The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $50 million to fight Ebola.

That's a lot of money, but not when you consider what Bill Gates is spending to fight the preventable and treatable disease malaria: $200 million this year, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Malaria struck down 207 million people in 2012 and killed 627,000, many of them also in West Africa, where Ebola has reached epidemic proportions (over 13,000 cases and growing by thousands a week, the CDC reports).

Gates is working to eradicate malaria. So he was in New Orleans at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene conference this week to talk about those efforts. Naturally the talk at the conference quickly turned to his thoughts on Ebola.

Gates said he views this outbreak as a warning that the world needs to get its act together to prevent something even more deadly from spreading.

The world as a whole doesn’t have the preparedness for epidemics, and we’ve had a few flu scares that got us to do some minor things, but not enough.

If this thing had been twice as transmissive, we’d be in a lot of trouble, and there are agents that have a real chance of coming on in the next several decades that are far more transmissive than this is. What’s to stop some form of SARS showing up?

The Gates foundation is trying to tackle some of that. His efforts are going toward creating experimental drugs for Ebola. He's also having engineers come up with ways to cool protective suits so people in warm areas of the world like West Africa can wear them longer.

But he thinks the world could do things far better. Gates wants to see tools developed that do better disease surveillance, tracking how illness spreads, which he says is "a very doable thing" and for a relatively low cost of "literally for hundreds of millions, not billions, of dollars a year.”

He also wants to speed up approval of new drugs during epidemics, such as eliminating the placebo testing portion of clinical trials.

Ultimately he wants the Ebola outbreak to teach us how to react against something even more dangerous.

"The fundamental lesson shouldn’t be about who did what quarantine when. That’s rounding error stuff compared to true preparedness for a seriously transmissive epidemic."

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London's Victorian-era sewer system is at its breaking point.

Structurally, there's nothing wrong. The web of underground pipes is holding together well more than 150 years after it was first constructed.

But every time it pours, the system overflows. The result: Millions of tons of raw sewage empties into London's Thames River each year, with at least one spillover every week.

To address the problem, London is building a new £4.2 billion "super sewer," which will keep waste out of the riverbank by directing it to other treatment plants.

The project is controversial. Most are concerned about the exorbitant cost, which will be funded largely by the private sector. There are some environmental worries, too. 

But the Thames Tideway Tunnel is forging ahead regardless. In September, Britain's largest water utility, Thames Water, received the green light from the government. Construction is expected to start in 2016 and take seven years to complete.

London's 160 kilometers of intersecting sewers were introduced in the second half the 19th Century. At that time, the project was hailed as an engineering feat.

Before that, the Thames was a disease-ridden dumping ground for cesspools, dead animals, garbage, and raw sewage.

This practice went on for hundreds of years, until the summer of 1858 when an unusually intense heatwave resulted in a horrendous smell. The river waste was roasting.

The flat white — an espresso-based beverage prepared with steamed milk — has for a long time been as ubiquitous as sourdough bread and vintage cocktails on the cosmopolitan streets of London and Melbourne.

In wider Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, it has been providing a more refined and delicate option for many others who want to enjoy coffee that has got a milky hit, without the excess that comes in a cappuccino or latte. 

It is a winning method.

Now, the flat white is infiltrating the US market. It started catching on in New York City this year, served at coffee houses like Culture Espresso on 38th Street and Little Collins in Midtown, according to the New York Post. Previously, the coffee concoction proved hard to find in North America.

In the UK, the drink went mainstream in 2010, when Starbucks added it to the menu. Others followed, however, and the chain was soon outflanked by rival coffee shop Costa — doing wonders, says the Guardian, for the company's sales given the drink's popularity with coffee "aficionados."

For many, however, the flat white remains a specialist drink — a choice for the hipsters of independent cafes and pop-up bars manned by gurus of the caffeinated game. 

There are plenty who order it, but do not really know what it is exactly. And be warned, because it's not simply a cafe latte with slightly less milk, which to many is a statement that amounts to blasphemy; a mistake too readily made. 

Artisan coffee shop and training school's Alessandro Bonuzzi agrees: "I still find that the consumer doesn't quite understand the distinction between a latte and flat white."

Business Insider UK spoke to two more experts to clarify the process. 

"The key is the milk steaming stage," explains Scott Bentley, who runs Caffeine Magazine. "The milk needs to be steamed to increase the volume by about 25% — this must be done in a specific way to not split the milk and so the milk is a similar texture throughout, like that of paint.

"The old style cappuccino you'd get from a chain cafe would overheat the milk and split it into very airy foam and hot milk at the bottom.

The secret, says Bentley, is "microfoam" — the small, fine, velvety bubbles extracted from coffee pitchers by only knowledgeable hands. It uses free-poured milk so the foam is folded through the whole drink. There's no distinct layer between coffee and foam.

Bentley continues: "The microfoam needed for a flat white is produced by introducing the steam so it swirls the milk in the pitcher and getting the milk hot but not scalding, which is why people sometimes complain that speciality coffee is never hot enough.

"This temperature is also important as it's when the sugars begin to be released making the milk sweeter — again a reason why you shouldn't need sugar in your quality coffee as the coffee isn't bitter and the milk is sweeter."

London's St Clements Cafe has seen flat white sales soar. The cafe's Olivia Grant says it's as much about "ratio" as method. Also essential is a 160 milliliter cup, she says. 

She explains: "The milk should be textured but not too foamy, hot but not too hot. It's for true coffee lovers. If poured properly the milk will be put in centrally so the coffee sits at the rim.

"Lately, sales of flat whites here have almost exceeded cafe latte sales."

With its roots in New Zealand and Australia (there's an argument about which nation truly invented it), a rosetta or fern is often put on a flat white to illustrate the Kiwi flag. 

SEE ALSO: Starbucks Will Start Delivering Coffee

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Dartmouth College faculty members overwhelmingly voted to support a motion to end the Ivy League school's controversial fraternity and sorority system at a meeting Monday, student newspaper The Dartmouth reports.

The faculty vote follows a front page editorial in The Dartmouth during the college's Homecoming Weekend last month that called for an end to Greek life on campus. The newspaper's staff wrote that "Greek life is not the root of all the College's problems or of broader societal ills ... as a system, it amplifies students' worst behavior."

According to The Dartmouth, the faculty voted 116-13 to end the Greek system, with three abstentions. Additionally, The Dartmouth reports, "A letter calling for abolishing the Greek system that circulated among faculty members late last month attracted 232 signatures."

However, the voting numbers may be misleading, as Dartmouth alumnus Joseph Asch notes at Dartblog— only faculty members who attend the meeting have the ability to vote. It's likely that the faculty that chooses to attend a meeting about the Greek system would have stronger feelings about the outcome.

Dartmouth's Greek system received some negative attention earlier this year with the publication of former Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity member Andrew Lohse's book, "Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy." In his book, Lohse details his time in a Dartmouth fraternity, revealing hazing practices and other disturbing behavior.

There is no immediate impact from the faculty vote, according to The Dartmouth.

SEE ALSO: Dartmouth Student Newspaper Calls For End Of College's Greek System

SEE ALSO: 9 Disturbing Revelations From The New Book About Fraternity Culture At Dartmouth

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It's no secret that Business Insider loves maps. Over the past couple of years, our Graphics team has created maps showing unique points of pride for all 50 states.

We have gathered these maps below to give you a snapshot of the US, from states' most famous celebrities to their most expensive colleges and favorite cars.

"The Great Gatsby" was an easy pick for the most famous book set in New York.

Learn more about the most famous book set in every state >

When it came to the most downloaded books on Scribd, an e-book subscription service, romance novels were popular across the board.

19th-century writer Harriet Beecher Stowe was the most famous author from Connecticut, while current-day novelist Nicholas Sparks took the title for Nebraska.

Learn more about the most famous author from each state >

Founded in 1746, Princeton University remains a vibrant community of scholarship and learning.

Students who attend this Ivy League school follow in the footsteps of Woodrow Wilson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eric Schmidt, Meg Whitman, Michelle Obama, Jeff Bezos, and other movers and shakers of industry.

From creating companies to scaling summits, these 16 students are changing what it means to be impressive.

Alison Bick invented a smartphone app that tests for clean water.

Class of 2015

By 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic shortages of fresh water, according to the United Nations. The situation is more dire than ever, and Alison Bick may have the solution in the palm of her hands.

Bick, an Intel Science Talent Search finalist in 2011, holds the patent for a smartphone app that tests water for contamination — a fast, simple, low-cost, and real-time device suitable for use throughout the world. Here's how it works: The user takes a picture of water that has been exposed to fluorescent light (most commercially available cell phones can be programmed to emit the right spectrum of light from their display). Bick's app analyzes the picture and determines the water's organic and inorganic qualities, with a confidence level of 65% and 80%, respectively.

The Short Hills, New Jersey, teen first got the idea when a storm hit her town and the water being pumped into homes was potentially contaminated. Since development began, she independently patented the device and has been in talks with Veolia — a French water treatment firm — and the World Bank to commercialize and implement the invention.

Bick, a chemical and biological engineering major, plans to earn a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and split her time between academic and commercial research. 

Cason Crane is the first openly gay person to climb the Seven Summits.

Class of 2017

In the two years Cason Crane took between graduating from high school and starting at Princeton, he scaled the highest mountain on every continent (the Seven Summits), becoming the fifth-youngest person as well as the first openly gay person to do so. He used the opportunity to raise awareness of issues faced by LGBT athletes; he also raised more than $135,000 for The Trevor Project, a suicide lifeline for LGBTQ youth.

Since arriving at Princeton last fall, Crane has continued his work for The Trevor Project through the initiative he started called The Rainbow Summits Project, as well as talks around the world, including two TEDx Talks.

Another of Crane's passions is entrepreneurship — he served as the chief of staff for this year's Start @ a Startup at Princeton, a conference that brought together 250 undergraduate entrepreneurs from around the country and 30 prominent tech startups, like Dropbox, Square, and Indiegogo. Crane is responsible for managing the $300,000 budget for the event.

When he's not in class or training for Ironman triathlons, Crane is thinking about his future — either in media and communications, or in the tech world, possibly building out an idea he has for a travel-related startup.

Catherine Dennig is launching her nightlife app overseas.

Class of 2015

The summer of her sophomore year, Catherine Dennig created the nightlife app nofomo, designing and building everything from the business plan to the sales pitch to the app itself. She hired a small team, which is helping her ready the app for beta launch in Auckland, New Zealand, in the next few weeks.

The impending beta launch puts a lot on Dennig's already-full plate, which is already heaped with her senior thesis as well as responsibilities as co-president of the Princeton Social Entrepreneurship Initiative (PSEI) and undergraduate adviser on the Princeton Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (PEAC).

Through PSEI, Dennig has been expanding the group's mission to make Princeton one of the world's top social innovation hubs. She put the focus on PSEI's 60-second Princeton Pitch contest, doubling the number of pitches as well as the prize money awarded; an iOS app that lists all of Princeton’s current entrepreneurship resources; and stronger ties to the alumni community.

Dennig was one of two undergraduate advisers chosen from a pool of more than 5,200 to serve on the PEAC. She works with faculty, staff, alumni, and graduate student advisers to help the university president implement administrative policy changes in teaching and enabling entrepreneurship on campus.

When she graduates in the spring, Dennig knows she wants to remain involved in the startup world, starting with giving nofomo her undivided attention.

For years, I've read about a "secret menu" at McDonald's that offers up ridiculous items like the "Land, Sea, and Air Burger," which is a Big Mac stuffed with a chicken and fish patty. Only thing is – a McDonald's rep tells us "there is no secret menu at McDonald's."

So, what happens when you order off the infamous secret menu? I found out. 

Produced by Will Wei. Camera by Devan Joseph.

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James Bond famously ordered his Martini "shaken, not stirred."

We're glad his specialty is secret service work.

Fact is Martinis are supposed to be stirred — it's one of the cardinal rules of  cocktail-making.

And if Bond didn't know that, then we're guessing you might not have known that either.

So we're here to share a few cocktail-making tips.

With the help of writer and cocktail expert Robert Haynes-Peterson, we've put together a list of 17 rules of cocktail-making to help you master the craft.

Learn the difference between "strong", "weak", "sweet", and "sour".

There are four basic ways to describe what's going on in your cocktail:

Strong: refers to the main alcohol in your drink. That's your vodka, gin, or whatever your preferred liqour might be.

Weak: refers to the lesser alcohol part of your drink. This might be a liqueur (St. Germain for example) or fortified wines.

Sour: Means that there's a citrus note — lemon, lime, or orange.

Sweet: This one's pretty obvious, but that means there's sugar or syrup involved.

Only stir drinks that contain only spirits.

Cocktails that are made of only spirits should be stirred in order to get the rich, crystal clear look of the drink. This includes the likes of Manhattans, Negronis, and — you guessed it — Martinis.

If your drink has citrus, eggs or dairy — shake.

Cocktails that made with citrus, eggs, dairy, or cream liqueurs need to be shaken in order to properly emulsify the non-alcoholic ingredients. This includes drinks like the Pisco Sour or the White Russian.

Having sold more than 4.5 million books, Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most popular authors alive.

He's made a career revealing the hidden factors that affect our lives and livelihoods — for example, by unpacking the personality traits that made Steve Jobs and IKEA founder Ingvar Kampran so outrageously successful.

And like every great writer, Gladwell is a great reader.

After sifting through more than 10 years of columns and interviews with the author, here are nine of the books that have influenced him the most. 

'The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game' by Michael Lewis

Gladwell says that "Moneyball" and "Flash Boys" author Michael Lewis is "the finest storyteller of our generation." 

He considers him a role model.

"I read Lewis for the same reasons I watch Tiger Woods," he told The New York Times. "I'll never play like that. But it's good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like." 

For Gladwell, "The Blindside" is Lewis' best, a book that's "as close to perfect" as any work of nonfiction. 

"Supposedly about football (the title refers to the side of the field a quarterback is blind to)," he says, "it's actually an extraordinary story about love and redemption."

Buy it here >>

'Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession' by Janet Malcolm

Gladwell considers Janet Malcolm to be his other role model as nonfiction writer.

"I reread Malcolm's 'Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession' just to remind myself how nonfiction is supposed to be done," Gladwell told The Times.

He loves the confidence she writes with. As he told the Longform podcast, Malcolm writes with the confidence that the reader has no choice but to keep following along — unlike how he fights for the reader's attention with every sentence. 

"Even when she is simply sketching out the scenery, you know that something wonderful and thrilling is about to happen," Gladwell says.

Buy it here >>

'The Person and the Situation' by Richard Nisbett and Lee Ross

Gladwell says that University of Michigan psychologist Richard Nisbett "basically gave me my view of the world."

"The Person and the Situation" is the book that most affected him. 

He read it in one sitting in the summer of 1996. 

In his new forward for the book, Gladwell gave a hint as to why it's so special: 

It offers a way of re-ordering ordinary experience.

We see things that aren't there and we make predictions that we ought not to make: we privilege the "person" and we discount the influence of the "situation."

It speaks, in short, to the very broadest questions of human perception. 

Gladwell says that if you read that book, then you'll see template of the genre that his books belong to. 

Buy it here >>

We recently published a list of the Best Suburbs in America, factoring in public school ratings, housing affordability, proximity to nearest metropolitan area, and median household income, among other values.

Turns out, some of these suburbanites make bank.

For this list, we ranked the best suburbs in America by median household income, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau's 2008-2012 American Community Survey Estimates. We only considered suburbs within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the nearest metropolitan area — which explains why some wealthy suburbs (such as the relatively isolated Greenwich, Connecticut, or Great Neck, New York) didn't make the cut.

The top 25 suburbs span coast to coast, with Saint Louis and Dallas landing three of its suburbs on the list. The top-earning small town is Chevy Chase, Maryland, located a half hour outside Washington, D.C., where residents make a median household income of $250,000.

Andy Kiersz compiled the data for this list.

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 50 Best Suburbs In America

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A Canadian man's search for a woman named Elizabeth Gallagher is going viral on Reddit.

Not a specific "Elizabeth Gallagher," mind you, but any Canadian woman with that name who wouldn’t mind a free plane ticket around the world with a perfect stranger. 

28-year-old Jordan Axani booked the trip of a lifetime with his ex-girlfriend (named Elizabeth Gallagher) as a Christmas present, but they unfortunately parted ways. Since she understandably no longer wanted to go on the trip with him, he’s now looking for a different Elizabeth Gallagher to take her place.

“Anyone familiar with the archaic system that is modern air travel will know that a name change on a ticket is damn near impossible,” Axani explained in his ad. “Moreover, the flights were purchased during a massive blow-up on Priceline and were frankly so cheap and on so many different airlines that they're not worth the headache or money to cancel.”

The call for Elizabeth Gallaghers went out on Reddit on Monday and was picked up by VICE, Huffington Post Canada, and more all helping to spread word of Axani's bizarre quest to find a new travel companion.

For anyone that's emailed for an interview, none will be possible this morning. Just know that many Elizabeth Gallaghers have come forward!

— Jordan Axani (@jordanaxani) November 4, 2014

If Axani does find a replacement Elizabeth Gallagher, she would be traveling with him to New York, Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok, New Dehli, and Toronto. She would not be forced to hang out with him in any of the cities or pay him anything for the tickets unless she wants to.

“Really the only thing I ask for is that you enjoy this trip and that it bring you happiness,” Axani says in his Reddit post. “I am not looking for anything in return. I am not looking for companionship, romance, drugs, a trade, or to take selfies with you in front the Christmas Market in Prague.”

If you are or know of an Elizabeth Gallagher, here’s what he’s looking for, according to his posting: 

1. Be sane, smart and (hopefully) interesting.

2. Have always wanted to travel, but maybe haven't had the opportunity or cash to see much of the world.

3. Be named Elizabeth Gallagher and have a Canadian passport.

4. Be ready for a rather spontaneous life experience that will, one day, be an epic story that you'll tell your kids.

5. Pay it forward. I’ve been lucky in life and this is me giving back to the universe. Do something similar someday.

So far, Axani says that lots of Elizabeth Gallaghers have reached out to him, including one Reddit user who claims she’s old enough to be his mom but would love to go.

Speaking with VICE, Axani says the response has been overwhelming. “I was so not expecting this at all. But hey, I think there's a positive story here, and it's great people are interested.”

SEE ALSO: This Couple Quit Their Cushy Corporate Jobs Five Years Ago To Travel The World

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Tucked away off a tree-lined block in the heart of Carnegie Hill lies the esteemed Carhart Mansion. 

Designed by Horace Trumbauer as a Louis XVI Parisian townhouse, it has been described as“one of the finest examples” of New York City French Classicism. 

The mansion was converted into four exclusive, full service, and grand scale residences in 2005 — and now one of those four homes is on the market for $34.9 million.

Major democratic party donors Dennis and Karen Mehiel are selling their incredible condo, which spans two floors of the Carhart Mansion with 17 grand rooms and over 10,350 square feet of space. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Mehiels first put their condo on the market for $35 million in 2008, right after the financial crisis. “Our timing was very poor,” Mehiel told the WSJ. They pulled it off the market in 2010. 

But due to the luxury real estate boom in New York City, the palatial duplex is back on the market.

Carrie Chiang of Corcoran Group Real Estate has the listing. 

Welcome to the Carhart Mansion. This Upper East Side home was originally designed in the French neo-classical style.

The grand salon has soaring 20-foot-high ceilings. The condo stays true to its Parisian design with massive French doors.

The newest addition to the building was designed by award-winning Zivkovic Architects in collaboration with London architect, John Simpson. (Simpson's other projects include the Queens Galleries at Buckingham Palace.)

Virgin Galactic came forward publicly today with a revealing statement into the NTSB investigation on the crashed SpaceShipTwo.

Most interesting is its detailing of the moment before the crash happened. It highlights what appears to be a failure that could have led to the crash, though it notes the investigation is still ongoing and we don't know for sure yet what happened.

In plain terms, and according to the NTSB investigation, the company says that the lock/unlock lever was pulled prematurely based on how fast the craft was going. That, basically, led to a deployment of the mechanism used for re-entry.

When that happens, the wings separate from the vehicle mid-flight.

Here's a detailed look at how the Spacecraft works:

Here is the most crucial passage from the statement, detailing the NTSB investigation:

The NTSB also evaluated the vehicle’s feathering mechanism, which is the unique technology that turns the wing booms into position for re-entry. The NTSB indicated that the lock/unlock lever was pulled prematurely based on recorded speed at the time, and they have suggested that subsequent aerodynamic forces then deployed the feathering mechanism, which resulted in the in-flight separation of the wings and vehicle. At this time, the NTSB investigation is still ongoing and no cause has yet been determined – these are purely facts based on initial findings. We are all determined to understand the cause of the accident and to learn all we can.

The company also notes that it is still building the second iteration of the SpaceShipTwo, in fact it's 65% done.

Here's the full statement:

STATEMENT FROM VIRGIN GALACTIC

04.11.14

Over the past several days, we have received new information about the tragic incident that resulted in the death of Scaled Composites’ co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injuries to pilot Peter Siebold. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends of these brave men. The following summarizes what has been learned from the formal investigation.

On October 31, 2014, SpaceShipTwo conducted a powered test flight and experienced a serious anomaly that resulted in vehicle failure. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is in charge of the investigation and we are cooperating fully with their work. While we cannot speculate on the causes of the incident, the NTSB has provided important information about the facts surrounding this case and in their final onsite press conference they described a timeline of events based on the telemetry data in their possession. The investigation will now continue offsite.

Based on information they have released about their investigation to date, the NTSB has recovered the intact engine and rocket propulsion fuel tanks with no signs of burn through or mid-air explosion. This definitively dismisses the premature and inaccurate speculation that the problem was related to the engine or the fuel.

The NTSB also evaluated the vehicle’s feathering mechanism, which is the unique technology that turns the wing booms into position for re-entry. The NTSB indicated that the lock/unlock lever was pulled prematurely based on recorded speed at the time, and they have suggested that subsequent aerodynamic forces then deployed the feathering mechanism, which resulted in the in-flight separation of the wings and vehicle. At this time, the NTSB investigation is still ongoing and no cause has yet been determined – these are purely facts based on initial findings. We are all determined to understand the cause of the accident and to learn all we can.

At Virgin Galactic, safety is our guiding principle and the North Star for all programmatic decisions. Our culture is one of prioritizing safety as the most important factor in every element of our work, and any suggestions to the contrary are untrue. We are committed to learning from this incident and ensuring something like this can never happen again. To that end, we will work closely with the NTSB and will focus intense effort on its findings and guidance.

For Virgin Galactic, everything rests on our vision of creating accessible and democratized space that will benefit humanity in countless ways for generations to come. Like early air or sea technologies, the development is not easy and comes with great risks, but our team of more than 400 dedicated engineers and technicians are committed to realizing the potential of this endeavor. From research, to travel, to innovation, we believe that the technology our industry is pioneering is crucial to the advancement of humanity.

Over the last few days, we have been so grateful for the outpouring of support and inspiration shared by countless Future Astronauts (customers), members of the space community and the public at large. Testing programs, reaching back to early aviation, have distinct risks, and our customers know that we will not move ahead with commercialized space travel until our expert engineers and pilots deem the program to be safe. These are among the brightest and most experienced professionals in the industry and our success has and will continue to be ensured by their expertise.

While this has been a tragic setback, we are moving forward and will do so deliberately and with determination. We are continuing to build the second SpaceShipTwo (serial number two), which is currently about 65% complete and we will continue to advance our mission over the coming weeks and months. With the guidance of the NTSB and the assurance of a safe path forward, we intend to move ahead with our testing program and have not lost sight of our mission to make space accessible for all. We owe it to all of those who have risked and given so much to stay the course and deliver on the promise of creating the first commercial spaceline.

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When it comes to high school, you don't need to pay a fortune to get a good education. There are public high schools all around the country that are preparing students for the future.

School data site Niche just released its list of the 100 best public high schools in America. Many are magnet schools, meaning they pull in qualified students from around their districts.

Niche ranks over 100,000 schools based on 27 million reviews from more than 300,000 students and parents, who rated schools in areas like academics, teachers, student culture and diversity, and resources and facilities.

25. Henry M. Gunn High School (Palo Alto, California)

Academics Grade: A+

Student Culture & Diversity Grade: A

Teachers Grade: A+

Resources & Facilities Grade: B+

One high school junior said, "The curriculum is advanced and fast-paced; most teachers are awesome, [but] the ones who aren’t still know what they’re doing."

24. Rye High School (Rye, New York)

Academics Grade: A+

Student Culture & Diversity Grade: C

Teachers Grade: A+

Resources & Facilities Grade: A

"Great choices of clubs," said a senior. "RHS is very talented both in terms of music, theater, and arts as well as in terms of the smarts (science Olympiad, math team, JSA, etc)."

23. Saratoga High School (Saratoga, California)

Academics Grade: A+

Student Culture & Diversity Grade: B+

Teachers Grade: A+

Resources & Facilities Grade: A-

One senior said, "New facilities are constantly being built, and the school just got a new field."

Business Insider is looking for a reporter to work on our growing Lists team.

This reporter will spend his or her time researching and writing our big signature lists and features, like the Best Colleges, Best Employers, and the Best Suburbs In America.

We’re looking for someone who is smart, organized, and a meticulous researcher. You should be comfortable conducting in-depth research on everything from the coolest small businesses in cities around the world to the most impressive students at top universities. 

This person should be comfortable working on a variety of subjects and juggling multiple projects at a time. You'd get the opportunity to work with all our verticals, so we welcome candidates with diverse interests.

The ideal candidate should have one to three years of experience in online journalism and research experience. Bonus if you have copy-editing skills, light HTML knowledge, and a familiarity with Photoshop. Social media knowledge is also useful.

APPLY HERE with a resume and cover letter if interested, and specify why you're interested in working on Lists and Features.

This job is full-time and based in our New York City headquarters. Business Insider offers competitive compensation packages complete with benefits.

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If you're looking for somewhere a little "different" to stay for the holidays, you should check out the Jumbo Stay Hostel in Stockholm, Sweden.

Created inside of a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet that used to fly for Pan Am, this cozy hotel features a redesigned interior and the opportunity to sleep in the airplane's cockpit.

With 27 rooms that can hold up to 76 people, this unique hotel is one worth checking out.

This is "Liv," the Boeing 747 that was turned into the hotel in 2008, named after the owner's daughter.

You enter the Jumbo Stay Hostel from the side, and yes, you can walk along the wings.

Inside, many of the seats have been removed for a bar and seating area.

The US' space program was one of the most impressive feats of human ingenuity in history — a series of events that captured the hearts and minds of everyone who witnessed them. The amount of research, creativity, and manpower that went into the space program was staggering, even when we look back on it decades later.

But as space technology moves further away from governmental oversight and towards commercialization, for better or worse, what happens to the history and relics of our nation's revered past in space exploration?

Many of the facilities — once used for research, testing, and launching — now sit dormant, decommissioned years ago, now rusting in the sun. Others have met a worse fate, having been demolished and lost forever.

They've almost all been forgotten, but photographer Roland Miller is trying to do something about that. For the past 25 years, Miller has traveled all across the US, photographing decommissioned NASA, Air Force, Army and commercial space launch and test sites in an effort to document them before they disappear.

These photographs will soon be being released in a book titled "Abandoned in Place," which features a diverse selection of Miller's work, spanning more than two decades. You can see more of Miller's work here or contribute to his Kickstarter campaign for the project.

"In the end, my main purpose is to preserve the remains of these historic sites in the only way possible, through photography," Miller said.

Miller was totally mesmerized by space at an early age "like most kids growing up in the 1960s," he says. It seemed magical to him at the time. "I can clearly remember the night Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon," he tells Business Insider.

But it wasn't until the early 1990s that Miller began shooting this project. He was teaching photography in Brevard County, Florida, about a 30 minute drive from Cape Canaveral. A friend of his was cleaning out an office building on the grounds and had discovered an old photo studio. He asked Miller to help him dispose of the old photo processing chemicals safely.

During that time, "I visited Launch Complex 19, the Gemini launch complex, and I knew immediately I wanted to photograph it," Miller says.

A restaurant in Sioux City, Iowa is sick of its customers texting at dinner, writes Dolly A. Butz in the Sioux City Journal.

Sneaky’s Chicken owner Dave Ferris and his daughter Christy Wright were so tired of patrons sitting in silence and staring at their phones that they are now offering a monetary incentive for people to put those phones into a box while they eat.

Servers come around before the meal, and if you're willing to throw your beloved device into the box, Sneaky's Chicken will give you a 10% discount.

The pair enacted the plan as an experiment to see if people would stop being so connected and just "enjoy each other's company," Wright told the Sioux City Journal. 

The offer is only available on Wednesdays, but it is already a bit hit. "The support for our business is overwhelming and so much appreciated," Sneaky's Chicken wrote on its Facebook page. "As a family that does a ton of group texting and calling we understand the importance of our cell phones....we just thought it was a fun and different idea. We never dreamed that it would take off like this!"

Wright told the Sioux City Journal that almost all of their customers participate, and some even forget to pick up their cell phones on the way out. "We've had to chase them down with the box," Wright said. 

But Sneaky's Chicken is not the first to offer discounts for staying off your phone. 

Last year, a restaurant in Israel decided to give an insane 50% discount discount to anyone willing to completely switch off their phones for the duration of their meal. In 2012, a restaurant in LA offered a 5% discount if customers handed over their phones.

And some restaurants are so fed up with phones that they have flat out banned the use of cell phones in their establishments. 

Now maybe people will be more encouraged to share their meal with their fellow dinner companions instead of with Instagram. 

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Foodies may know David Chang as the founder of Momofuku, an award-winning restaurant group that includes nine restaurants in New York City, five in Toronto, and one in Sydney.

Now, the master chef is branching into tech, with a new food delivery app called Maple that will launch early next year. 

Chang will create a menu just for the delivery service, and new, seasonal dishes will rotate in everyday. New Yorkers can order menu items to be delivered through Maple's mobile app, which will also be enabled for desktop. 

Chang won a prestigious James Beard Award in 2013. Momofuku Ko, Chang's daring 12-seat tasting room in the East Village, has had two Michelin stars since 2008. 

He will serve as Maple's Chief Culinary Officer, and he'll be recruiting other top New York City chefs to join the company's Culinary Board of Directors. The board members, who will be announced in the coming months, will advise on the menu.

"I'm excited to partner with a team who is equally committed to pushing the status quo of food and technology," Chang said. "Together, we hope to redefine what people expect from delivery in New York City." 

Maple will be launched in New York City in early 2015. 

Chang is joined by former High Peaks Venture Partners Entrepeneur-in-Residence Caleb Merkl, who will serve as Maple's CEO; High Peaks partner Akshay Navle, who will be COO; and Thrive Capital partner William Gaybrick. 

Maple raised $4 million in seed funding earlier this year, led by Thrive Capital. High Peaks Venture Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, 14W, Momofuku, Blue Apron CEO Matt Salzberg, and angel investor Kal Vepuri also contributed to the round. 

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Commuting in New York City is not what I'd consider enjoyable, but every time I read this poem on the subway I instantly perk up.

"The Good Life," written by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith, is displayed in some New York trains as part of the Poetry in Motion series by the MTA, the city's transit authority.

I first remember reading it in 2013, and have spotted it several times since on my way to or from work.

It reads:

It always strikes me as beautifully simple and oddly optimistic. It also reminds me that no matter what strange smells or petty frustrations that come with taking the subway every day, or whatever job or life worries that I might carry with me, I'm leading "the good life" — and I'd better remember to savor it.

SEE ALSO: 45 Valuable Life Lessons For People Of Any Age

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