The Apple Watch is going to hit the market pretty soon.

There's a raging debate about whether it will revolutionize the smartwatch category or be a humiliating flop that destroys the shared destiny of Apple CEO Tim Cook and design majordomo Jony Ive. 

A lot of chatter around the Apple Watch has a decidedly confused quality to it. If people don't much wear watches anymore (They have iPhones to tell time!), why would they want to buy one that starts at $350?

If you want a timekeeping device for your wrist, you can get one for $10 that tells time flawlessly and doesn't need to be recharged every night.

What does Apple expect folks to do with the watch — invent new modes of communication? Streamline their ability to pay for stuff?

Wear it like a fashionable high-end watch?

It only looks like a watch ...

Having paid attention to watches for a long, long time and, a few years back, predicted that wearables were going to be the next hot thing in tech, I can say that much of the confusion about the watch has to do with how it looks.

By that, I mean: Apple is calling it a "watch." You wear it on your wrist, and Ive and Apple's design team have worked hard to make it look like a nice watch, including the brilliant touch of retaining the traditional horological crown as an input feature. 

But the Apple Watch is not just a watch. If you consider all the other stuff the watch can do or will be able to do, the Apple Watch will essentially be a tiny iPhone strapped to your arm. It could do for wearable computers what the iPhone did for desktops and laptops and cameras and cell phones — rendered them all optional. (For a brief period a few years back, I was between laptops and reverted to using a very old model which couldn't browse the Web effectively, but I had an iPhone and experienced no real problems.)

So the critical question: With the Apple Watch, are we really dealing with a watch? Or a new genre of device that only shares with traditional watches a piece of real estate on the human body?

Obviously, it's not a watch. It's a small wearable computer that, for the moment, requires a slightly larger yet still very portable pocket computer — the iPhone — to work. Watches are only good for one thing, basically: telling time. Some have various other functions related to time built in, but they're called "timepieces" for a reason.

I use my watches to tell time time and, occasionally, to time things. Otherwise, I just enjoy looking at them. 

The magic, mutable Apple watchface

The only thing that interests me about the Apple Watch as a watch is the ability to change the watch face. It could look like a Cartier Santos ...

... or a Rolex Sub ...

... or a Panerai Luminor ...

... or a digital watch ...

... or something wilder and more exotic ...

 Cool!

The Apple Watch also benefits from a trend in watches of late: bigness. It's a large timepiece (although not, reportedly, enormous). A few decades ago, no one would have wanted to wear anything so chunky on their wrist — even the legendary Rolex Submariner, originally a diver's watch with a large form factor for its day, looks dinky compared with the slabs of micro-engineering that some people are strapping to their wrists these days.

The whole point of fine Swiss horology was to strive for thinness. For example, the Patek Philippe Calatrava, an automatic wristwatch that packs all its ingenious mechanical technology into mere 7-millimeter-thick case, like the example to the right.

Aesthetically, the Apple Watch fits in with the current style of wrist wear.

Leaving the world of watches behind

The only precedent I can think of for the Apple Watch is the modern dive watch, which is actually a dive computer. For decades, divers needed reliable watches that could survive the rigors of the deep. This is why the Rolex Sub is so iconic — it was the dive watch by which others were judged.

But nobody goes scuba diving with a Rolex Sub these days. They use one of these:

It costs $1,800. Which is a relative bargain, compared to the Rolex, which goes for about $8,000 — and was pricey even during its more utilitarian heyday. 

However, the dive computer does SO MUCH MORE than a Swiss automatic dive watch that it isn't even funny. That's why it's called a "computer."

And therein lies the tricky issue with the Apple Watch. Apple seems to be trying to please two constituencies with the device: those who wear or would wear a watch; and those who desire a wrist computer. 

Logical, given that the existing smartwatches haven't really taken off as a new tech category. They just don't much appeal to the watch set, which sees them as glorified Timex Ironman digitials. So naturally Apple decided to "conquest" these people, in the lingo of marketing. So the Apple Watch is exceptionally watch-like, as smartwatches go.

Apple wants watch folks to wear the watch every day, too, something that watch folks don't always do. Watch folks like to wear different watches. I would be depressed if I had to wear the same watch every day.

So to be a success, the Apple Watch has to be something that completely transcends all our preconceived notions about a gadget you wear on your wrist. Just as the iPhone completely redefined what a "phone" could be.

That's a lot to take on. Because I can go out right now and buy a great $350 traditional watch that will last practically forever, look good, and tell time.

For my perspective, there isn't much to be gained for Apple to compete with that. So it must have a much more all-consuming and ultimately indispensable future in mind for its much-awaited new gadget.

SEE ALSO: There are now a whole bunch of new versions of the coolest $150 watch in the world

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

This stunning drone video shows 5,300 nesting Patagonian seabirds off the coast of Argentina.

Produced by Jason Gaines. Video courtesy of Associated Press and Caters News.

Follow BI Video: On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

The first trailer has just been released for director Alex Gibney's explosive HBO documentary about Scientology, "Going Clear," which is based on Lawrence Wright's best-selling book of the same name.

HBO Documentary Films president Sheila Nevins told The Hollywood Reporter that the network had 160 lawyers look at the film due to fears of backlash from the church.

Video courtesy of HBO

Follow BI Video:On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

Fitbit and its team of nearly 500 employees recently moved into brand new offices in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. 

Employees get to enjoy some pretty awesome perks, from healthy lunches catered daily to free Zumba and yoga classes on the premises.

As to be expected from a company that makes gadgets encouraging health and exercise, the office, which was designed by Rapt Studio, has bright walls and an energetic atmosphere. 

A wall behind the front desk mirrors the company's logo. Living plants make their home on the wall. 

Some employees sit on large yoga balls, and refrigerators are stocked with healthy snacks and drinks.

 This conference room has a cool light fixture.

They also have a number of phone booths and private work rooms.

Fitbit reportedly plans to go public in 2015. The company has raised a total of $66 million and has been valued at more than $300 million.

SEE ALSO: Take a tour of Betterment, the $500 million New York startup with insane perks for its employees

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Research Shows What Type Of Office Makes Employees More Productive

The Girl Scout cookies you enjoy every year might taste different if you've moved since the last time you ate them. That's because the Girl Scouts use two different bakeries to distribute the cookies.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Thin Mint cookie that's "crunchier, with more mint than chocolate" comes from Virginia-based bakery ABC Cookies. The cookie with "a distinct peppermint taste" is produced by Kellogg's Little Brownie Bakers located in Louisville, Kentucky.

Since the cookies are coming from two different bakeries, the taste and appearance will naturally vary due to slight differences in the recipe and ingredients available to the bakers, a Girl Scouts of the USA spokesperson told Business Insider.

Most of the U.S. gets its cookies from Litte Brownie Bakers, but major cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, and Orlando are getting cookies from ABC Cookies. The L.A. Times created this interactive graphic that lets you search by ZIP Code to see which version of the cookies you're eating. 

Here's a look at the cookies produced by each baker:

Regardless of the baker, Thin Mints carry the same name wherever they are sold unlike their cookie counterparts "Samoas" which are called "Caramel deLites," by ABC Bakers, and "Tagalongs," which are called "Peanut Butter Patties," by ABC Bakers. Three other cookies, called "Do-si-dos," "Trefoils," and "Savannah Smiles," by Little Brownie Bakers are called "Peanut Butter Sandwich," "Shortbread," and "Lemonades," by ABC Bakery, respectively.

So, why do the Girl Scouts have two different bakers to produce two different types of the "same" cookie?

Because the annual cookie operation is massive. 

Each year, Girl Scouts sell about 200 million boxes, which equates to $800 million worth. The most popular cookie, Thin Mints make up 25% of the entire sales, which is $200 million.

"Having more than one baker allows us to have greater production capacity to support the Girl Scout Cookie Program,"a spokesperson told Business Insider. 

"During our busiest point in the season, our bakers make about 9 million Thin Mints daily."

SEE ALSO: How the Girl Scouts built their cookie empire

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

It's not something you're born with.

"Charisma is simply the result of learned behaviors," says Olivia Fox Cobane, author of "The Charisma Myth." 

Use words that people can relate to.

In his book "Why Presidents Succeed," University of California at Davis psychologist Dean Keith Simonton argues that the most effective communicators use concrete — rather than abstract — language.

"'I feel your pain' has association," he tells the APA Monitor, "but 'I can relate to your viewpoint' doesn't. The most charismatic presidents reached an emotional connection with people talking not to their brains but to their gut."

Express your feelings.

"Charismatic individuals express their feelings spontaneously and genuinely," Claremont McKenna College psychologist Ronald E. Riggio says. "This allows them to affect the moods and emotions of others."

It's called emotional contagion, or "the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions."

So if you're really excited about something, other people with "catch" that excitement, too.

Talk about your potential — it's more impressive than talking about your accomplishments.

A Stanford-Harvard study recently cited on Marginal Revolution suggests that accomplishments aren't what capture people's attention — rather, it's a person's perceived potential. 

"This uncertainty [that comes with potential] appears to be more cognitively engaging than reflecting on what is already known to be true," the authors write. 

If you’re a stomach sleeper, chances are you're not getting the best possible night of rest.

“It’s the worst thing,” New York chiropractor Dr. Jan Lefkovitz of Body in Balance Chiropractic told Business insider. “You should never sleep on your stomach — it creates rotation in your spine.”

Unless you rest with your head face down into the pillow, you’re probably turning your head to one side and that can put a lot of strain on your neck and cause misalignment problems, according to Dr. Lefkovitz.

“If you sleep 8 hours a night that’s a 1/3 of your day, so you’re spending a 1/3 of your life with your spine completely rotated,” he explained to us, adding that it can cause severe back and neck pain.  

If you are sleeping on your stomach, the easiest way to transition is to start sleeping on your side. 

Dr. Lefkovitz also recommends investing in a full length body pillow.

“That’s a really, really good way to get off your stomach because it will block you from turning onto your stomach,” he said. “Put one end between your knees from your ankle to your knee and the rest of the pillow should go to the front of your body and you can rest your top arm on it.”

This position will allow the pillow to keep you on your side and stop you if you try and roll over.  Plus, for anyone who has lower back pain, having a pillow between your knees will align your hips and prevents your pelvis from rotating and collapsing.

DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's Life on Facebook!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch 2 armed gangs fight on a busy road in China

We live in a globalized and fluid world. It seems like hardly anybody stays in the same place anymore their entire lives. 

International students get a particularly early jump. The International Removals Company - Movehub's goal is to provide information for people looking to move abroad.

They've put together this fantastic infographic of where all the world's international students are moving from and moving to. It's based on the most recent data from UNESCO on about 200 countries for outbound students and 125 for inbound.

As they note, the primary color shows the ranking of a country based on the number of outbound international students. The inner color of the circle shows the ranking of a country based on the number of inbound international students. 

SEE ALSO: The Countries Most Likely To Survive Climate Change In One Infographic

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Animated Map Shows How European Languages Evolved

Space exploration's golden age was arguably at its very start, when ambition was boundless and progress came in great strides.

A massive collection of vintage photos from this era went up for auction on February 26 at London's Bloomsbury Auction.

The nearly 700 photographs — original prints, not reproductions — come from the collection of a single European collector.

The auction lasted nearly ten hours and brought in a total of £489,440, (or more than $755,500) from more than 300 bidders.

Here are 21 of them, in chronological order, starting in 1946 with the first image of Earth from space.

On October 24, 1946, mankind got its first photograph taken from outer space, at an altitude of 65 miles. A camera attached to a V-2 Rocket, a product of German engineering during World War II, was set up to snap a photo every second and a half. The rocket crashed back to Earth, its film roll kept safe by a steel casing.

Ed White was the first American astronaut to take a spacewalk, on June 3 1965. A cosmonaut (as Soviet space explorers are called) by the name of Alexei Leonov beat him to it by almost three months — though Leonov had a brush with death to do so, as he was forced to let oxygen out of his suit before reentering his spacecraft. Spacewalks are an important part of an astronaut's toolkit, who exit their vessels in order to make repairs on the outside.

Another shot of Ed White's historic spacewalk. "You looked like you were in your mother’s womb," White's copilot James McDivitt later told him.

Source: Bloomsbury Auctions

The latest in sleep science is clear: No matter how self-motivated you may be, you need a good night's rest to perform to your highest potential.

Nitun Verma is a Stanford-trained sleep medicine researcher and cofounder of the health care company PeerWell who took to Reddit to answer users' questions about getting a perfect night's sleep. We've taken the best tips from his writing, as well as additional information from Harvard and the National Sleep Foundation.

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day.

Your body runs on an internal clock, which you can think of as the balance between an alerting signal and sleep drive, as shown in an interactive chart from the sleep division at the Harvard Medical School.

In a healthy schedule, one's sleep drive decreases in the day as one's alerting signal increases. One can stay awake with an alert mind for "as much as 16 or 17 hours straight" according to Harvard. During sleep, the sleep drive increases while the alerting signal decreases.

It's why powering through your internal clock or catching up on sleep on the weekend puts your body through the same experience as jet lag, Verma writes on Reddit. There will be times, of course, where you have some late nights on the weekend, but the least you can do is stick to a tight schedule during the week and understand how a night on the town affects your biological rhythm.

Get 7-9 hours of sleep.

There are five stages of sleep necessary for "muscle repair, memory consolidation and release of hormones regulating growth and appetite," according to the National Sleep Foundation. Seven to nine hours are required for the average adult to fully go through each stage.

Verma explains on Reddit that people who barely get sleep and seem alert are deceiving themselves. He writes:

When people get a low amount of sleep (like 4-5 hours) for a long time, they think they've gotten used to it, and don't need the usual amount. It is true, that they don't feel as sleepy as they used to... For example, if someone who normally gets 8 hours of sleep drops to 4 hours, they will feel pretty tired/miserable for a week or two. But after more time, they won't notice sleepiness. So they start to think they've trained themselves. But.. being sleepy is different. Being sleepy means your brain isn't working as fast as it used to.

Be careful with what you eat and drink shortly before bed.

Avoid stimulants like caffeine and nicotine for obvious reasons, the National Sleep Foundation says. Also avoid large meals before going to sleep, since your metabolism's processing of the food will throw off your internal clock. And while alcohol is a depressant that can make you fall asleep, the metabolizing of the alcohol can lead to disruptions of the important second half of your sleep cycle.

And if you rely on even moderate drinking or smoking of marijuana to fall asleep each night, as some of Verma's Reddit readers said they did, you should probably consult a physician to see if you actually have a sleep disorder.

Don't do intense exercise too soon before bed.

Similarly, you don't want to raise your metabolism with a weight-lifting session or pickup game of basketball too late in the day. "On days of extreme activity at night, the metabolism is increased for several hours," Verma writes. "That causes increased heat, and confuses the brain to stay awake. It increases the struggle to catch sleep. That heat is different from a blanket, or taking a warm shower."

If you've got an unavoidably abnormal work schedule, make use of accessories like blackout curtains to help your circadian rhythm adjust.

If you work the night shift, you may have to force your body to adjust its internal clock. Verma recommends using blackout curtains to keep daylight from pouring into your room, as well as earplugs and a white noise machine to diminish background noise.

Have a regular pre-bedtime ritual.

"Imagine your body is like a car," Verma writes on PeerWell. "Even if you slam on your brakes your car will take some time to stop. In the same way you cannot stop your body immediately. You need to slow down before you can come to rest."

Verma recommends spending at least an hour away from your smartphone, laptop, or television before bed, and using deep breathing for 10 minutes to help quiet your mind and transition into sleep.

Regulate your light intake.

Your body produces the hormone melatonin to regulate your circadian rhythm, and its regulation is dependent on light intake. Your body is wired to sleep in the dark and wake with daylight, Verma says, so help it along by keeping lights dim before bed and opening the shades when you get up.

SEE ALSO: EXPERTS: Here's how much sleep you really need

DON'T MISS: We used iPhone time-lapse video to see how much an average 28-year-old man tosses and turns in his sleep

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We Used iPhone Time-Lapse Video To See How Much An Average 28-Year-Old Man Tosses And Turns In His Sleep

Now that we have reached the nine-figure threshold with the sale of a penthouse at One57 for $100.5 million, New York's luxury real-estate developers are seeing how far they can push the price tags on their latest projects.

This week, two developers unveiled the floor plans for the top apartments in their new high-rises, and they are virtually guaranteed to set records.

Vornado Trust Realty is building a 69-story tower at 220 Central Park South, in the heart of Manhattan's "Billionaires' Row." While prices for the six penthouses have not yet been revealed, sources told The Real Deal that the most expensive one would "ask between $150 million and $175 million."

Meanwhile, Zeckendorf Development — the company behind behemoth 15 Central Park West— released the floor plans and price for the pinnacle apartment at 520 Park Avenue, the high-rise it is building on Manhattan's east side. That penthouse, a triplex, will be listed at $130 million, the real-estate blog 6sqft reported.

And in February, the developers of another luxury tower at 550 Madison Avenue, the former Sony headquarters, announced that their penthouse would hit the market with a price tag of $150 million. That apartment, also a triplex, will encompass 21,500 square feet, according to The Real Deal.

Here's how the three new offerings (all still under construction) stack up:

550 Madison Avenue: $150 million, 21,500 square feet. Eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, 10 half-baths.

520 Park Avenue: $130 million, 13,650 square feet. Eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two half-baths.

220 Central Park South: "$150 to $175 million."

Somewhat less is known about the blockbuster penthouse at 220 Central Park South, since its floor plans have not yet been made public. We do know that the building will have six penthouses. The priciest unit now on the market at 220 CPW is asking $60 million, according to The Real Deal. It has five bedrooms and is 6,591 square feet, so we can only imagine the specs for the best apartment in the building.

Given the red-hot nature of New York City's real-estate market, it should be interesting to see who winds up living in these three penthouses.

SEE ALSO: Inside One57, where New York's most expensive penthouse just sold for a record-breaking $100 million

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

"I'm 2 Chainz and I'm flamboyant, I like the fancy things, and I'm always craving for something more."  

This is the tagline rapper 2 Chainz uses to introduce the second season of his GQ web series, "Most Expensivest Shit," in which the 37-year-old tries out all of the fanciest toys, food, and gadgets, and the craziest luxury goods in the world.

In honor of season two premiering this week, and 18 episodes in the can so far, we've rounded up five of the most outrageous below.

1. A $2 million car.

2 Chainz visited Cooper Classic Cars in New York City to check out the rarest vintage rides money can buy, including this $2 million 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL.

The dirt alone on the car is worth $20,000, owner Elliot Cuker tells the rapper.

2 Chainz was especially impressed by the car's gullwing.

Watch the full clip here.

2. $30,000 limited-edition headphones.

"In the early '90s, Sennheiser gave its engineers a mission: make the best headphones ever, irrespective of price," explains Gizmodo. "They came up with the Orpheus HE90. Only 300 were made. They initially sold for $16,000. Today they sell phone upwards of $30,000 on eBay."

2 Chainz got his hands on the headphones, which he says "are even louder than they look."

Here are the headphones in their special case:

For listening purposes, the headphones must be plugged into the mate unit, called a stereo amplifier, which is an amp just for the headphones.

"It's the closet you can get to live music," says the headphone owner.

Watch the full clip here.

3. A $4,000 toothbrush.

Germany's Reinast luxury toothbrush is the most expensive toothbrush in the world.

It is made of titanium, has a patented coating, and it's antibacterial so it helps fight the bacteria that causes cavities.

Every month, new bristles are sent to the toothbrush owner, so it really lasts a lifetime.

And, it's even customizable.

Watch the full clip here.

4. The $295 Le Burger Extravagant from Serendipity 3.

"This burger costs more than your iPhone," the rapper says while introducing the Guinness Book of World Records' most expensive hamburger.

Why the price tag?

Check out the list of ingredients: Japanese Wagyu beef infused with white truffle butter, cheese that has been aged 18 months in a cave, shaved black truffles from Italy, heirloom tomato ketchup, quail eggs, and $200 per ounce caviar — all held together with a gold and diamond toothpick.

Watch the full clip here.

5. A giant pipe filled with cannabis, which costs $800 an ounce.

2 Chainz tried out a ridiculously large pipe filled the world's most expensive weed.

The world's two most expensive cannabis types are called Isla and Top Shelf, which are canned cannabis. It is actually cut off the plant, trimmed, put it in the cans, sealed, and cured in the cans.

It costs $100 per can, or $800 an ounce.

Once the pipe is ready to be smoked, it's so big that it has to be lit with a blowtorch.

The rapper seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself.

2 Chainz also tried out 24K gold, handmade edible rolling papers.

Two sheets will set you back $20, or 12 sheets for $55.

Watch the full clip here.

SEE ALSO: Nancy Grace and rapper 2 Chainz have an incredible debate over legalizing pot

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How To Listen To Your Entire Music Library Anywhere

Patrick Willems reimagined the X-Men series with Wes Anderson as director. Using Anderson's signature typography, cinematography, and quirky dialogue, Willems' shows us why a Wes Anderson directed X-Men isn't exactly the worst idea in the world.

Follow BI Video: On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

Sci-fi!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

These days more than ever, young people can do almost anything.

Business Insider ranked the most powerful people under 30 across all industries based on four criteria: how many people they formally command; how much they're worth; how much they have shaped the world; and how much they are likely to shape the world in the future.

It may be subjective, but power is always subjective. And everyone on this list, from celebrities to tech moguls, has it in spades.

At the top of our first annual list is 24-year-old Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel. Although his company has only a few dozen employees, this guy has created an incredibly popular and extremely disruptive social media platform, and the sky's the limit for his company, as seen by its soaring valuation. Spiegel himself is supposedly worth near $2 billion.

28. Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, cofounders of The Skimm

Keeping up with the hordes of news stories that break every day can be overwhelming, especially for the young professional on the go. Enter The Skimm, a daily email newsletter that brings easy-to-digest summaries of the day's biggest news stories straight to your inbox. And with more than a million subscribers — including Oprah — it's proven pretty effective.

Founders Weisberg and Zakin, both 28, started the service in 2012 as a way to keep busy young women informed, and it's caught on. They've recieved over $7.8 million in funding, and they plan to continue expanding the subscriber base as wide as possible.

27. Alex Banayan, venture capitalist

During his first semester at USC, Banayan became obsessed with the careers of successful people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. He set out to write a book on success and a year later came across Ernestine Fu — then Silicon Valley's youngest-ever venture capitalist — and sent her a cold email. Fu agreed to meet with him and set up an interview for him at Alsop Louie Partners where she worked. A few weeks later, Banayan joined Alsop Louie, becoming the youngest VC of all time at just 19 years old.

As a VC, Banayan, now 22, travels the country making pitches, attending conferences, and hosting events. He's also advised on projects for Lady Gaga and Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, according to Forbes. Banayan has written for both Tech Crunch and The Washington Post and is still working on his book about career success.

26. Veronica Roth, author

During her senior year of college, Roth, 26, a creative writing major at Northwestern, spent hours holed up in her room writing a novel instead of doing her homework. But her dedication paid off, and her book, "Divergent," a dystopian teen novel, became the first of a best-selling trilogy.

"Divergent" — along with subsequent sequels "Insurgent" and "Allegiant" — quickly became a national phenomenon, selling a combined 6.7 million copies in 2013 and nearly another 4 million in 2014, as well as spurring a series of films starring Kate Winslet and Shailene Woodley. The first film performed well at the box office, raking in $288 million worldwide, and the second is set to release this spring. 

Iceland is a beautiful country. 

Most of the island is an uninhabited landscape of jagged lava rock, fields of bright green moss, hot springs, towering waterfalls, glaciers, and volcanoes. 

Many visitors say that the country is reminiscent of another world. 

Plus, it is a perfect place for any adventurous traveler — visitors to the island can scuba dive between two continents, hike amongst a massive volcanic desert, journey into the center of a glacier, and soak in a geothermal spa. 

From great waterfalls to the ‘crystal caves,’ here are 32 photographs that will make you want to book a trip to Iceland. 

Iceland is a very small country (about the same size as Kentucky) but there are plenty of incredible things to see.

A majority of the island is a treeless moonscape of vast craters and volcanoes.

It is covered in great fields of lava rock and bright green moss.

Junk bond billionaire Ira Rennert has a massive house in the Hamptons.

It's also pretty controversial. The business mogul, who Forbes says is worth $5.9 billion, was recently in court defending the funding of his Sagaponack estate. Representatives of a now-defunct mining business he used to own claimed he looted the company to build it, and in late February he was ordered to pay back at least $118 million in damages.

But the mansion, constructed for about $110 million but now valued much higher, has been the center of a number of controversies since Rennert built it in the 1990s.

We're here to walk you through the giant, limestone, Italian renaissance home and its surrounding estate. And thanks to our friend Jeff Cully at EEFAS for supplying the gorgeous aerial photos and video footage of the property.

1. Fair Field, Rennert's estate, is one of the largest homes in the United States.

According to Crain's, Rennert's mansion spans 62,000 square feet, which is equivalent to nearly an acre and a half of land. And the property itself is massive, covering 63 acres of prime Hamptons beachfront. 

It's also one of the most valuable. The home is worth $248 million, according to the Fiscal Times, and would be listed for about $500 million today, one real estate broker told Crain's.

2. There are actually several houses on the estate.

In addition to the colossal main home, there's also a play house and two pool houses at Fair Field. Altogether, the buildings cover more than 110,000 square feet.

3. The mansion has somewhere between 21 and 29 bedrooms, and between 18 and 39 bathrooms, depending on who you ask.

By most reports, Fair Field has 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms, but Zillow, which collects real estate data using public records, counts 21 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms. (For what it's worth, we think it makes more sense to have more bedrooms than bathrooms.)

The confusion could stem from whether you're counting  the rooms in all buildings on the property, or just the main house.

4. It has 12 chimneys. 

Mother Jones noted the dozen chimneys, presumably leading to a dozen fireplaces, in a 2012 story about Rennert's fight with his neighbors about his the path of his helicopter.

5. And a 91-foot-long dining room.

That's the distance between the bases on a baseball diamond.

6. The 10,000-square-foot playhouse includes a basketball court and a two-lane bowling alley.

That's according to Crain's and Southampton news site 27East. Rennert is widely reported to be reclusive, so we're not sure who he plays with in his play house. Oh, and there's also a billiards room, two tennis courts, and two squash courts.

7. The mansion has its own 164-seat theater.

You could basically stage a Broadway production at this place.

8. Rennert's property taxes alone are enough to buy a few other houses.

Curbed Hamptons reported Rennert's property taxes at $483,742.54 – or more than $40,000 a month – in 2008. According to CNBC, his taxes were up to $649,281 last year, or as they put it, enough to buy two houses in most other parts of the country.

9. The garage can hold 100 cars.

10. The hot tub cost a reported $150,000.

That's in addition to three swimming pools.

11. Rennert has repeatedly ticked off his neighbors with his grand plans for Fair Field.

Back when he constructed the place in the 1990s, neighbors found the mansion "audacious," New York Magazine reported. They fought the construction "tooth and nail."

They also weren't pleased when he tried to build his own 10,000-square-foot private museum on the estate.

According to Curbed, Rennert owns $500 million worth of art. The reason his neighbors were ticked off with those plans? He reportedly broke ground for the new building without seeking permission from the village.

They were also peeved when Rennert tried to expand his pool house. In 2013, he requested permission to add a Pilates studio and, yes, another bathroom, to one of his pool houses. His neighbors were reportedly fed up with the number of zoning rules he'd already scooted around.

"I don’t even object to the square footage," one neighbor told 27 East. "It’s a question of principle."

In the end, the addition was never built.

WATCH: A flyover of the estate

SEE ALSO: 19 Crazy Facts About Bill Gates' $123 Million Washington Mansion

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Mark Zuckerberg's Neighbors Get Really Ticked Off About Construction At His Mansion

Graphic designer Jurian Möller created this tremendous animation showcasing 550 million years of evolution.

Video courtesy of Jurian Möller

Purchase EVO a 100-foot long book based on Jurian's animation 

Follow BI Video:On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

Moscow, Russia to Nice, France is the most popular private jet route in the world, followed by Miami to New York and New York to Los Angeles, according to a report released last week by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

The annual Wealth Report documents the patterns of high-net-worth individuals — those worth over $30 million — to analyze how global wealth distribution will evolve in the next decade.

The migration of wealthy private jet owners strongly influences the global luxury property market, and most of them are flying to and from the same handful of cities: namely, Moscow, Nice, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Chicago, and Houston.

The majority of private jet owners are entrepreneurs, and over 80% of them are male, according to the report. Their wealth tends to come from the finance and oil and gas industries.

While the most popular routes as of 2013 tended to be to and from the world's financial capitals and luxury property markets (such as London->Nice and New York->West Palm Beach, Florida), routes between some emerging markets and major financial capitals are becoming increasingly popular, such as Lagos to London and Maiquetia, Venezuela to Miami.

As the study points out, private jet routes can reveal the relationships between various global markets. For example, the increasing number of jets flying into key EU markets from Brazil and Argentina indicates that strong financial ties are being solidified between the two markets.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The Donald Trump name will stay in Atlantic City.

Billionaire Carl Icahn reached an agreement Monday with Trump to allow his name to remain on the Trump Taj Mahal Casino.

Trump and his daughter Ivanka had sued the owners of the casino seeking to strip their name from it. The casino is being acquired by Icahn, who has put up $20 million to keep it going through bankruptcy proceedings.

"I am happy to have reached a deal with Carl, someone who I have great respect for both personally and professionally," Donald Trump said in a statement. "The Trump Taj Mahal, under the right leadership and with the proposed significant reinvestment in the property, can be, once again, a wonderful place for travel and entertainment."

Trump Entertainment Resorts said in the court filing Monday that the Trump name is "iconic" and "an invaluable asset and point of differentiation of the company."

The Trumps had said that Trump Entertainment allowed its two Atlantic City casinos to fall into disrepair, which they said damaged their personal brand. Ivanka Trump said the deal with Icahn allows the company to retain its rights to monitor the hotel to make sure it's brought up to their standards.

A federal judge ruled last month that the Trumps could move forward with their lawsuit in state court. Trump Entertainment Resorts had appealed that decision last week.

After the suit was filed, the company agreed to strip the Trump name from most of Trump Plaza, which closed Sept. 16, but was fighting to keep using it at the Taj Mahal, its lone remaining casino.

The agreement Monday also requires Trump Entertainment Resorts to remove "any and all vestiges" of the name from the facade of the shuttered Trump Plaza casino. The Trump Plaza sign was removed, but the name is still outlined in dirt or rust in many spots.

Donald Trump does not run or control Trump Entertainment Resorts, which was formed after the Trump casino empire emerged from the second of its three bankruptcies. But he retains a 10 percent stake in it.

He is particularly sensitive to any negative associations of his name with Atlantic City. He has repeatedly said he has had no involvement for at least six years with the casinos that bear his name.

Icahn is acquiring Trump Entertainment by swapping its debt that he owns in return for ownership of the company.

The agreement has to be approved by a federal bankruptcy court judge in Delaware.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How To Play Craps Like A Pro