise hike.

At 6 a.m., we found out why.

After traveling to 25+ countries and forcing myself up at the crack of dawn to catch the sunrise on countless beaches and mountains (not to mention New York City rooftops; hello all-night partiers), I'm confident saying the sunrise I saw on Mount Batur was the most beautiful I've ever seen.

Here's what it was like:

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The hike started early. The tour company picked us up at 2 a.m. and drove an hour to the base of the mountain (stopping for coffee along the way). We were far from the only ones hiking. The parking lot was full of minibuses and tour groups.

Here was our general itinerary:

• 2 a.m.: Pick up at hotel/hostel
• 3:45 a.m.: Arrive at base of the mountain
• 6 a.m.: Arrive at sunrise viewing platform near top of Mount Batur
• 7 a.m.: View volcanic steam crevasse
• 7:30 a.m.: Begin descent back to base of mountain
• 9:30 a.m.: Arrive at base of mountain and leave
• 11:15 a.m.: Return to hotel/hostel

We were put in a group of 16 with four tour guides. The hike up the mountain took about two hours in pitch black. The first hour was mostly on paved paths. The second hour was up narrow, volcanic rubble-strewn switchbacks.

The first hour of the hike goes through a forest on a paved path at a gentle incline. After about an hour, you get to a platform where the Balinese are building a temple. From there, you start the actual climb to the top.

The climb to the top goes over narrow, single-file switchbacks. It's easy to slip on the volcanic rubble. There is a fair amount of rock scrambling that requires you to climb up small rock ledges.

It's somewhat strenuous, but more in the panting, sweating, thighs-screaming way, rather than actually difficult to do.

There are a lot of people on the trail. As you go up, you can see a line of flashlights sprinkled along the spine of the mountain. It's an eerie view.

The stars in the dead of night were also spectacular.

The timing was pretty spot on. After two hours of moderate trekking, we were at a platform just below the summit and the sunrise was starting. Burnt oranges and yellows peeked out from behind a blanket of clouds and mist.

• Sex and relationships can be challenging.
• But according to Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the most common problems in those areas have stayed largely the same for the last 40 years.
• Those problems include unrealistic expectations and boredom.
• This post is part of Relationships 101, a series which aims to help us all be happier and healthier in love — and to stop fighting over who should take out the trash.

At 89 years old, Dr. Ruth Westheimer is still passionate about sex.

Specifically, about helping other people have fulfilling sex lives, and fulfilling relationships to go along.

I spoke with Westheimer — better known simply as Dr. Ruth — by phone in January. In her thick German accent, she told me about the issues she's been seeing since she first launched the public-radio program "Sexually Speaking" in 1981.

I learned more about Westheimer's career, and about her philosophy on sex and relationships, from reading some of her books, including "The Doctor Is In" and "Stay or Go," both cowritten with Pierre A. Lehu.

Here are three of the most common issues Westheimer sees:

Unrealistic expectations

"People having expectations that cannot be met" is still a big problem, Westheimer said. In many cases, these standards were set by the media.

"Hollywood and the movies tell us that the stars have to be twinkling every night," Westheimer said. "That's not reality of life."

Some people are frustrated that they aren't achieving multiple orgasms or having "an erection like you see in sexually explicit movies," Westheimer added, though she sees slightly less of this today than she did 40 years ago.

"People have to be realistic and people have to be sexually literate."

Difficulties around orgasm

Westheimer told me she still sees men complaining about premature ejaculation, and women complaining about difficulties reaching orgasm.

In "The Doctor Is In," Westheimer writes that she suspects these complaints keep coming up for two reasons.

One, "young people who begin having sex start out relatively clueless, and so there is a steady influx of new people looking for this information."

Two, "as long as someone's sex life seems to be working OK, they don't bother learning the finer points. But as soon as they run into a problem, since they're embarrassed to ask anyone else, they'll turn to someone like me."

Westheimer has said before that premature ejaculation and difficulties achieving orgasm are typically psychological, as opposed to physical, and that a sex therapist can help with both.

Boredom

The tedium of everyday life, according to Westheimer, is the greatest danger to a romantic relationship.

In "The Doctor Is In," Westheimer writes that "sexual boredom is only a minor aspect to a couple's not having a satisfying sex life. Intellectual boredom with each other is a much bigger culprit."

She adds: "The first step to fighting boredom is to recognize it. One clue is that you're always tired even though there's no particular cause."

One potential solution? Instead of looking for ways to spice up the relationship itself, look for ways to add variety to your own life.

If that doesn't help, Westheimer says, you should seek professional guidance. Ultimately, you may opt to end the relationship — which isn't something to be ashamed about.

More from Relationships 101:

• A top couples therapist says there's no such thing as "the one"
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• A top relationship psychologist says couples should adjust their expectations

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• "Solo: A Star Wars Story" earned an estimated $83 million over three days, $101 million by Memorial Day.
• That's $29 million under original industry low-end projections for the movie.
• This marks the lowest opening for a "Star Wars" movie since 2002's "Attack of the Clones" (not counting inflation).
  
• "Solo" is the latest victim of disappointing Memorial Day weekend releases.

It turns out "Star Wars" is not bulletproof.

The beloved franchise released its latest "A Star Wars Story" movie over Memorial Day weekend by telling the origin story of space scoundrel Han Solo, and it greatly underperformed.

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" earned an estimated $83 million domestically over the weekend and is projected to take in $101 million by Memorial Day, according to Exhibitor Relations. That's $29 million off what the industry had for the movie's low-end projection.

In the middle of last week, "Solo" was projected to earn between $130 million and $150 million on 4,381 screens. If that held, "Solo" would be set up to be the latest "Star Wars" movie having a record-breaking box office opening — taking the crown from current Memorial Day record holder, 2007's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" with $139.8 million.

But by the end of day Friday, Disney hinted that the weekend wouldn't go according to plan as it drastically adjusted that projection to between $105 million and $115 million over the four-day weekend.

The $101 million performance by Memorial Day for "Solo" would be strong for any other movie at any other studio — especially over a holiday weekend where audiences would rather be outside than in a theater — but for a "Star Wars" movie, this just doesn't cut it.

"Solo" went into the weekend on a strong note. The movie took in $14.1 million at Thursday night previews, a record for Memorial Day (beating "At World's End," which took in $13.2 million). But there were signs that the movie would not be a huge money maker like other "Star Wars" movies that have been released since Disney bought the franchise.

Even if "Solo" hit the high-end of its original industry projections, it wasn't likely to even have the opening weekend of 2016's "Rogue One," which took in $155 million, the lowest opening weekend for a "Star Wars" movie since "The Force Awakens."

The opening three-day performance by "Solo" is the lowest for a "Star Wars" movie since 2002's "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," which took in $80 million. But back in 2002 that was quite a feat — counting inflation, that would be a $126.1 million opening in 2018.

"Solo" may have had in-production drama — the movie's original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were fired over creative differences and replaced by Ron Howard — but you can't equate that with its poor box office.

"Rogue One" had its own drama, as director Gareth Edwards had to take a backseat to the more experienced helmer Tony Gilroy during the reshoots of the movie, and that went on to earn over $1 billion at the global box office.

The weak performance by "Solo" is due more to three big obstacles — opening over Memorial Day weekend, "Star Wars" fatigue, and the movie's lackluster reviews.

Opening over the Memorial Day weekend, "Star Wars" was thrown headfirst into the cutthroat summer movie season (hits "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Deadpool 2" being the main combatants). It's a much more competitive time at multiplexes than December, which has been the home for "Star Wars" movies since "The Force Awakens."

Also, over the last decade moviegoers have been less interested to go to the theater over Memorial Day weekend, which for most areas of the country is the first time to enjoy the nice weather outside.

Last year, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" opened over Memorial Day's four-day weekend and took in $78.4 million. That was just under its $80 million to $85 million projections, and the lowest opening for a "Pirates" movie since the first one, 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" ($46.6 million).

Other movies that opened over Memorial Day weekend and were DOA include "Tomorrowland" ($33 million opening weekend), "Alice Through the Looking Glass" ($26.8 million), and "X-Men: Apocalypse" ($65.7 million).

In this field, the "Solo" opening doesn't look so bad. But the rules change when you talk about "Star Wars."

Yes, "Star Wars" fatigue is a thing. With "Solo" opening five months after "The Last Jedi," audiences just weren't motivated for another story from the saga that quickly, even one about one of its most legendary characters. You could make the argument that Marvel released "Avengers: Infinity Wars" two months after "Black Panther" and there certainly wasn't any MCU fatigue.

But in that instance, it went from releasing an origin story followed by an established Avengers movie. It also didn't hurt that "Infinity War" practically starred every character from the MCU. Audiences weren't exhausted; they were pumped up for it. Also, things are a lot easier when both movies close to one another are great.

If "Solo" was a better movie, this would all be moot. But with its 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest since "Attack of the Clones," it did not possess the have to see it first weekend hype that the other "Star Wars" movies had.

With all these factors combined, clearly for most, going to the beach or a barbecue was the better option this holiday weekend.

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