In our health-conscious world, people are increasingly sensitive to the impact of the foods they eat.
A particularly controversial food is unprocessed red meat, which some believe to be a source of various health problems. However, many of these beliefs have no scientific basis.
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The holiday season is upon us, but don't freak out — there's still time to get your mom something other than a card.
Whether it's your mother, grandma, step-mom, wife, sister, or daughter, it's nice to make all the moms in our lives feel special.
Here are our picks for the best holiday gifts for moms this season, from gifts that pamper to accessories for the tech-obsessed.
These cute earmuffs can be worn with or without the cord plugged in, letting mom listen to all of her favorite music or talk on the phone on the go.
They come in five colors from black to cream.
Buy it:$75
You can never have enough mugs, especially a pretty one like this gilded initial cup (you can buy one that has "M" for mom).
Plus, every time your mom uses it she'll think of you.
Buy it:$10
For moms who love to cook with garlic, this handy little garlic chopper will save their hands from smelling for the next few days.
The cute little gadget rolls on her counter and neatly chops up three heads of garlic in seconds. It's also dishwasher safe.
Buy it:$11
As the great bourbon shortage heats up, some collectors are turning to hoarding.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that a man in Virginia has a basement bunker with 700 bottles in it.
According to the report, domestic sales are up 36% since 2009, and international exports are up more than 50% since 2010.
A representative for the Beverage Information & Insights Group, which tracks the industry, told Business Insider that sales grew 6.7% in 2013 alone.
That's a lot, but not enough to threaten big bourbon production. Jim Beam and Jack Daniels are going to be fine, partially because there's so much more supply of mass market whiskeys and partially because they aren't aged very long — only about four years — so there's less of a time lag for supply to catch up to demand if it starts increasing rapidly.
But older and small-batch whiskey is starting to feel the pinch. And that's why big enthusiasts have started to hoard. According to The Journal, "panic has gripped bourbon enthusiasts across the country, and they are amassing stockpiles of it, hoping to guard against shortages and price hikes."
If you are tempted to get in on this hoarding game, remember that this is a relatively long-term but still temporary problem.
SEE ALSO: The Bourbon Shortage Is 'VERY Real' And It's Coming For The Good Stuff
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Nearly every suit on the market today — especially in the high and mid-range area of the market — is made from wool shorn from the descendants of just four ewes and two rams.
That's according to Nicholas Antongiavanni, author of the book The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men’s Style.
It all started in 1789 when King Charles IV of Spain gave six merino sheep as a gift to the Dutch government from the Spanish crown. At the time, the finest wool in the world came from Spanish Merino sheep.
These six sheep were closely guarded by the King of Spain, who had the sole right to export them, so it was a pretty big deal for them to be given as gifts.
But according to Farmer's Weekly of South Africa, the sheep had trouble adjusting to the climate of the Netherlands, and were then sent to the Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon, head of the Dutch garrison at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
In 1795 the British captured the garrison and Gordon committed suicide. His widow sold the sheep in 1797 (which now numbered 26 — sheep like to breed) to British military captains bound for Australia.
Finally, the sheep were sold yet again to British army officer, politician, and entrepreneur John Macarthur. He had been experimenting in making finer-quality wool, and was the one who turned these Merino sheep into the founding flock of the great Australian wool industry.
Within four decades, Australia had become the world's largest producer of Merino wool.
For his contribution, Macarthur's work was memorialized with a series of $2 Australian bank notes in 1966. He's pictured next to a Merino sheep, of course.
Australia's Merino flock now numbers in the 100 to 120 million range and produces the vast majority of the wool used in quality suiting around the world, from Fifth Avenue to Savile Row.
SEE ALSO: 10 Ways To Spot A Cheap Suit
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Traveling can be incredibly stressful, especially during the holidays.
Getting patted down at security, dealing with flight delays, waiting in endless lines, and fighting over power outlets — sometimes it can be a bit too much to handle.
Whether traveling for business or pleasure, these fun gifts are sure to make any trip a bit nicer.
From NASA-designed products made to alleviate jet lag to ingenious packing cubes, these are some of the best things to give your favorite jet-setter.
Every traveler needs a good pair of noise-canceling headphones, because they will surely get stuck on a flight with a crying baby from time to time.
Bowers & Wilkins P3 Headphones aren’t technically noise canceling headphones, but they effectively block out any noises and have exceptional sound quality.
Plus, they are extremely portable and can fold up easily.
Price: $159
We've all seen the Ostrich Pillow, that bizarre thing that you slide your head into to help you take nap in public places.
Well, the team behind the Ostrich Pillow made something called an Ostrich Pillow light, which is actually is actually perfect for travelers stuck in a long flight.
It isn't much bigger than a sleep mask, but it not only covers your eyes, it also works as a pillow. It blocks out light, but doesn't completely remove you from your surrounding in the way that the full Ostrich Pillow does. And when you're not wearing it, you can put it around you neck and it looks just like a scarf.
It's a perfect way to nap on a plane, without feeling too silly.
Price: $45
Tummi packing cubes are absolutely essential for packing in a small suitcase.
Instead of folding clothes, you can just roll them up and put them into the cubes. It saves a lot of space, keeps your clothes organized, and makes them less wrinkled.
Pro tip: putting dryer sheets in suitcases while traveling helps keeps clothes static free and makes them smell amazing.
Price: $45
The 39th floor of the legendary Pierre Hotel has been rented for $500,000 for the month of December, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The half a million dollar price tag makes it the most expensive rental unit in New York City.
As part of the new Pierre Hotel Residences program, interested tenants can sign a lease for as little as 30 days, or as long as they need.
“It’s hard to find a six-bedroom apartment with that kind of flexibility,” Therese Bateman of Town Fifth Avenue told The Wall Street Journal.
But the best part of living in this swanky hotel has to be the many luxury services The Pierre offers. Guests are given complete access to the butler service, pet pampering, twice daily maid service, and the hotel’s chauffeur-driven Jaguar.
Interested in renting it in the future? Bateman and Andres Perea-Garzon of Town Fifth Avenue have the listing.
Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, the duchess of Cambridge, arrived in the US on Sunday evening for a three-day tour of Manhattan and Washington, DC.
The royals were greeted by crowds of fans and heavy security upon their arrival at the Carlyle Hotel, where they will stay for the duration of their trip.
Shortly after arriving, the couple was whisked away for a fundraising dinner at the Gramercy Park apartment of British advertising legend Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP.
There, the couple raised more than $2 million for their charity, the American Friends of the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
With only two full days in the US, the royals' schedule is jampacked. Here's what the couple has planned for Monday and Tuesday:
The duke of Cambridge met with President Obama ahead of William's speech to the World Bank on the illegal wildlife trade. He also joked about the "chaos" of his son George's birth.
Shortly thereafter, the prince spoke at the World Bank on behalf of United For Wildlife, a group of conservation organizations united to end illegal wildlife trade.
Meanwhile, Kate visited the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife — and first lady of New York City — Chirlane McCray.
Kate has repeatedly been compared to the late Princess Diana, who would also meet with children from disadvantaged backgrounds during her visits to New York.
Kate reportedly spent about an hour at the center, wrapping presents and doing arts and crafts with the kids.
Afterwards, Kate attended a luncheon at the residence of the British consul general, where she mingled with members of the successful British business and arts community in New York.
William was scheduled to meet Kate at the British consul general's residence on Monday afternoon, accompanied by Chelsea and Hillary Clinton, for a conservation reception recognizing the work done by various United for Wildlife partners.
On Monday night, the couple will head to Brooklyn to watch the Brooklyn Nets play the Cleveland Cavaliers and mark the launch of a new collaboration between The Royal Foundation, United for Wildlife, and the NBA.
Neither Kate nor Will has ever been to New York before, so they are eager to squeeze in some tourist activities while they're here.
Royal aides had originally not planned for Kate to go to the Empire State Building, thinking the pregnant princess would like some down time, but after seeing it was not on her schedule, she reportedly told her staff she would like to go.
The Empire State Building commemorated the couple's first visit to the Big Apple by changing its lights to red, white, and blue — the colors of the Union Jack flag.
We welcome Their #Royal Highnesses The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge by sparkling in red, white & blue. #RoyalVisitUSApic.twitter.com/o0tr84eKAI
— Empire State Bldg (@EmpireStateBldg) December 7, 2014The charity dinner celebrating St. Andrews' 600th anniversary will be held at the museum’s Temple of Dendur exhibit, and will cost attendees a reported £85,000 ($132,991) per table.
Tom Hanks, Mary-Kate Olsen, and William’s cousin Princess Eugenie are all scheduled to attend, the Daily Mail reported.
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Art Basel Miami Beach is an international contemporary art fair held each year in Miami Beach.
But since it began in 2002 as an offshoot of the annual art fair in Basel, Switzerland, Art Basel Miami Beach has become as much about the parties as the art.
This year's fair brought out the likes of Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, and many more.
While some actually looked at art, most were just there to party — and we have the pictures to prove it.
Now that the holiday season is underway, you may have noticed lights and decorations going up around your neighborhood.
But if you'd like to experience the best of the best, Pinterest has come up with a list of the most over-the-top light displays around.
From a Brooklyn neighborhood to a Belgian market, these lights are sure to put any visitor in the holiday spirit.
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest
Industrial designer Peter Russell-Clarke and Mechanical-engineer Jan Moolsintog commissioned architect Craig Steely with the difficult task of designing their dream home.
The couple wanted to build their house on a small 1,800-square-foot lot on a steep hill that Clarke had purchased in 2009, according to Dwell.
To take advantage of the limited amount of space, Steely decided to build up and create a tower type of home; and since the vacant site offered expansive views of San Francisco, he made the tower out of glass.
But then the main issue was, “how to build a glass house to capture the view and sunlight that still allows for a level of privacy," Craig Steely told Business Insider.
The solution was to build a system of moveable louvres made out of reclaimed cypress trees from San Francisco's Presidio park. The louvres, "are angled so the view can be seen from the inside but pedestrians outside cannot look in."
Some of the louvres are on fixed on the outside, and some are operable from the inside.
The home has a "wonderful view to the east but is immediately adjacent to a public garden and walkway." Thus, the louvres that are fixed on the outside of the glass home basically work like a fence.
But, in the bedrooms of the home, the louvers are inside the building, which allows the residents to adjust their expansive views of San Francisco.
Steely also implemented beautiful porthole windows throughout the home as a, "simple and practical solution for ventilating the large expanses of glass at all the walls."
The kitchen plays with the notions of indoor vs. outdoor. Steely explained that he used only white marble slab countertops and reclaimed Cypress to build the cabinets, and that he wanted to bring "rougher materials indoors and more refined materials outside."
Half of the indoor/outdoor kitchen was left unroofed to resolve practical issues with space. The couple can enjoy the sunshine in the summer months, and then stretch a fabric roof cover over it in the wet season.
Rather than the typical foundations, the home is built on a cast-in-place concrete garage. The garage door uses an innovative scissor folding system, which is most often seen on airplane hanger doors. The garage doors uses slats rather than the more common solid material.
"The slats emphasis the dynamic quality of the door as it opens and maintains a level of privacy in the garage when closed," Steely told Business Insider.
Here is a view of 'Peter's House' at night:
The home was finished in 2012. For more of Craig Steely’s projects, check out his website here.
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So maybe you’ve used Tinder. But have girls ever picked you up in their car and driven you 37 miles at a time to help you complete a hitchhiking adventure?
In May 2014, I embarked on what turned out to be a 12,000 mile, 6-month hitchhiking adventure across North America. I started out the old-fashioned way – thumbs up at the side of the road, car after car rejecting me, storm after storm drenching me, can after can of cold beans for dinner.
The novelty quickly wore off.
On one very cold early morning three months and 5,000 miles into my trip, I was messing around on my phone while waiting for a lift on a quiet country road in western Canada.
I’d installed Tinder a couple of months back but hadn't really used it. After a bit of playing around on the app, I noticed I was getting quite a few matches. As I tucked into my 27th can of warm tuna, my most creative moment of the trip so far hit me:
Why don't I use Tinder to get car rides across America?
And that was the beginning of how I leveraged a dating technology app — along with other online platforms including CouchSurfing and Craigslist — to successfully coordinate around 7,500 miles of my hitchhiking adventure across North America.
To accomplish this, I had to change my Tinder profile so that people knew that I was an adventurous traveler who was hitchhiking North America.
Here's a breakdown of my profile:
My Bio: Nomadic traveler of 2 years from Britain. Currently hitchhiking 12,000 miles across North America. Trying to get by through the generosity of wonderful people. Need to reach New York City by early November. Can you help me get there?
Pictures: All smiling, portraying fun and adventure.
Age Range: 18-50 (From my experience hitchhiking there isn’t a certain demographic that picks up hitchhikers).
Tactics: Swipe right to everyone (Since when did dating get so methodical? Come on, everybody deserves a chance!!).
Opening Line: Sometimes an observation about their profile. Usually something blunt and straight to the point: "Can you drive me 60km south?"
Results
I was astonished by the response I was getting on Tinder. I was matching with a lot of curious American girls who wanted to know more about my travels. They all seemed to dig the British thing, too. Peculiarly, a lot of matches opened up with “OMG do you have an accent?” to which I replied, “Ever heard James Bond speak? I sound like him.”
In just 3-months in America, I matched with 3,766 people. I managed to hitchhike around 7,500 miles to New York City primarily using Tinder, CouchSurfing, travel forums and Craigslist.
As a comparison, I covered 5,000 miles across Canada, hitchhiking from the side of the road 100% of the time. In USA, I covered 7,500 miles, hitchhiking from the side of the road just 15% of the time.
Amusingly, I also recall a very low point in my adventure when I had to email Tinder Support (screenshot below) because my account crashed and deleted all my matches. Oh my, I can only imagine the look on the woman’s face dealing with my request and wondering how desperately deluded my life was.
Swiping right and playing the law of averages isn’t a load of fun. After 20 days, the excruciating pain in my thumb and potential onset of RSI made me question what the hell I was doing. Yes, in hindsight, Tinder, I would’ve really appreciated a “Like Everybody in America” button installed on my account. Next time, please?
From my Tinder experiment, I observed that since I’d set my profile up to ask for help, swiping right to everyone worked well as a natural filtering system for matching with people who were willing to help. I matched with curious, like-minded, adventurous girls, some of whom had traveled extensively themselves and others who wanted advice on how to start traveling.
An overwhelming number liked the idea of long-term travel but often gave me reasons why they couldn't start a similar journey themselves.
The top five reasons were:
1. I don’t have enough money to travel.
2. I need to get a proper a job so I can pay the bills.
3. I have a mortgage and car to pay for first.
4. I have to finish university and pay my debt back first.
5. I'll get murdered.
My longest single Tinder hitchhike was around 500km down the beautiful Route 101 on the West Coast of USA. My most memorable story came when I matched with a girl from Phoenix, Arizona. 
It was late at night and I was just about to go to bed when she asked me to go for drinks with her and her mate. It turned out that her friend was a 40-year old guy who was a bit of a wheeler-dealer. He owned marijuana farms, oil companies and property. He was heading in the same direction as me to check out a new marijuana plot.
After a bit of persuasion and a few JD and Cokes later, he agreed to take me. This hitchhike turned out to be one of my most memorable hitches. He was an extremely interesting character and had many fascinating stories about close encounters with the law – Tony Montana sprung to mind. Beneath all the debatable business endeavors, he was a very kind man with a good heart. We met for drinks a couple of times after the hitch and I’m still in touch with him today.
In addition to hitchhiking, I also used Tinder to arrange a tour around Hollywood in Los Angeles, a trip to the Grand Canyon, a weekend adventure climbing in the Rocky Mountains, and a camping trip on the West Coast of USA.
Luckily, the arrangement wasn't just a one-way street. I wasn't always the one being helped. It wasn’t like that at all. I would cook for girls, adventure with them, make them laugh, and inspire many to change some part of their life, big or small. One girl I met made the decision to quit her job and embark on a solo-backpacking trip across South America.
Some people ask why I didn't stick to the traditional method of hitchhiking.
Here's my answer: Proactive approach > Reactive approach.
A reactive approach entails waiting for the right situation to arise. A proactive approach entails creating the situation you want to arise.
When hitchhiking, a reactive approach would involve me sitting at the side of the road, aimlessly hoping that the right person would come along, pick me up and take me to my destination. The outcome of this situation is very much out of my control. Proactively exploring other mediums such as Tinder, CouchSurfing and Craigslist increases potential, possibility and the likelihood of finding the right people who were willing to help.
This Tinder experiment taught me a very valuable lesson.
If you never ask the answer will always be NO.
I battled with my ego for a very long time and could never find the courage to go beyond myself and ask others for help. Sometimes you need drop that, erase the fear of being judged, and let yourself become beautifully vulnerable.
Human beings are wired to help each other, and from what I’ve seen in two and a half years of travel, no matter where you go in the world, regardless of cultural differences, there are ALWAYS tons of amazing souls who are willing to lend a helping hand.
How To Couchsurf Your Way Across A Continent
5 Tips That Will Make You A Hitchhiking Pro
Important Life Lessons I Learned Working At A Winery
Follow Podstellife.com for more articles about traveling in unconventional ways. Also, like Podstel on Facebook and follow our future adventures.
SEE ALSO: 18 Perfect Gifts For The World Traveler
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A recent Business Insider ranking called the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area in Fairfield County, Connecticut, the most unequal place in America, and it also happens to be the wealthiest area in the country.
In that area, the ultra-rich enclave of Greenwich lies just 20 miles up the road from the crime-ridden, post-industrial city of Bridgeport. Whereas Greenwich is dotted with mansions and country clubs, deserted factories and public-housing projects line the streets of Bridgeport.
If Fairfield County were a country, it would be the 14th-most unequal spot on the planet, Bloomberg reported in 2011. Just 5% of Fairfield County residents share almost 30% of the region's income, while the bottom 20% share just 2.3%, according to the Business Insider ranking.
As of 2012, Bridgeport's per capita income was $19,743, with 23% of residents living below the poverty line, according to the US Census Bureau. By contrast, the per capita income for Greenwich in 2012 was $83,270 — more than twice that of Fairfield County ($37,807), and 7.1% of residents live below the poverty line. The average Greenwich property sells for $948,500, whereas the average home in Bridgeport is worth $163,400.
Connecticut abolished county governments in 1960, removing the possibility that residents of poorer cities would ever benefit from the wealth in more affluent cities. With no county government to oversee the redistribution of wealth, the chances of poorer cities like Bridgeport and Norwalk ever being redeveloped are slim to none.
Once a leading industrial city, Bridgeport suffered as the manufacturing industry became increasingly obsolete in the 1970s and '80s, replaced by the service industry in most cities.
The number of available jobs in Bridgeport has been steadily declining for 28 years, and the employment rate has plummeted 42% since 1970, according to Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development. Thousands of urban-middle-class residents have lost their jobs and fled the city to find work elsewhere.
Greenwich has been known as "the richest town per capita in the world" since the 1920s, when leading industrialists began moving in and spending their new money on glorious estates.
Years later, company executives looking to avoid the commute to New York City began setting up hedge funds, which now inhabit about a third of Greenwich's office buildings. One-tenth of all hedge fund wealth worldwide, or $120 billion, is now managed out of Greenwich.
While one in 28 residents of Bridgeport will be a victim of a crime, one in 168 people will become a victim fewer than 20 miles away in Greenwich, according to Neighborhood Scout. While Greenwich is safer than 90% of US cities, earlier this year the FBI listed Bridgeport as the sixth-most crime-ridden city in the US, WFSB reported.
The nature of each city's crimes is very different. While crime in Greenwich usually consists of white-collar crime like embezzlement or investment fraud, Bridgeport's crimes tend to be much more violent: the rate of murder, rape, robbery, and assault in Bridgeport is 9.5 per 1,000 inhabitants, more than 50 times that of Greenwich (.19 per 1,000 inhabitants), according to an FBI crime report.
Gun violence has become a fact of life in Bridgeport. Between 2000 and 2012, 63% of gun-related deaths or injuries in Connecticut occurred in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven.
One Greenwich resident was asked by NPR reporter Michael Moran how she felt about the plight of the 145,000 Bridgeport residents just down the road. "I don't think of it at all," she replied.
SEE ALSO: The 18 Most Unequal Cities In America
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Renting an apartment in San Francisco can be tough, as prices have risen so dramatically in recent months that the city has become unaffordable for many.
For the first time, renting a one-bedroom apartment this year would cost more in San Francisco than it would in New York City. According to new data from real-estate marketplace Zumper, rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco rose by 13.5% in 2014, with some neighborhoods seeing increases of up to 30%.
New housing developments and high demand in tech-centric neighborhoods like the Mission and SoMa led to record-high rents in those areas. In the Mission, the cost of a one-bedroom apartment rose 20% to a record-high median rent of $3,240 a month. In SoMa, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $3,500 a month, up 9.4% from 2013.
Zumper compiled all of the data for the year in this map, which breaks down the year-to-year rent increases by neighborhood. 
SEE ALSO: Silicon Valley's Biggest Homeless Camp Has Been Broken Up, And The Photos Are Devastating
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The US isn't called "America the Beautiful" for nothing.
Each year, millions of tourists come from home and abroad to see the country's majestic landscape and iconic sites, from the Grand Canyon to Mount Rushmore.
But there are also cool, quirky attractions, like Vermont's Ben & Jerry's Factory and Tennessee's Graceland, the former home of Rock and Roll King Elvis Presley.
From California to New York and everywhere in between, the country is chock-full of incredible attractions that keep luring in visitors. Here are the best tourist attractions in every state.
Did we get your state right? Let us know your picks in the comments.
Jennifer Polland and Paige Cooperstein contributed to this story.
Forget bland megabrews. From here on out, Delta Air Lines will give "all customers on routes within the U.S. a craft beer option."
No, there won't actually be beer taps on the seatbacks (see above).
But there will be a litany of craft brews available on Delta flights.
"The move continues the airline's focus on bringing regional food, wine and now beer to the in-flight experience," Delta said in a statement.
SEE ALSO: LaGuardia Airport's Stylish New American Express Lounge Is Fantastic
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If you've ever owned a remote-controlled car, you'll want to take a look at MiP, its modern cousin. You can control the pint-sized robot using the MiP mobile app, which is free, but MiP also responds to motions and can detect things in its path.
MiP operates like a Segway using dual wheel balance, and has seven settings including roam, dance, and tricks. You can grab it here with a discount thanks to Insider Picks and our friends at Stack Commerce.
Get 10% off the MiP Smartphone Controlled Robot ($89.99+Free Shipping).
See the robot in action in the video below (watch on mute to avoid the annoying music), along with the full specs.
Full specs:
Get 10% off the MiP Smartphone Controlled Robot ($89.99+Free Shipping).
SEE ALSO: Four Drones To Help You Start Flying
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After you buy the perfect shoes, it's important to take good care of them so you can wear them for more than one season.
Cleaning and shining them regularly, and getting them resoled when needed will help you keep your shoes looking nice and lasting longer.
Figuring out which shoe repair shop to go to isn't easy so the folks over at Yelp help us put together a list of the best cobblers in NYC.
Customers on Yelp rave about the work that the cobblers at North 11 Shoe repair do on their favorite shoes. While it is a little on the pricey side, Yelp users say it's worth it. Josh N. from Brooklyn said. "First I was a little taken back by the estimated price to repair a stitching and re-sole my favorite Ashton Grey boots--about 40% of the cost to get new ones. When I received them back, they look and feel new! Polishing is included. Couldn't be happier --with the repairs these boots should last a lot longer."
Yelp users said over and over in their reviews that Roma Shoe Repair & Shine "saved their favorite shoes." The service speedy and the cobbler's craftsmanship is perfect. Not only is the work top notch, the owner is helpful and friendly. Yelp user Cindy J. said, "The man was incredibly friendly and fixed a pair of boot heels I thought were ruined! He did an amazing job! They look wonderful. He was done in half an hour and only charged $15! I will become a very loyal customer and recommend him to all of my friends."
While Giovanni's looks like a "hole in the wall" from the outside, don't be fooled, he'll do great work on your shoes. Yelp users say he is friendly, fast, and reasonably priced, and that they would never go anywhere else. Wendy Y said, "Quality of work is outstanding -- shoes brought in for repair are returned nicely polished. When my daughter needed a couple of extra holes punched in her purse straps, the shoe repair guy did it for free. You will be able to add years of wear to your shoes and boots by bringing them here."
Wall Streeters: here's your place. The easy place for you to stop in on your lunch break is also one of the best on the island. Yelp user Scott S. said Hadn't been here in a long time. Went in for a shine and they did an amazing job. Shoes look brand new. If you're near Wall Street this is the place to go. Excellent shoe repair as well. Service is personal. And top notch."
The helpful cobblers at Chelsea Cobbler will walk you through the basics to make sure you get the most wear out of your shoes. On Yelp, Adam S. said, "Absolutely love this place. These two taught me the basics of my new leather shoes and helped proof them for long-term use. Great price and quick turnout. Would highly recommend to anyone for reliable repairs. Super sweet couple, too."
The people at Cobbler Express go above and beyond to make your shoes, and other leather goods look great. Yelp user Alli G. said, "Incredible and friendly service. Went to 3 different warehouses to find the right color leather to fix my bag. It looks better than when I first bought it!"
You can trust Romano Cobbler with your most expensive, most beloved shoes. Lewis M. said on Yelp, "I brought 8 pairs of Gucci shoes to Romano for repair and refurbishing. Let me tell you, he's the best, what beautiful work he does! Wonderful service, prices, quality; he only Uses JR Leather soles. I will be back every time I need your expertise! Thanks Romano ...you are THE BEST!!!!!"
Bring your shoes to Albert's and they'll look better than when you first bought them, is what Yelp users say. Robin B. was impressed by how quickly the cobbler could have her shoes for her too, "Yes, this place is the real deal. Friendly service and great workmanship. I brought in two pairs of shoes and he said, "ready tomorrow, ok?" I thought, am I in heaven? Nobody ever turns my shoes around that quickly! Both pairs came out looking great. He has a real attention to detail! You won't be disappointed."
Not only does Rostelle's do a great job, the price is right too. Yelp user Suz B. said, "Amazing service. First of all, the guy was really helpful, friendly, and accommodating. Was quite happy to let me decide when I wanted to pick them up. An extra bonus is that they're open really early. He did an AMAZING job re-heeling my boots. And the tips were buffed to the most shiny shine I have ever seen! really, a month later, on the cooler streets of Edinburgh, they still look fabulous. I was VERY happy to have found this place (a bargain at $20, too!). Seek him out if you're in deed of shoe repairs. You can't go wrong. It's brilliant!"
You might not recognize your shoes when you pick them up from Michael's because they'll look so good. Ilya M. said on Yelp, "What can I say. Michael really knows what he's doing. Brought a couple of pairs of shoes that needed to be resoled and new heels. When I came to pick them up, at first I thought he gave me the wrong shoes. Then I realized that he did such a great job that they looked brand new. What surprised me the most is that I had my shoes done in a couple of different places. But this guy topped them! He actually sewed the leather soles, To make sure it has a better hold than just glue. And keep its original look. Gave it a nice matte finish on the upper leather... From what I heard he's been in this business for over 20 years. Shows why he's still in business."
SEE ALSO: The 3 Types Of Boots Men Need For The Winter
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New York City is chock-full of laughably small, awkwardly shaped apartments. Which is why it takes a good imagination to not only make them livable but actually desirable.
The designers at Specht Harpman Architects recently worked wonders on a 425-square-foot loft on the Upper West Side.
The space, at the top of a six-story brownstone, had 25 feet of vertical space and even access to a rooftop, giving the architects plenty to work with.
Check out the photos below to see the new microloft.
Job well done.
Alyson Penn wrote an earlier version of this post.
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Peter Onruang watched his two best friends pass away just 15 years after their birthdays. Before they died, though, Onruang heard there was somewhere he could visit that could help keep his memory of them alive.
Literally.
A 12-hour flight and thousands of dollars later, scientists at the South Korean laboratory told Onruang what he needed to do. When his best friends — mixed breed dogs Wolfie and Bubble — died, he was not to put their bodies in the freezer. Instead, he was to wrap them in wet towels and place them in the refrigerator. Then he would have five days to take them back to the lab and have scientists extract the cells they'd use to clone them.
After the lab took some cells from his dogs, Onruang brought their bodies home to be buried.
He visited their graves regularly, hoping he'd see them — or at least new dogs that resembled them — again soon. "When I'm there, I say, 'Hi, I'm making a new body for you,'" he told TLC in a TV series on the subject called "I Cloned My Pet."
Three years later, Onruang brought home two new versions of each of his deceased best friends — Wolfie Bear and Wolfie Girl and Bubble Face and Bubble Rubble.
"I do still miss the original Wolfie and Bubble and nothing could ever replace them," Onruang writes on a Facebook page he created for them. "But these clones have come very close. I think of these clones mostly as their offspring."
We've come a long way since scientists cloned the first adult mammal, a sheep named Dolly, in 1996.
Now, you can pay to have your own dog duplicated using the same technique scientists used to make Dolly.
But there's a catch (aside, of course, from the whole ethical dilemma of incubating your recently deceased pet's cells inside a random pup): It costs around $100,000, and there's only one lab in the world that does it.
To clone a dog, scientists at the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation laboratory in South Korea do exactly what researchers did to make Dolly.
First, they take a few cells from your pet and reprogram them to stop growing — effectively putting their DNA to sleep. Then, using a tiny straw-like device, they suck up the dormant cell and inject it inside another dog cell that's been emptied of its nucleus, or command center. Then the scientists zap the new cell with electricity, coaxing the two parts to fuse into one cell. Once they make sure the new cell "works," meaning it can divide and develop on its own, the scientists implant it inside a surrogate mama pup.
In a few months, if all goes well, the surrogate dog will give birth to a puppy that looks just like yours.
The new animal won't be identical, of course.
"When thinking of cloning, try to think of an identical twin," Sooam biologist Insung Hwang told The Guardian. "The dog will not be 100% the same — the spots on a Dalmatian clone will be different, for example — but for breeds without such characteristics it will be very hard to tell them apart."
The lab that oversees the procedure isn't without controversy, however.
Eight years after winning international acclaim for cloning the world's first dog in 2005, Sooam founder and veterinarian by training Woo Suk Hwang was publically disgraced for falsifying research on human embryo cloning. Hwang (no relation to Insung Hwang) was expelled from Seoul National University, where he did the research, and is still facing criminal charges.
Despite the public outcry, Hwang's supporters managed to gather more than $3.5 million to help him start Sooam in 2006. Since then, the lab has cloned more than 400 dogs, mostly pets, reports Nature. In the past few years, Sooam researchers have picked up their pace, producing about 15 puppies a month.
Some scientists want to use Sooam's cloning technique to replicate far more than people's deceased pups.
Geneticist George Church and Sooam biologist Insung Hwang, for example, are exploring the possibility of bringing long-extinct animals back to life using samples of their DNA.
Church and Hwang are part of a team of researchers who recently autopsied the body of a woolly mammoth who lived about 40,000 years ago and whose blood was surprisingly well preserved, along with her body, in Siberia. The autopsy is featured in detail in a recent Smithsonian documentary called "How To Clone A Woolly Mammoth."
Hwang hopes the mammoth carcass will hold enough DNA to allow them to clone Buttercup. While her blood was well preserved, however, all of the cells inside were destroyed over time. So instead of being able to make a near-perfect replica of Buttercup (like Sooam does with dogs), the researchers would likely end up creating a hybrid version of mammoth and its closest living relative, the Asian elephant.
"It gives you hope that one day you're going to be able to see the mammal again," says Hwang in the documentary.
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The Xhibitionist is one of the most over-the-top superyachts we've come across in awhile.
Designed by the team at Gray Design, the renderings show that the adaptable hull has a Steinway piano, rooftop Jacuzzi, and even comes with a Swedish sports car.
Plus, the deck has space for three helicopters on its solar panel-covered roof to provide extra power for the ship.
You've got to see inside this yacht to believe it.
The architects' solution was to create multilevel “living platforms" in order to squeeze everything in, but still make the space feel open.
One of their goals was to create a flowing interior "that dissolves the notion of distinct 'rooms.'"
A cantilevered bed on steel beams floats over the main living space on the third floor.
And the tiny bathroom is tucked beneath the stairs ...
... which now offer a ton of storage space. They feature built-in drawers and shelves, similar to Japanese kaidan dansu. 
The roof garden at the top allows light to radiate throughout the apartment. 
Pretty impressive. It's hard to tell that this was still the same apartment.
Compare it again to the new space:
