Firecrackers can be fun, but the most innocuous ones can still be a huge hazard if used incorrectly. Even sparklers can burn at the heat of a blowtorch. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission staged a group of tests demonstrating just how damaging an improperly used firework can be to the untrained.
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Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra is out to set a world record during this year's Rio Olympics, but it's not related to sports — unless you consider hours and hours of painting an athletic feat (which, perhaps, you should).
The artist is painting a huge, colorful mural called "Etnias," or "Ethnicities" in Rio de Janeiro, depicting the faces of indigenous people from five different continents. Kobra is hoping his mural will be deemed the largest ever designed by one artist. Guinness has yet to properly adjudicate that his artwork has broken the world record, but it's breathtaking and nearly twice the size of the mural that currently holds the record.
Take a look.
SEE ALSO: An artist created a giant mural across 50 buildings in Cairo without the government noticing
Source: Rio 2016
Actors sometimes take keepsakes from their sets — an outfit their character wore, or a cool prop.
But after starring in a movie that turned out to be a colossal failure and almost ruined its studio, Jeff Bridges thought bigger.
Bridges starred in the now-infamous 1980 Michael Cimino movie "Heaven's Gate," an over-three-hour epic that looks at the Johnson County War in Wyoming. When filming wrapped in Montana, Cimino offered up the whorehouse set, known as the Hog Ranch, to his cast.
Bridges jumped at the chance to own the fake whorehouse.
"Every couple of years we'll watch the movie and it's like watching home movies, seeing the ranch on-screen," Bridges told Business Insider recently while doing press for his new movie "Hell or High Water" (out Friday).
Bridges went into a little more detail about the purchase back in 2010:
“We disassembled the buildings, numbered the logs, put them on a flatbed truck, and drove 200 miles south to my and [wife] Susan’s ranch.
“Since that time we’ve added to the buildings a bit, but the core of the main house is built around the Hog Ranch. The bullet holes [from the film] are still in the walls.”
The Hog Ranch was a major location for the movie. The main character, James Averill (Kris Kristofferson), had a relationship with the house's madam, Ella (Isabelle Huppert). It's also the setting at the end of the movie when Bridges' character John and Ella are killed. The gunmen riddle the log cabin with bullets.
The movie went on to become a box-office disaster that went down in the history books, earning only $3.4 million on a $44 million budget (a large chunk of money back in 1980).
Cimino, best known for the classic "The Deer Hunter," passed away in early July of this year. Bridges also worked with the director on "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot."
Though Bridges admits he hadn't talked to Cimino in years before his death, he believes "Heaven's Gate" has finally become accepted by audiences.
"He got a bad rap on 'Heaven's Gate,'" Bridges told us. "That movie, people are appreciating it more and more as time goes on."
SEE ALSO: Jeff Bridges says he's all for starring in a "Big Lebowski" sequel: "It's a great idea"
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Moviegoing has long been one of America's favorite pastimes, with blockbuster box-office earnings serving as a reliable predictor of cultural staying power.
Using both IMDb's and Box Office Mojo's lists of the highest-grossing films by year, Business Insider has compiled a chronology of the biggest box-office hits every year since 1975.
We adjusted global box-office receipts for inflation through 2016 using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator. We've also included critic ratings from Metacritic (on a scale of one to 100) and fan ratings from IMDb (on a scale of 1 to 10) for each film.
Several franchises are represented — "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," and "Pirates of the Caribbean" each make multiple appearances — as are Academy Award nominees and winners such as "Titanic" and "Rocky."
We used '75 as the cutoff because we found that worldwide figures before then were spotty and inconsistent.
Read on to find out the highest-grossing movie released the year you were born:
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AND: RANKED: The 10 movies most likely to dominate this summer
Adjusted gross: $2.07 billion
Unadjusted gross: $2.07 billion
Critic rating: 81
Fan rating: 8.3
Plot summary: "Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance."
Adjusted gross: $1.12 billion
Unadjusted gross: $1.1 billion
Critic rating: 32
Fan rating: 5.7
Plot summary: "Autobots must escape sight from a bounty hunter who has taken control of the human serendipity: Unexpectedly, Optimus Prime and his remaining gang turn to a mechanic, his daughter, and her back street racing boyfriend for help."
Adjusted gross: $1.31 billion
Unadjusted gross: $1.28 billion
Critic rating: 74
Fan rating: 7.6
Plot summary: "When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna, teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition."
Every two years, the world convenes on a single city to cheer on the world's greatest athletes. After the races have been won and the medals handed out, the city returns to its original status. However, the arenas and infrastructure that were built for the games continue to exist for many years. All too often the upkeep for these temples of sports are left to decay as maintaining them is too large of an expense for some countries to handle. Here’s what some of them look like today.
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Buildings may be some of the most impressive works of art we have.
After sinking untold sums of money into their construction, we can walk through the finished products and even live inside them.
Business Insider has selected 30 buildings that push the boundaries of structural expression. We think you'll love them.
Drake Baer contributed to an earlier version of this article.
Mike Markkula, Apple's third employee and former CEO and chairman, has listed his longtime California home for sale for $45 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Dubbed "Rana Creek Ranch," the property spans 14,000 acres in Carmel Valley, about 85 miles south of Silicon Valley. In addition to a 5,413-square-foot main house, there's a private landing strip, lake, riding arena, and two barns.
Markkula and his wife, Linda, bought the home and surrounding acres for $8 million in 1982. "We've enjoyed it. We've loved it but it's time to move on," he told The Journal.
Source: WSJ
Everyone knows the moment, the one when it's time to leave the bar and grab a slice of pizza on the way home. After midnight, scoring a slice isn't about finding the highest-rated spot in the neighborhood; rather, it's about what's good and what's open.
If you're in New York City, Foursquare's got your back. The location intelligence company looked at visit data from Swarm, the app for checking in and winning free stuff, to identify the most popular spots to stop for a slice between midnight and 4 a.m.
Whether vegan concoctions, pasta-topped pies, or classic $1 slices, these are the best places to grab pizza until 2, 3, or even 4 in the morning.
SEE ALSO: The 20 best bagel shops in New York City, according to Foursquare
DON'T MISS: The 50 best barbecue joints in America, ranked
Location: Bedford-Stuyvesant
Foursquare rating:7.8
This unassuming spot serves as a pizza haven for late-night travelers emerging from the A/C train in Bed-Stuy after (or during) a night out. Step in for slices of classic cheese, pepperoni, or a sausage and pepperoni combo — at $1 a pop, who cares about the lack of variety?
Location: Gramercy
Foursquare rating:8.1
Stop by Lunetta Pizza after a night on the town for thin crust, melted cheese, and a variety of classic toppings, including pepperoni, mushrooms, and barbecue chicken. The service isn't perfect, but it does the trick at 1 a.m.
Location: Murray Hill
Foursquare rating:8.8
Garlic New York Pizza Bar boasts two standout menu options: the Grandma slice and the buffalo chicken pie.
"Order a 10-inch buffalo chicken pizza — it is HUGE!" Foursquare user Faaiz Oosman says. "It's so filling and rich, each slice is enough for one person. It's the real deal!"
When you live in a small apartment or house, you need to adopt a minimalist lifestyle. With the right design, decor, and mindset, even the smallest of homes can feel spacious.
Business Insider asked five people who live in tiny homes and micro-apartments for advice about living small.
Here are their tips and tricks.
SEE ALSO: 11 new Ikea products that everyone will obsess over
Alexis Stephens and Christian Parsons, a couple who built their own tiny home on wheels, emphasize how important it is to gather information before you move into a small space.
First, ask yourself, realistically, "How tiny is right for you?"
If you want to travel often, they recommend buying or building a smaller home on wheels that's 160 square feet or less. That way, it'll be easy to move.
That's what Stephens and Parsons did — they're currently traveling the country and making a documentary about living small, called Tiny House Expedition.
If you're considering building a tiny house yourself, they said, make sure to ask other DIY tiny home owners for support and guidance.
To begin your research, check out Tiny House Swoon, Tiny House Design, and Tiny House Blog. If you're doing any construction, be aware of your city's zoning restrictions.
Stephens and Parsons say you can embrace your personal style while only keeping the few possessions you really value and need.
"Living minimally doesn’t mean depriving yourself," Stephens says. "Keep your absolute most favorite things, and design around them."
Wall shelves are an easy way to open up a room, Stephens and Parsons say, since they free up floor space. Be careful not to clutter the shelves with lots of stuff, though.
"Open shelving allows you to see what you have, while maintaining openness," they say.
One good option to buy: a $57 shelf with drawers from Ikea.
When was the last time you felt truly happy? The kind of happy where you feel as if you just won an Olympic gold?
It's an amazing, but often fleeting, feeling. And many of us don't get enough of it.
What's more, there's a common belief that if we seek out things like a better career, more money, and meaningful companionship, we'll be happier as a result.
But that may be a harmful misconception, as science journalist Wendy Zukerman explains on an episode of the podcast series "Science VS."
To measure the level of happiness in people around the world, scientists use large surveys like the Mappiness app and the World Happiness Report where thousands of volunteers answer questions about how satisfied they are with their quality of life, overall well-being, and happiness.
While the results can't conclusively say what exactly makes all humans happy and what doesn't, the growing literature on this topic has found several key themes in how people can go about finding more, long-lasting joy in life.
Many of us try to achieve happiness by accumulating more things in life that we think will make us happy, like higher income or a stable family life. But as it turns out, there's a scientific reason this strategy won't do us much good.
A pretty large chunk of our happiness is genetic.
Several studies done over the past decade estimate that anywhere between 30% and 80% of our happiness is dictated by our genes. One large recent study of 20,000 pairs of fraternal and identical twins (widely recognized as the easiest way to separate the differences caused by nature and nurture) found that roughly 33% of the variation in life satisfaction is explained by genetic differences.
Other studies suggest that anywhere from 10% to 60% of our happiness comes from our attitude and overall outlook on life.
If you do the math, that means that just a fraction — about 10% of our happiness — comes from external things that happen to us, including changes in our career, relationships, or income.
So while going after that promotion might seem like it'll make you happy, all that stuff only chips away at the tip of the iceberg.
A psychological phenomenon called the "hedonic adaptation" — first coined in the 1970s — states that we all have a base level of happiness that's basically unchangeable — regardless of what happens in our lives.
If we get a job promotion, for example, we'll celebrate and feel good, but those emotions are only temporary, the theory goes.
In the early '90s, British psychologist Michael Eysenck likened this constant starvation for more — and more and more — to a treadmill. Consequently, the "hedonic adaptation" is more commonly known today as the "hedonic treadmill."
"You're running but you're on that treadmill and you're not getting anywhere in terms of happiness," Zukerman says.
Eventually that boost in happiness you get from a job promotion or marriage proposal will abate, and you'll be back to the same baseline level of happiness you were before the exciting change.
There are lots of science-backed ways we can improve our overall well-being and grow happier in the long-run. Here are just a few:
Conclusion: If you're looking to get a mood boost that'll last you in the long-term, focus on your state of mind in the present, be grateful for what you have, and stop to enjoy it! You'll thank yourself a few minutes — or a few years — down the road.
SEE ALSO: Here are 25 habits that psychologists have linked with happiness
DON'T MISS: Scientists came to a fascinating conclusion after looking at the DNA of thousands of people with depression
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NOW WATCH: The longest study on happiness revealed that people who did this lived longer, happier lives
Japanese artist Akinori Goto has come up with a beautiful method for creating moving sculptures. A simple animation of a figure walking or dancing is 3D-printed into a circular mesh. When a thin sliver of light is projected on it, it looks alive thanks to the zoetrope effect.
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Freshly baked breads, hand-pulled mozzarella, regional Italian seafood, and grilled flatbread are just a few of the delicious items that have drawn food-loving customers to Eataly's marketplaces in New York and Chicago.
Inspired by the original famous food mecca of the same name in Turin, Italy, chefs Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich, and Joe Bastianich opened the first American Eataly near New York's Madison Square Park in 2010. Building off of that success, the management team opened new locations in Chicago, and, just this week, New York's Financial District.
Eataly's mixture of market-style shopping, counter dining, and traditional restaurants has made it insanely popular with New Yorkers — and the new location, on the third floor of World Trade Center Tower 4, doesn't fail to impress. This location is unique, offering customers more breakfast and lunch options, including juice and salad bars.
Business Insider got the chance to check out the new space before the crowds arrived on opening day. Here's what to expect inside Eataly's new 45,000-square-foot space:
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There's a new champion in the war for the most expensive home for sale in America. The trophy goes to "Gemini," a 16-acre estate located on a barrier island in Manalapan, Florida. Take a tour of the sprawling wilderness compound.
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The right glass of wine can make a huge difference on a meal. It can salvage a subpar meal or even make a good meal great.
That's especially important when it comes to meals on a plane at 40,000 feet where the low air pressure and dry atmosphere can wreak havoc on your taste buds.
Every year, Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson is tasked with picking the selection of wines that will be served on board Delta Air Lines' flights.
Last week, Robinson spoke with Business Insider about the art of wine selection on the ground and in the air.
Robinson, a former analyst with Morgan Stanley, spent four days this month at Delta's global headquarters in Atlanta whittling down a field of roughly 1,400 bottles of wine to just 120 finalists.
Of these finalists, about 60 will make it on board Delta's flights next year, Robinson told us in an interview.
However, the master sommelier keyed in on three things people could do to improve their wine drinking experience.
According to Robinson, who is one of just 23 female Master Sommeliers in the world, red wines are being served at too warm a temperature. This is because most people operate under the axiom that red wines should be served at room temperature. But at more than 70 degrees Fahrenheit, this is no longer the case.
"Room temperature might have been appropriate when people were in a cottage or a castle," she said. "But these days room temperature is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and that's too warm."
Robinson believes that both reds and whites are at their best when slightly chilled.
This one is important when picking a wine for your next flight.
"Lower air pressure depletes your ability to smell flavor while dryness prevents you from perceiving flavor and texture," Robinson said.
While it's good to aim for a wine with good flavor, it's important to avoid those that are too tangy and too heavy, she added. This is because, at altitude, wines with high acidity tend to taste way too sour to enjoy.
Instead, Robinson recommends opting for wines that are more tender on the palate.
Another common misconception held by most wine drinkers is that red wines are paired with red meat while white wines are paired with white meat.
According to Robinson, the constitution of the dish is more important than the protein served. In fact, the preparation process, the sauce, and the bed on which the protein is served should all be taken into consideration. For instance, a zesty lemon butter chicken is best served with a crisp white wine, but if that chicken dish features a heavy bed of legumes or mushrooms, then it's better had with a red wine. The same goes for fish.
In fact, the Master Sommelier offers Delta's cabin crew a training video called "It's the prep not the protein".
SEE ALSO: Here are the 20 best airlines in the world
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The dishwasher can clean more than just dishes – here are seven surprising examples.
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A stay at the Ty Warner Mansion is far from typical. Opened in July at the Las Ventanas Al Paraiso — a Rosewood Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico — the mansion covers 28,000 square feet of private oceanfront property, complete with infinity pool, swim-up bar, and personal spa.
The price tag: $35,000 a night.
The mansion, as well as the rest of Las Ventanas, is part of Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, which was founded by Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner. With amenities like two master suites, chauffeured car service, and two on-call butlers, it's the perfect escape for someone with exceptionally deep pockets. Guests can even request a customizable fireworks display, should they be celebrating a special occasion.
Keep scrolling to get a look inside.
SEE ALSO: This $195 million Florida mansion is now the most expensive home in America
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