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Italian chains are desperate to be the next Chipotle — but pasta just won't cut it

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Pasta Flyer 8

  • Italian cuisine is starting to make its way into the fast-casual sector.
  • Pasta proves difficult to prepare and serve quickly for customers, and it has a sit-down dining connotation.
  • Pizza is better suited to the fast-casual restaurant template due to the speed and ease of its prep.

 
There's always something new on the Edison bulb-lit horizon of fast-casual food — some new cuisine, some new technology, something that owners hope will take off to be as popular as the fast-casual chain to beat: Chipotle (sans E. coli and unfortunate queso).

Tex-Mex made the rounds first, followed by the "better burger" explosion exemplified by Shake Shack. And now it seems that Italian food could be next. 

Fast-casual pizza chains are spreading, and fast-casual dining's roving eye has locked its gaze on pasta. But pasta proves to be a tough food to place within the fast-food and fast-casual template.

One problem is glaringly obvious. As anyone who has ever boiled a pot of water before knows, making pasta is not necessarily a speedy operation. In the time it takes to bring a regular stockpot — never mind the huge pots needed for large-scale commercial cooking — to boil, McDonald's can knock out several orders.

Mark Ladner's Pasta Flyer is hoping to overcome this disadvantage with a system of precooking, freezing, and flash-boiling noodles. And frankly, it works pretty well: on a recent visit to Pasta Flyer during its soft open, our three orders of pasta were cooked and ready within five minutes of ordering. It's an impressive feat that puts the prep time on par with fast-food joints.

Pasta Flyer 15The second problem, however, is much more difficult to shake, as it has to do with the fickle art of perception. Pasta is, at base, a comfort food.

As Eater's Andrea Marks writes, there is a certain warmth and camaraderie associated with pasta. It has a connotation of homemade meals, human labor and effort put lovingly into simmering pots of ragu and salted water. An "old-world" charm, if you will.

The sit-down family atmosphere of chain dining makes it easy for this feeling to be transferred to even the most mediocre and limp of Olive Garden noodles.

And on the other end of the spectrum lies fine dining, the domain of pristine white tablecloths and chef-driven excellence and experimentation, as evidenced by Ladner's previous post as executive chef at Del Posto. Squid ink tagliatelle and truffle shavings are not exactly fast-food fare.

It's that sense of the human hand and warmth that fast food cannot deliver adequately. Pasta is meant to be savored in comfort, not devoured on the go. That is the largest obstacle standing between pasta and its fast-food future.

Meanwhile, pizza doesn't deal with that high-brow, low-brow tension. While the quality of toppings can vary from delivery to upscale, the essence of a pizza is still pizza — a handheld food that holds no pretension or home-cooked expectations. It's almost infinitely customizable, and it travels wel, hence the burgeoning success of chains like Blaze Pizza, Pizza Studio, and &pizza.

&pizza 23Blaze Pizza has seen promising growth this year — as of the third quarter, year-to-date sales increased 54% to $200 million, and the chain has agreements in place to open roughly 400 additional locations in the near future. Another chain seeing rapid expansion is MOD Pizza, with 273 locations. MOD broke into six new states in 2016, and it began its first international expansion in the UK. 

And if Danny Meyer's recent foray into fast-casual pizza fares similarly to Shake Shack, it could prove to be a stable and profitable genre — more so than pasta by a long shot.

For now, don't expect to see fast-food pasta taking off in any serious way. Go home, take some fettuccine out of the pantry, set a pot to boil, whip together some alfredo, and enjoy it in comfort. Or, you could always order some pizza. 

SEE ALSO: We tried the restaurant that wants to make cheap pasta the next big thing in fast food — here's the verdict

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NOW WATCH: A 'Top Chef' alum explains why you should use canned tomatoes in your sauce


What it's REALLY like to work at one of America's favorite chains

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Wawa Williamsburg

Wawa is a popular East Coast convenience store chain.

• Business Insider visited a Wawa in Williamsburg, Virginia, to get a sense of what it's like to work there.

• Area manager Amanda Holman said the chain looks for employees with "goose blood."




Wawa isn't just another gas station. For many people up and down the East Coast, it's an experience.

With locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida, Wawa is a convenience store chain with a wide reach. It's also the greatest store of its kind in America, according to Business Insider's Kate Taylor and Hollis Johnson.

I attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, which is conveniently located right next to a brightly-lit, 24/7 Wawa. I spent a lot of time there in college, making great decisions like buying large quantities of mac and cheese at 2 a.m.

Last month, I traveled back down to Williamsburg and took a tour of that same Wawa, to get a sense of what it's like to work there.

Here's what I saw:

SEE ALSO: I tried one of the most infamous gas station sandwiches in America — here's the verdict

I arrived at the store on a sunny morning in October. Inside, I met with Wawa area manager Amanda Holman. She oversees 13 Wawas in the area.



Holman said she started her career with Wawa 14 years ago working in a store as a part-time customer service associate. She didn't expect to stick around this long in the beginning, but she said the company's values and benefits couldn't be beat.



Wawa's benefits include a 401k plan and an employee discount. Employees rate the company 3.9 out of 5 stars on Glassdoor.

Source: Glassdoor



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A nutritionist to Goldman Sachs bankers reveals the diet she recommends to clients suffering from IBS

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watermelon

  • A nutritionist to Goldman Sachs executives says people with IBS should follow the low FODMAP diet.
  • This means cutting out wheat, barley, garlic, onion, beans, and lentils, as well as certain fruit and vegetables.
  • Evelyn Dorkel said around 70% of her clients feel better after following the diet.


Evelyn Dorkel is a London-based registered dietician and nutritionist with over 12 years of experience.

She works with time-poor city dwellers at firms like Deloitte, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Goldman Sachs, to help them improve their eating habits.

We caught up with Dorkel following the opening of JOVA, a health-focused co-working space in London, where she has created a Mediterranean menu that caters to gluten-intolerant, low FODMAP, and dairy-free diets.

Dorkel told Business Insider that one of the things clients come to her most with are digestive issues related to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), such as bloating, excessive wind, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea or constipation.

To these clients she often recommends the "low FODMAP" diet which focuses on the reduction of certain fermentable carbohydrates.

Quinoa Greek salad 3

FODMAP stands for Fermentable, Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides and Polyols. They are essentially carbohydrates that the body's small intestine struggles to digest and are found in wheat, barley, garlic, onion, beans, and lentils, as well as certain fruit and vegetables.

The low FODMAP diet was established in Australia several years ago, and research in this field has since confirmed the benefits of patients with IBS symptoms following this eating plan, Dorkel said.

It has since gained traction in the UK. It was adapted by researchers at King’s College London and implemented at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in London.

How to follow the low FODMAP diet

First off Dorkel stressed the importance of discussing a low FODMAP diet with a dietician to avoid misdiagnosis, nutritional deficiencies, and frustration.

"Improvement of symptoms is unlikely to occur if not followed correctly," she said, adding that there is a lot of misinformation on this topic out there.

Patients following the diet will first cut out certain high FODMAP foods. Dorkel said this typically needs to be followed, and strictly, for a month to six weeks to see any improvement. King's College suggests patients avoid these foods for up to eight weeks.

If patients have seen some improvement after following this diet, they will next gradually begin to reintroduce high FODMAP foods to work out where (and with which foods) their intolerance lie.

Once they've identified the food triggers of their symptoms, patients are encouraged to tailor their normal diet so that they only avoid the food causing the unwanted symptoms.

Coconut Porridge  & Homemade Jam 5 (1)

Which foods are high FODMAP?

The low FODMAP diet is considered by some to be an awkward one to follow because of the types of foods you must avoid while following it.

For example, because wheat is a high FODMAP food item, lunchtime sandwiches are strictly off the menu, and avoiding garlic and onion, ingredients found in most marinades and sauces, can make dining out at restaurants difficult.

Some other high FODMAP foods are pretty surprising, too. Apples, pears, leeks, mushrooms, watermelon, celery, and asparagus are all high FODMAP foods to be avoided. People following the diet may also need to reduce their lactose intake, Dorkel explained.

As for what you can eat, here are some of the types of low FODMAP recipes that Dorkel came up with for Jova's menu, that could be adapted for anyone wishing to give the diet a go:

Despite the hassle, Dorkel said that in her experience, 70% of people with IBS will find improvement in the low FODMAP diet. This statistic is backed up by King's College research.

She added that current research is still looking into long-term effects of the diet and potential impacts of changes in the microbiota.

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NOW WATCH: Here’s how to stay friends with your ex

Google X's chief business officer says you can achieve happiness by following one simple rule

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Business Insider spoke with Mo Gawdat, chief business officer of Google X  and author of "Solve for Happy," who talked about how you can find it easier to achieve happiness by following one simple rule.

Read the full transcript below:

Is the glass half full or the glass half empty? I would probably say that the glass is 90-95% full all of the time.

We are so ungrateful for the quality of life that we have. There is always something you can look down on and say: "It is so much worse for that guy."

If it's raining outside in London, it's raining bombs in Syria. If you're unable to go out because of the traffic jam, there are people who are unable to go out for safety reasons. Whatever it is that we have in our life today, compare that to 100 years ago. Where life expectancy was much worse, where health was much worse, look at all of the gadgets we have in our life, look at all of the luxuries we have in our life. And yet, we continue to look at what's missing.

And because we are looking for whats missing, we're by definition breaking the Happiness Equation. If you're looking for whats missing, you're going to find it, and accordingly, the events of life are not going to meet your expectations. 

Think of it this way, if you look at your life today and I asked you: "what would you change about it?" And I changed it for you, would you be happier?

I always get people who will tell me: "I'm so unhappy about my job." And I go: "okay you're fired!" And they go: "No no no, hold on, I didn't mean that, I don't want to be fired."

If you really start to appreciate what you have in your life, happiness becomes a much easier task to achieve.

Filmed and Produced by David Ibekwe. Research by Fraser Moore

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A lot of problematic behaviour from male characters in films is supposed to be romantic — here's why it isn't

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twilight new book life and death

  • Some of the ways male characters behave in romantic films is worrisome.
  • It normalises things that should be cause for alarm if they happened in real life.


Films are unrealistic for plenty of reasons. But one that stands out is the way things like relationships and sex are idealised on the silver screen.

The normal rules of life don't seem to apply to the above averagely good-looking characters. More worryingly, there is a habit in society to grow up thinking that there is something attractive about a dark, tortured soul, according to psychotherapist Perpetua Neo.

"In movies where the behaviours of male protagonist are not cool, we think it's okay because it's so sweet, it's love," she told Business Insider. "Because its wrapped up in a cute ball of fuzz or a hot man — we think it's acceptable."

An article on Bustle highlighted 17 characters in films who are lusted after. In each, the male protagonist is seen as something everyone should aspire to want — or be — but in reality their behaviours range from creepy to downright dangerous.

Those who watch these films are often young and impressionable, and so they may grow up thinking that things like waking up to a pale, brooding man in their room is not cause for alarm, but for wedding bells.

These are some of the examples the article gave:

  • Noah in "The Notebook," who dangles in front of Allie on a ferris wheel and threatens to kill himself if she doesn't go on a date with him.
  • Edward in "Twilight," hundreds of years old, who sneaks into a teenage girl's bedroom to watch her sleep.
  • Tristan in "Stardust," who kidnaps a woman, only to later fall in love with her.
  • Joe Fox in "You've Got Mail," who hides his identity from his crush, basically catfishing her into thinking he isn't her worst enemy (he is.)
  • Westley in "The Princess Bride," who lies about his identity, and even physically abuses the woman he's supposed to love.
  • Jim Preston in "Passengers," who wakes up a woman, and sentences her to death, just because he fancies her.

According to Neo, these idealisations of weird behaviour are setting up young people to accept it as normal.

"Then, when it happens in real life, people find it romantic too," Neo said. "They think this is what a man in love looks like."

Normalising strange behaviour is dangerous

Any of the behavious listed above could be major red flags for entering a relationship with someone manipulative, abusive, or even psychopathic.

Abusers often go for highly empathetic people, because they know they will get the most out of them before they eventually discard them. Once they've drained their supply, they leave their victim without energy, self-esteem, and sometimes even finances.

Through something called coercive control, they make their victims feel sorry for them, and insidiously condition them over time to act in a certain way.

"Coercive control is something that describes emotionally abusive behaviour," Neo told Business Insider. "As women, we explain away everything. We say he's got a reason why he does things, for instance his ex girlfriends before me, they cheated on him. Or his father abandoned him."

She says victims of coercive control say to themselves: "Because I know all their stories, I feel really sad for them. What can I do to minimise their pain?

Instead, Neo says, you shouldn't make excuses for behaviour that makes you uncomfortable, scared, or isolated. You shouldn't live that way, she says, and instead find someone who isn't going to be jealous, a stalker, or abusive towards you.

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NOW WATCH: Asking yourself these 4 questions will lead to a longer, more meaningful life

Meet 9 of tech's newest billionaires

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Patrick collison, john collison, stripe, sv100 2015

You've almost certainly heard of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. 

But have you heard of Patrick Collison, David Zalik, or Lucy Peng?

As I'm sure you know, the first group of men were startup founders who went on to become tech billionaires. What you may not know is the second group of people have also joined the tech billionaires club.

We're taking a look at some of that club's new members. To compile this list, we pulled from Forbes wealth rankings and the Bloomberg Billionaires index. To narrow it down, we limited it to people who have made the bulk of their wealth in the past three years.

Combined, these nine men and women have a net worth in the trillions of dollars, come from different countries and continents, and have companies in a range of tech industry sectors. Here are nine of the newest tech billionaires: 

SEE ALSO: The 9 richest people in tech

Rishi Shah, CEO of Outcome Health

Age: 31

Net worth: $3.6 billion 

Company: Health technology firm Outcome Health

Position: CEO, Founder 

The son of a doctor, Shah dropped out of Northwestern to launch Outcome Health with Shradha Agarwal, now the company's president. Outcome Health sells tablets and large touchscreen devices to doctor's offices and other healthcare providers and provides software for them that's designed to help them communicate with patients about health conditions, treatments, and other matters. The devices can also display advertising. 

Outcome Health was valued at $5.6 billion in May 2017. Shah owns 80% of the company.

Source: Forbes



Frank Wang, CEO of DJI Technology

Age: 37

Net Worth: $3.2 Billion 

Company: Chinese drone maker DJI Technology 

Position: Founder, CEO 

Wang's company, DJI Technology, has been selling drones since before they were cool. Now, though, they're big business. Between 2016 and 2020, the total amount spent on the robotic aircraft will total $100 billion, Goldman Sachs has estimated. DJI's sales accounted for some 70% of the consumer and commercial portions of the drone market last year, according to Goldman Sachs. 

Wang started DJI in 2006 out of his dorm room at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and his company was one of the first to market a ready-to-fly drone that actually flew. He's been riding the industry's wave ever since and became Asia's youngest tech billionaire in 2017.

Sources: Forbes, Reuters, and Mashable 



Jan Koum, CEO of WhatsApp

Age: 41

Net Worth: $9.7 billion 

Company: Messaging app developer WhatsApp 

Position: CEO, Cofounder

Koum moved from Ukraine to Mountain View, California, with his mother when he was 16 and  taught himself computer technology in high school. He grew up poor, living off food stamps, before landing a job as an engineer at Yahoo. After leaving Yahoo and spending time in South America, he applied for a job at Facebook but was rejected.

Koum and his cofounder Brian Acton then launched WhatsApp. The app started as a service that allowed users to share their status updates with friends but soon morphed into the messaging service it is today. 

In 2014, WhatsApp caught the attention of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Koum and Zuckerberg talked shop for two years before Facebook offered to buy WhatsApp in 2014 for $22 billion in cash and stock. As Facebook's stock value rose, so did Koum's net worth. 

Sources: Forbes and Business Insider

 



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A 92-year-old Holocaust survivor describes his secrets to longevity and happiness

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Ed Mosberg was born in Krakow, Poland in 1926. He survived Płaszów and Mauthausen concentration camps. He lost his entire family in the Holocaust. Here, he reflects on the meaning of life and what’s gotten him to 92.

Ed Mosberg: There’s only one thing. You should stick with your family and with your friends. This is the most important thing in your life, when you stick with your family and with your friends.

And like I always say to my wife, we are one life and we are here together. I do every day, making push-ups, sit-ups, hydraulic steps, I run on a treadmill, because I have to be fit for my wife. Anytime she need me, that I am there for my wife. This is my primary thing. Like this morning, I got up, I was 5 o’clock up this morning and I was on a treadmill. I make all the other exercise.

It’s not a secret. Just be active. Not to overeat, okay? Because this is the worst thing. People are overeating. They say, “Well, I’m hungry.” You can control it.

I tell you what I had this morning. This morning I had a glass of water, cup of coffee with plenty sugar and half a small yogurt. Yogurt, the small one, I take a half. And that’s all. And if I don't have a lunch, I can go like this ‘til the evening so long I have a cup of coffee. I don’t want you tell my daughter what I eat.

This is not a secret to live to 92 and I tell you now, I already decided, I have a party when I will be 100. I have the date already.

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We tried pizza from some of the hottest fast-casual chains — and the winner was clear

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fast casual pizza review 1026

About one in eight Americans eats pizza on any given day. And an increasing number of them are ditching legacy brands like Domino's and Pizza Hut for innovative fast-casual chains.

Fast-casual pizza is one of the fastest-growing categories in food, according to a 2016 report from Technomic. Chains like Blaze Pizza, MOD Pizza, and Pieology create made-to-order personal pies on an assembly line, much like Chipotle, and bake them on an open flame.

We taste-tested pizzas from all three major chains — and the winner was clear.

SEE ALSO: Major pizza brands are stuck in the middle of a fierce culture war — but here's how Papa John's really stacks up to Pizza Hut and Domino's

SEE ALSO: The fastest-growing pizza chain in America reveals how it lured LeBron James away from McDonald's

Fast-casual pizza should terrify legacy brands like Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's.

Three out of the five fastest-growing restaurant chains in 2016 were fast-casual pizza concepts, according to Technomic. Their sales accounted for 37% of US fast-casual business last year.



Not all fast-casual pizza is created alike. We stopped into the three fastest-growing chains.



Our test had two categories: the classic cheese pizza and a meat-lover's rendition.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Bartenders share 13 things they'd love to tell customers but can't

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bartenderWhile you may have the liquid courage to say whatever you want in a bar, there are some things that bartenders just won't tell you, even if it's to everyone's benefit.

So Business Insider asked more than 30 bartenders to weigh in on what they'd love to tell customers but can't.

We've anonymously included some of the more constructive insights here:

FOR MORE ON ALL THE WAYS BARTENDERS ARE SECRETLY JUDGING YOU: Bartenders reveal what customers' drink orders say about them

DON'T MISS: Flight attendants share 25 things they'd love to tell passengers but can't

'Please don't order vodka'

"You're nice when you stick with beer, but a demon on spirits."



'Use cash to pay for a single drink'

"Running credit cards is more time consuming than a cash transaction, and the tiny tip from one drink is not worth my extra time."



Proceed ordering mixed drinks with caution

"Almost no restaurants or bars clean their ice machines as regularly as they're supposed to. "



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

9 things you can do today to be more attractive

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woman wearing red

  • It's possible to make yourself look more attractive in just a few minutes.
  • Some strategies involve tweaking your physical appearance; others are more about your behavior towards others.
  • We rounded up some of the simplest ways to boost your appeal.


Two time-tested ways to look better are eating a nutritious diet and sticking to a workout routine. Unfortunately, those strategies need a while to take effect.

If you've got a party tonight — or if you need to impress a date today — you'll be pleased to know there are plenty of ways to amp up your appeal within a matter of minutes.

Below, Business Insider has rounded up nine ways to make other people think you're more attractive — that don't take very much work. Think changing the color of your outfit or listening more intently to what your conversation partner is saying.

Read on to learn the tricks of the trade.

SEE ALSO: The 8 most attractive qualities people look for in a partner

Smile more

In two experiments, published 2014 in the journal Cognition and Emotion, researchers in Switzerland examined the relationship between attractiveness and smiling.

They found that the stronger the smile, the more attractive a face looked. 

In fact, they found, a happy facial expression appeared to compensate for relative unattractiveness.

As Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and author of "The Anatomy of Love," previously told Business Insider: "When you smile, those who see your smile, smile back, even if very briefly. And as they smile, they use facial muscles which trigger the release of neurochemicals in their brain associated with feelings of pleasure — and they are thus likely to feel happy in your company."



Wear red

A 2010 cross-cultural study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General — with participants from China, England, Germany, and the US — found that women are more attracted to men wearing red.

In one experiment from the study, 55 female undergrads looked at a color photo of a man in either a red or green shirt, and then rated the man's attractiveness.

Sure enough, the man was rated significantly more attractive when he was wearing a red shirt. The results were similar when researchers compared the red shirt to other color shirts as well.

Interestingly, participants generally weren't aware that the man's clothing color was influencing their perceptions of his attractiveness.



Make people laugh

Multiplestudiesindicate that women are more attracted to men who can make them laugh.

In one small French study, published in the journal Psychological Reports, a man told a joke to two friends at a bar while a woman sat at a nearby table. Then that man was instructed to approach the woman and ask for her number. In another version of the situation, one of the men who listened to the joke asked the woman for her number. (These scenarios were repeated about 60 times total.)

After the man left, an experimenter approached the woman and asked her to rate the man on attractiveness and intelligence, and to indicate how much she would want to date the man long-term.

Results showed that the guy was three times as likely to get the woman's number when he'd told a joke. Plus he was rated more attractive and intelligent.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A former NASA flight director explains how to stay calm in a crisis

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NASA Paul Sean Hill

• Former NASA flight director Paul Hill had a high-stakes job managing various space shuttle and International Space Station missions for the program.

• Hill shared the strategies he used to keep calm when things went wrong in mission control.

• He told Business Insider such tactics included focusing on the data, tamping down impulses, and retaining a level of "fear."



Looking back now on an incident that took place in 2001 while he directed a flight from NASA's mission control room, Paul Hill often thinks, "Holy cow, we could've killed everybody."

But in that moment, during the space shuttle Discovery's March 2001 expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), Hill just focused on the facts at hand.

The shuttle was docked at the ISS when a flight controller flagged the fact that one of its two cooling loops had essentially stopped working — possibly due to ice forming inside the system.

If the ice broke off, it could ultimately damage the cooling system and burn out Discovery's computers.

The crews and mission control would then have about half an hour to either risk loss of life and initiate an emergency de-orbit, or remain stranded on the space station with a dead shuttle.

"That wasn't good news," Hill told Business Insider.

Hill, the author of "Leadership from the Mission Control Room to the Boardroom: A Guide to Unleashing Team Performance," worked on 24 different space shuttle and ISS missions as a flight director and led the investigation into the 2003 Columbia disaster.

He told Business Insider that NASA's flight controllers employ certain strategies and thought processes to combat stress during crises. Those tactics came in handy during the 2001 incident.

NASA Paul Sean Hill

'We would've lost that shuttle'

Mission control woke up both the space station crew and the shuttle crew, who started working to solve the problem with the cooling loop. The engineering support team failed to identify the issue. Hill and his team watched the data, as mission control became quieter.

"Everybody tends to become more focused and more calm as they're working through the data, talking to each other, talking to the flight director on the voice loops, and making decisions," he said.

The crew corrected the issue by running both cooling loops hotter than they were supposed to be run.

Ultimately, the Discovery completed its mission and landed safely. A review of the cooling systems confirmed there'd been excess moisture in the loops.

"Had we not treated it the way we did, we would've lost that shuttle," Hill said. "There's a really good chance we could have lost those astronauts if that'd happened after we had un-docked or we had tried something foolish like jumping off the space station and trying to run for the ground."

After it was all over, the space station program manager came in and commended the mission control team.

"It was the first time I actually sort of disconnected from what we were doing and thought, 'Oh yeah, these guys are doing a great job. They are really good,'" Hill said. "Up until then it was all about doing the right thing and not taking our eyes off the ball."

Mission control has a strategy for staving off panic

This intense focus is partly how the flight controllers are able deal with potentially catastrophic situations. Instead of "running down the halls with our hair on fire," Hill said the team would focus on a series of questions.

• What was everything they knew — and did not know — about the situation at hand?

• What did the data actually say about the situation at hand?

• What was the worst thing that could happen as a result of the situation?

• Did the team have enough information to know for sure — and how could they get more information?

• What immediate steps could be taken to continue making progress in the mission or keep everyone safe?

He said it's important not to let past strategies or outcomes bias your understanding about a new crisis — whether you're flying people into space or launching your own business.

"Where you get in trouble is some bad thing starts happening and you feel the urge to start taking action," he said. "You say, 'Hey, I've been in this situation before. This is what we did the last three times. It's always worked so I'm going to do it again.'"

NASA Paul Sean Hill

'Oh my God, did we just do that?'

Hill said that's why he always tried to instill a bit of "fear" in his team members, lest they allow their past successes go to their heads.

"What we do today, the decision we make today, matters," he said. "We have to look at this data and make the right decision and take the right action or make the right recommendation to protect these astronauts, these people who are friends of ours."

By focusing on scientific analysis and honing in on specific questions, Hill said NASA's mission control is able to establish a calm, logic-driven environment, even in the midst of a potential crisis.

"As an old boss of mind said, 'That first indication that you have a crisis is probably not when you want to go and jump out the window,'" Hill said. "Get a little bit more information, we can always panic later."

Hill did just that, once the danger had passed during the crisis with the Discovery's cooling loops.

"Really ugly emergencies in mission control, once you get trained and you're accustomed to the environment, aren't that difficult to deal with," he said. "But when I walked out after I was finished with my shift, I remember looking up at the sky, and thinking, 'Oh my God, did we just do that?'"

SEE ALSO: An ex-agent who guarded some of the most powerful people in America shares how to turn stress into your personal 'rocket fuel'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: NASA will destroy a $3.26 billion spacecraft this week — here's what will happen

How much your plane ticket actually costs without taxes and fees

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How much does your plane ticket actually cost?

Like almost anything you buy in stores, plane tickets come with a base cost plus taxes and fees. These airline taxes and fees can get extremely pricey.

Here's a breakdown of a sample $300 round-trip from Peoria, IL to Raleigh, NC sold on Jan. 1, 2017.

Taxes and fees account for 21.1% of the total cost. That equates to $63.35 you pay on top of the baseline price. Breaking that $63.35 down further, there's a standard 7.5% tax on the baseline ticket price.

Then, there's a $4.50 facility charge for each airport you land in. This flight had a layover in Chicago which means, you pay that $4.50 charge four different times for the round-trip.

Next, you have a "segment tax" for takeoff and landing. You'll pay this $4.10 tax four times round-trip: Twice out and twice back.

Last but not least, is the federal security surcharge or better known as the Sept. 11 Security Fee. Standing in those security lines costs you $5.60 per flight.

Before taxes and fees, the baseline ticket price is $236.65. Most of that money goes toward fuel and airline salaries.

Turns out that ticket isn't as pricey as you might think. It's all those extra costs that can drive up the price.

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This Mexican city is hiring an 'experience officer' to stay in luxury hotels, lounge on the beach, and swim with sharks — and they'll be paid $10,000 a month

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cancun flickr krystal hotels timeshare

  • Cancun, Mexico is hiring someone to create online content that promotes the city.
  • The winning candidate will be paid $60,000 to live in luxury hotels for six months.
  • No experience is required — candidates just need to be fluent in English.


Cancun is hiring someone to experience and showcase everything that the Mexican city has to the offer over the space of six months — and they’re paying the lucky individual $10,000 (£7,650) a month to do it.

Cancun.com, a new joint venture between US and Mexican travel technology experts TravelPass Group and BestDay Travel Group, is seeking a "Cancun Experience Officer (CEO)" to spend six months swimming with sharks, exploring ancient Mayan temples, and lounging on white sand beaches and in luxury resorts — all while recording, blogging, and tweeting about their adventures.

Whilst capturing their time on Mexico's southeast coast, the Experience Officer will be housed in luxury hotels and resorts — with all hotels, excursions, and equipment paid for by the travel company.

According to the job description, the successful participant will need to create, edit, and promote content that shows everything the island has to offer in video, photo, and written formats for Cancun.com and its social media channels.

No prior experience is required — the only requirements are that the winner is fluent in English and aged 18 or over.

The ideal candidate should also be an "outgoing, authentic, and hard-working individual (or team) who can skillfully showcase Cancun to an American audience, helping build excitement, trust, and recognition" around the city as a holiday destination.

Although the Cancun Experience Officer isn't expected to be an expert on the local area, the lucky winner will need to "immerse themselves in everything Cancun" — including the activities, accommodation, food, beaches, people, and local culture.

cancun unsplash iorniThe application is open to teams as well as individuals — and you can even take your family along.

To apply, candidates need to create a one-minute video explaining why they’re Cancun.com’s perfect experience officer candidate by December 17. The videos will then be voted om by the public, then boiled down to a shortlisted 100 candidates by a Cancun.com panel.

The winning candidate will be announced in January 2018 and will start their six-month adventure in March.

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Answering this question can supposedly tell you whether or not you're a psychopath — but you shouldn't panic if you get the 'right' answer

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green eye

  • Psychopaths make up around 1% of the population.
  • Most people exhibit some psychopathic traits, so it can be difficult to diagnose someone with the personality disorder.
  • One study suggests answering ethical dilemmas could work out whether someone is a psychopath or not.
  • However, there is a difference between thinking logically and lacking any empathy or remorse.


Diagnosing a psychopath isn't simple.

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, antisocial or psychopathic personality types are defined as having an inflated, grandiose sense of themselves, and a habit of taking advantage of other people.

However, it's still a hard disorder to define, as most of us have some psychopathic traits. In fact, some psychologists believe everyone falls on the psychopathy spectrum somewhere.

On their own, some traits are beneficial to us, such as keeping a cool head, and having charisma. This is why many psychopaths become CEOs, because they can look at the cold, hard facts and make decisions without becoming emotionally involved.

Still, a number of researchers have attempted to find a way of diagnosing psychopathic behaviour.

One well-known test for psychopaths is the "The Hare Psychopathy Checklist," which analyses how you see yourself and other people.

Another study from 2011, published in the journal Cognition, looked into whether how someone would respond in a fake scenarios could diagnose them as a psychopath.

The team from Columbia Business School and Cornell Universities gave participants a set of moral dilemmas, and also asked them to complete three personality tests: one for assessing psychopathic traits, one assessing Machiavellian traits, and one assessing whether they believed life was meaningful.

This was one of the questions they were asked:

"A runaway trolley is about to run over and kill five people and you are standing on a footbridge next to a large stranger; your body is too light to stop the train, but if you push the stranger onto the tracks, killing him, you will save the five people. Would you push the man?"

The team found that those who answered the dilemmas with an "ethic of utilitarianism" — the view which says the morally right action is whichever one produces the best consequence overall — possessed more psychopathic and Machiavellian personality traits.

In the above question, if you'd choose to push the man, you have more in common with the people who had psychopathic or Machiavellian traits.

This makes sense when you think about how Machiavelli generally believed "the ends justifies the means," and that killing innocent people could be normal and effective in politics, as long as the outcome was for the greater good.

A diagnosis isn't that easy

However, as a press release from Columbia Business School itself points out, diagnosing a psychopath is not that simple.

"Although the study does not resolve the ethical debate, it points to a flaw in the widely-adopted use of sacrificial dilemmas to identify optimal moral judgment," said Daniel Bartels, a marketing professor at Columbia Business School, and one of the authors of the study.

"These methods fail to distinguish between people who endorse utilitarian moral choices because of underlying emotional deficits (like those captured by our measures of psychopathy and Machiavellianism) and those who endorse them out of genuine concern for the welfare of others."

In other words, just because you can make a theoretical calculated decision that results in the death of hypothetical people doesn't mean you're actually a psychopath.

The same problem arises with another popular conundrum, which can supposedly pinpoint a psychopath.

Here's the dilemma, which was de-bunked on the website Snopes:

A girl, while at the funeral of her own mother, meets a man she didn't know before. She thought he was amazing, and believed him to be the love of her life. However, when he left she realised she didn't get his number.

A few days later, the girl killed her own sister. Why did she do it?

Supposedly, if you work out her motive, you think like a psychopath. This is the answer:

If she kills her sister, she has a chance of meeting the man again, because he will come to her funeral.

If you got the 'psychopathic' answer, don't panic

As pointed out earlier, psychopathy is a spectrum. Many psychopaths have similarities in the way they view things, and many have cold, calculated ways of working things out — but this doesn't mean they are exactly the same.

Working out the answer to the funeral dilemma requires a certain level of critical thinking. Getting to it could just mean you are good at solving problems. After all, just because you come to the correct answer doesn't mean you would actually do it yourself.

Psychopaths are all around us — they make up about 1% of the population — and usually they won't be identified by the people around them. What sets them apart isn't their response to a single question, but more their lack of remorse and empathy.

Ultimately, if you pushed the guy onto the train tracks, or you figured out why the girl's poor sister needed to die, it doesn't mean you're a psychopath. If you felt good about it, that's a different matter.

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What a $500,000 home looks like in 15 major cities across America

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Detroit Trulia

  • The price per square foot for homes can vary drastically from city to city.
  • You can get a lot more space in Dallas or Chicago than in Boston or San Francisco.
  • To compare home size across housing markets, real estate listing site Trulia pulled listings in the $500,000 range for the 15 biggest US metros.

 

Space is hard to come by in some of America's most popular housing markets.

Homebuyers in Boston and San Francisco, for instance, are paying over $1,000 per square foot right now, while buyers in Detroit and Chicago are paying closer to $200 per square foot.

To find out how home sizes compare across America, we asked Trulia to gather listings in the $500,000 range for the largest metro areas.

Below, check out how much square footage buyers get for homes priced between $489,000 and $525,000 in 15 popular cities.

SEE ALSO: What a $1 million home looks like in 17 major cities across America

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New York City

Listing price: $499,000

Square feet: 550

Price per square foot: $907



Los Angeles

Listing price: $489,000

Square feet: 871 

Price per square foot: $561



Chicago

Listing price: $519,000

Square feet: 2,600 

Price per square foot: $200



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A London bar put an ice rink on a carpark roof to cash in on winter revellers — take a look

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Skylight at Tobacco Dock hosts London's only ice rink on a roof. Guests can enjoy a skating session with a view of the City's skyline.

The site used to be a car park, which helped the team at Skylight set up the rink on its roof. "It's made to hold massive amounts of weight," Acting General Manager Harry Donovan told Business Insider.

There's also food and drinks at the venue. This winter's speciality is cheese fondue.

Skylight is open until mid-January. Tickets to the ice rink cost £10 per person.

 Produced and filmed by Claudia Romeo

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I tried a new fitness app that charges you for every minute you spend at the gym — here's what it's like to use

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mercedes club

  • The new app POPiN allows users to pay by-the-minute at participating gyms.
  • Users currently have access to six gyms in Manhattan.
  • Per-minute rates run from $0.14-$0.26.

 

Gym memberships are expensive, especially if you don't use them regularly. But even if you do use your membership consistently, they often only apply to a select number of gyms that have limited hours, which means you may be forced to pay $50 for a one-time pass if you want to exercise after staying late at work or traveling. 

The new app POPiN attempts to solve this problem, allowing users to pay reduced rates to workout at participating gyms based on the amount of time they spend there. (There are six gyms available so far—all in Manhattan—with two more the company's website indicates will be available soon.) The per-minute rates run from $0.14-$0.26, which means that a 45-minute workout would cost between $6.30 and $11.70, a significant discount from the average gym's day pass.

We tried the app at the Mercedes Club in Midtown and saw why it might change the way we exercise.

SEE ALSO: Under Armour's new subscription box enlists fitness experts to choose the best workout clothes for you

When you open the app, it shows you a map of available gyms and lists them according to how close they are.



For each gym, you can see its hours, per-minute and per-hour rates, and reviews from other users.



We chose to go to the Mercedes Club on 550 W 54th St.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Parents are furious after an Amazon ad 'kills Christmas' by implying Santa isn't real (AMZN)

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Amazon

  • An advertisement running in the UK shows a parent hiding Amazon packages from his children.
  • People online are accusing Amazon of showing that parents, not Santa, get gifts for children.
  • Amazon said that the presents "are just a few extra to give a little love from parents."

 

Apparently, all it takes to ruin Christmas is 30 seconds.

Some parents in the UK are mad about an Amazon advertisement that, according to them, erases Santa from the Christmas narrative.

The ad shows a dad getting a stack of Amazon packages — presumably holiday gifts — from a delivery person, then sneaking past his kids to hide them. Parents are saying that this makes it obvious to kids watching the ad that parents — not Santa — buy Christmas gifts. The ad only aired in the UK market.

Parents are venting their frustration over the new ad.

In a statement to The Sun, one parent wrote:  "So it's Amazon that delivers Christmas is it? Disgusting that kids who believe in Santa are shown their dad running about with Amazon presents."

The parent added: "This kills Christmas."

Parents have made similar sentiments online. A now-deleted tweet by user @sophie21white reads, "Thanks @amazon for your advert my 3 year old is asking why the man is hideing [sic] with presents, asking if he's Santa."

Others include:

Amazon Christmas AdvertAmazon Christmas AdvertAmazon Christmas Advert

In a statement to The Sun, an Amazon spokesperson gave parents an easy out, should their kids have any questions.

"Father Christmas and his elves are no doubt working around the clock to get presents to girls and boys around the world. These are just a few extra to give a little love from parents.”

SEE ALSO: Walmart says these will be the 25 toys every kid wants this holiday

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Chipotle's stock drops after an actor says he 'almost died' after eating at the chain (CMG)

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Chipotle Test Kitchen 5

  • A celebrity reportedly "almost died" after eating Chipotle
  • The chain's stock fell up to 5.9% on reports of "Supergirl" star Jeremy Jordan's illness. 
  • Chipotle denies any link between the chain and the apparent food poisoning. 


Chipotle's shares dropped after a Broadway star blamed the burrito chain for a recent illness.

"I, as you can see, am in the hospital and I have fluids in my arm because the food did not agree with me and I almost died," People reported that Jeremy Jordan, a Broadway actor and star of "Supergirl," said in an Instagram story on Thursday. 

The story of Jordan's illness picked up media coverage over the weekend. As a result, on Monday, Chipotle's stock fell up to 5.9% — the lowest level in almost five years, according to Bloomberg

Screen Shot 2017 11 13 at 10.59.18 AM

Chipotle denied any link between Jordan's illness and the chain.

"We were sorry to hear Jeremy was sick and were able to get in touch with him directly regarding where and when he ate," spokesperson Chris Arnold said in an email to Business Insider. "There have been no other reported claims of illness at the restaurant where he dined. We take all claims seriously, but we can't confirm any link to Chipotle given the details he shared with us." 

The reaction shows just how susceptible Chipotle currently is to concerns about food safety. In 2016, the company's stock dropped 3.5% after a single report on Twitter said that someone had gotten sick after eating at a Manhattan Chipotle.

Chipotle is still struggling to build sales following an E. coli outbreak in late 2015 that sickened more than 50 people in 14 states. 

In October, Chipotle's shares fell nearly 12% after missing expectations for its most recent quarter. The company's revenue reached $1.13 billion in the quarter, falling short of the $1.14 billion estimate.

SEE ALSO: Chipotle desperately needs to make 3 changes to survive

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Emirates just unveiled its new first class suites, complete with doors, a service window for refreshments, and 'zero-gravity' beds

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First Class zero gravity position

  • Emirates unveiled its new first class suites at the Dubai Air Show on Sunday.
  • The 40-square-foot private suites are expected to start at £7,000 ($9,175) one way.
  • The new suites are part of a multi-million dollar upgrade of Emirates' entire Boeing 777 aircraft, including improvements to business and economy class


Emirates unveiled its highly-anticipated new first class private suites on Sunday at the Dubai Air Show — and they're even more luxurious than we expected.

The 40-square-foot private suites — which were inspired by the Mercedes-Benz S-Class — have floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, soft leather seating, high-tech control panels, and mood lighting — and they're expected to start at £7,000 one-way, according to the Daily Mail.

First Class fully enclosed private suites (1)

The seat reclines into a fully lie-flat bed and can even be placed in a "zero-gravity" position "inspired by NASA technology," according to Emirates, which gives "a feeling of relaxation and weightlessness."

First Class fully flat bed

To get even more comfortable, each First Class passenger will receive an "inspiration kit" featuring luxury Byredo skincare, moisturising pyjamas, and Bulgari amenity kits. There's even a full-length cupboard for hanging your clothes.

In an industry first, suites located in the middle aisle will also have "virtual windows" which project the view from outside the aircraft using real-time camera technology.

Each suite has a "service window" where customers can be served food and drink "undisturbed," while a video call function allows passengers to communicate with the cabin crew or request room service.

First class passengers can dine on gourmet cuisine and enjoy exclusive wines, Champagnes, and spirits at any points during the flight.

First Class dining

Passengers also have access to drinks and snacks in the personal mini bar found inside their suite.

The suites come with 32-inch HD LCD TVs where passengers can watch over 2,500 channels of on-demand entertainment or can stream content from their own devices. Bowers & Wilkins noise cancelling headphones keep the noise down for other passengers.

The first class experience now also includes a complimentary chauffeured ride in an S-Class car for passengers arriving or departing in the UAE.

The new suites come as part of Emirates' multi-million dollar upgrade of its entire Boeing 777 aircraft, including its business and economy class cabins, walkway, washrooms, and galleys.

Ghaf Tree motif in First Class

All cabins now feature newly-designed seats and upgraded in-flight entertainment systems, including "ultra-wide viewing angles," a touch screen, an LED backlight, and HD display.

The business class seat was inspired "by the interior of a modern sports car," has a 72-inch seat which turns into a fully lie-flat bed, touchscreen controls for the seat and in-flight entertainment system, privacy panels between seats, a shoe storage area, and a personal mini-bar.

Business Class Cabin on Boeing 777 300ER

Even economy class now has ergonomically designed seats with full leather headrests.

Economy Class cabin on Boeing 777 300ER

The newly upgraded 777 aircraft will hit the skies on December 1 on flights to Geneva and Brussels.

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