• A study by market-research firm GlobalData found that the number of people who choose to eat vegan in America has grown from 1% to 6% since 2014. 
• Though many restaurants and fast-casual spots have updated their menus to include more vegan options, fast food is lagging behind.
• I tried to survive on only the vegan options at popular fast-food chains, and I found it was nearly impossible to do at most of them.

Being vegan in New York City is hardly a challenge. Most restaurants now have vegan-friendly options on their menus, and affordable vegan restaurants are popping up all over the five boroughs. In the three years I've been vegan, I've found that most restaurants and grocery stores have a lot of options readily available — except for fast food. 

Taco Bell and White Castle seem to be the only fast-food chains actually working on meeting the growing demand for food that's free from animal products. According to a study by market-research firm GlobalData, the number of Americans who choose to follow a vegan diet has increased from 1% to 6% since 2014.

The population of vegans, vegetarians, and people who are simply trying to eat less meat is growing rapidly, and most fast-food chains are doing little to nothing to make a vegan lifestyle more accessible.

To see which fast-food chains are best prepared to keep up with the growing demand for vegan food, I tried to eat only vegan fast food for five days. My rules were simple: eat only at fast-food chains, and eat three meals a day.

Here's what happened: 

SEE ALSO: 13 popular fast-food menu items that are surprisingly perfect for vegans

I kicked off the week with Fruit & Maple Oatmeal from McDonald's, prepared without cream.

This is the only vegan-friendly breakfast option at McDonald's, and I made it about three bites into the oatmeal before tossing it out. McDonald's oatmeal has nearly twice as much sugar as a Hershey bar and more than 300 calories per serving. It was sickeningly sweet and packed with sugar — I couldn't stomach it that early in the morning. 

For lunch I wanted something lighter, so I headed to Wendy's for a salad. I ordered the Garden Side Salad with no croutons, no cheese, and no dressing. I also ordered a side of apple slices.

The salad was plain and disappointing, and it had to be made twice because the first time it still had cheese on top. Wendy's has tested a black bean burger, but unfortunately, it isn't available anywhere in the Northeast. 

I was ravenous by dinner, so I went out of my way to get Taco Bell — a supposed fast-food haven for vegans. I ordered a Seven Layer Burrito with no sour cream or cheese.

Taco Bell has the most vegan options on its menu out of all the popular fast-food chains. It definitely was the most filling thing I ate all day.

After day one, I realized that eating the right amount of nutrients would be nearly impossible unless I wanted to snack on french fries all day. It was an unhealthy start to the week, and I was still hungry at the end of the day. 

Day 1 Total: 

Calories: 687

Fat: 15.5g

Sodium: 1146mg

Sugar: 36g

Protein: 17g

• We asked two trainers at London's Kobox boxing studio for their go-to moves when they're short on time. 
• Toby Huntington-Whiteley, 28, and Antoine Dunn, 25, are the younger siblings of British former Victoria's Secret models Rosie and Jourdan. 

When you're trying to get fit, having a rest day can reduce your momentum. One day off can quickly turn into two, three, or four — and before you know it a week has gone by without a visit to the gym. 

Manageable training programmes that recommend a "little and often" approach — like the viral seven-minute workout— have soared in popularity for this reason. Who can't spare less than 10 minutes in a day?

For some quick workout inspiration, Business Insider asked Toby Huntington-Whiteley, 28, and Antoine Dunn, 25, trainers at London's Kobox boxing studio, for their go-to moves when they're short on time or on the road. 

The pair share something else in common besides boxing — they're both the younger siblings of British supermodels and former Victoria's Secret models.

Antoine is the brother of Jourdan Dunn, and Toby is the brother of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

The walking lunge

Toby Huntington-Whiteley, who is also a model and travels the world working on campaigns for designers like Burberry, Givenchy, and Ralph Lauren, told Business Insider that if you're short on time — or on the road — then one of the most effective exercises you can do is the walking lunge.

"Especially if you're front-loading it," he added. "You're working your legs, and most of your lower body, and it's safe for both beginners or advanced."

A walking lunge is a more intense version of a stationary lunge. It is performed by starting with your feet shoulder width apart, taking a step forward with one leg, then lowering yourself towards the floor, bending both knees. One knee should be at a 90-degree angle to the floor, while the other should be pointing toward, but not touching the floor. 

Walking lunges can help to strengthen and shape the legs, improve core strength, boost hip flexibility and tone and lift the glutes. 

The push-up 

Meanwhile, Dunn, who is also personal trainer to his sister Jourdan, said that if you only have a few spare minutes in a day, you should go for the classic push-up, because it'll work both the body and mind.

"It's a great exercise for the body and people always feel like they can't do it, so if you're practising a push-up on your knees and suddenly you can do it on your two feet, you'll feel really rewarded. 

Dunn said that for him, exercise is all about performing something that you couldn't do before, rather than aspiring to look a certain way.

If you ordinarily struggle with a press-up, you're not alone — here are three steps to perfecting it.

SEE ALSO: This personal trainer to Hollywood royalty and supermodels lost 130 pounds after being diagnosed with heart failure at 21 — here's the key to his workouts

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This incredible animation shows how humans evolved from early life

• Nurses are the life and soul of the healthcare profession, providing comfort, kindness, and care to patients every day
• It's a challenging job and one that requires hard work, dedication, and a very thick skin.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are over 2.8 million nurses working in America right now.
• Nancy Whitt, who's been a nurse for 45 years, and Liz Watkins, who's been a nurse for two years, shared with Business Insider what it's really like.

Being a nurse is not a profession for the faint-hearted.

Nurses deal with life, death, and everything in between.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurses are responsible for assisting physicians in administering patient care, providing advice and educating patients on a variety of medical conditions, and giving advice to the patient as well as their family.

And while it might be a demanding job, it seems it's a rewarding one. A study by AMN Healthcare found 83% of nurses say they are satisfied with their choice of nursing as a career.

Business Insider spoke with two nurses, Nancy Whitt and Liz Watkins, to find out what it's really like to be a nurse.

Whitt is a gastrointestinal nurse in California with 45 years of experience. She works in Outpatient Services (sometimes called Day Stay) and Gastrointestinal (GI) Lab and is one of five gastrointestinal nurses in her hospital providing 24/7 coverage by being on call.

Watkins is a critical care nurse with two years experience working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Kentucky. Her patients are critically ill and in the process of recovering.

Here's what they said being a nurse really entails:

SEE ALSO: 9 words and phrases only nurses understand

DON'T MISS: 15 things nurses know that others don't

SEE ALSO: Here's what it's REALLY like to be a Delta Air Lines flight attendant, one of the most competitive jobs out there

The shifts are demanding, but schedules can vary

Most hospitals allow nurses to determine their shifts in advance. For Watkins, that's three 12-hour day shifts a week.

"I work from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., although my shifts rarely end at the time they're supposed to. I usually leave at about 7:45 p.m. Sometimes it can be as late as 10 p.m., depending on what's been going on and how the patients are doing," Watkins told Business Insider.

In addition to her set shifts, Watkins is also required to work two support shifts in every eight-week period.

Whitt, who has been working for 45 years and no longer depends on the income from a full-time position, works per diem, and clocks in for six shifts a month.

Average days don't exist when you're dealing with patients

There's no such thing as a routine day in a hospital. Nurses have a wide range of responsibilities and tasks that they're continuously prioritizing.

In Outpatient Services, where Whitt works, her days are dictated by the kind of patients that come through the facility and the procedures they're there for.

"Most of the patients we see are with us for a few hours. They're getting IV infusions, blood transfusions, minor procedures, and surgeries. It varies a lot each day," she told Business Insider.

Over in the ICU, patients are battling with life-threatening issues, and each day brings a new set of challenges.

"I wouldn't say there's a typical day as we see all kinds of patients," Watkins said. "They're with us for different reasons each time, and the vulnerable state they're in means they can deteriorate quickly, which keeps us on our toes.

But while the patients and situations may change, the ICU has a daily care routine that must be adhered to at all times. "We monitor each patient closely and observe a strict care schedule across the ward," Watkins said.

Each day begins with a full handover from the night team followed by a meet-and-greet with any new patients. At 8 a.m., Watkins carries out full-body assessments on her patients and makes a note on their medical chart of everything she sees. Throughout the day patients are assessed from top to toe every four hours, and rounds are completed hourly.

As a critical care nurse, Watkins also responds to any codes that occur around the hospital. "Code calls definitely add an extra bit of excitement and adrenaline to the day," she said.

There are different routes available to becoming a nurse — but they all start with a degree

Obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree provides the best opportunities for prospective nurses in today's job market, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Once you've got your BSN, you'll need to obtain a license to become a registered nurse, with requirements varying by state.

For Watkins, the route to becoming a registered nurse was different than most. "I was pre-med in college but switched to psychology," she told Business Insider.

After graduating and working in marketing for a year, Watkins realized her passion lay in health and patient care, and she took a job as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) — something she recommends to anyone who's considering a career in nursing.

"It's a great introduction into the industry," Watkins said. "Not everyone is cut out to be a nurse, and as CNA you're basically shadowing a nurse, helping out, and getting used to life in a hospital," she said.

Once she was certain she wanted to become a nurse, Watkins went back to school to completed a one-year accelerated nursing program. "Spending time as a CNA allowed me to test the water and make sure I was certain this is what I wanted to do before committing to go back to school," she said.

• Famous quotes from people like Julius Caesar and Marie Antoinette can be misattributed.

• It's all too easy for famous quotes to spread on the internet without the right person behind them.

• Even Julius Caesar's iconic "Et tu, Brute?" might be incorrect.

Quotes from famous people get thrown around on the internet all the time. But some of the most well-known sayings are actually incorrect.

Many of these prominent quotes are misattributed. Others are made up entirely.

Business Insider previously reported on how hard it is to verify famous last words. But the problem extends to all famous phrases.

The key is not trusting everything you read on the web — especially when it comes to historical quotes.

With that in mind, here are some well-known quotes that famous people never actually said:

SEE ALSO: 9 Vladimir Putin quotes that offer terrifying insights into his mind

DON'T MISS: 13 of the most famous last words in history

DON'T FORGET: 8 'famous last words' that were probably made up

'Et tu, Brute?' — Julius Caesar, Roman dictator and general

"Et tu, Brute?" is likely one of the most widely remembered and quoted Latin phrases out there, thanks to William Shakespeare's dramatic retelling of the Roman strongman's life.

The words conjure up a stirring image — a powerful politician realizing he's betrayed — and stabbed — by a beloved adopted son.

However, Roman biographer Suetonius claimed the man's last words might have been even sadder. He reports Caesar possibly said, "You too, my child?" in Greek, before succumbing to his injuries, according to Livius.org.

Suetonius himself, however, believed it was more likely Caesar had died without saying a word.

'The end justifies the means' — Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian diplomat

Machiavelli certainly plays with this idea in "The Prince," his most famous work.

But, much like the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty!" is never actually uttered in an episode of Star Trek, the political treatise doesn't actually contain this particular saying.

'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it' — Voltaire, French writer and philosopher

The Quote Investigator blog reported that this famous phrase actually comes to us from Voltaire's biographer, early 20th century historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall.

Hall reportedly was trying to sum up what she described as a "Voltairean principle."

• Instagram rolled out a new portrait mode feature in the app three days ago.
• It pales in comparison to portrait modes in the iPhone X and the Google Pixel 2, but it's not a bad alternative for people who don't have those phones.

I've been pining over the iPhone X and its portrait mode: Apple's giant billboard ads for the feature are hard to miss.

By blurring the background of photos, portrait mode can add a professional looking sheen to your pictures that takes them to the next level. The ability to take those kinds of photos using my phone — an item I carry with me 24/7 — instead of my bulky DSLR, is very appealing. So Instagram's new "Focus" feature that rolled out earlier this week, and which allows users to easily take portraits with blurred out backgrounds, immediately piqued my interest.

It's not perfect, but it's a nice way to punch up your photos. 

Here's how to use it: 

SEE ALSO: 6 potential iPhone X upgrades to look forward to in 2018

To find the feature, click the camera in the top left corner of the app as soon as you open it.

That'll take you to this screen. The "Focus" feature is right in between the Boomerang and Superzoom buttons under the record button. It's available for all iPhones made after the 6s, as well as the iPhone SE, and select Android smartphones.

Here's what the Focus feature does.

The left is a shot in Instagram's Normal mode for photos, the right is the Focus mode. The Focus feature is much more noticeable when there's a lot of activity in the background of your shots.

Instagram's attempt to emulate the "bokeh" effect — the blurred background achieved by focusing on a subject in the foreground — is not as good as it would be on specialized camera phone that has portrait mode.

As you can see, Instagram's portrait mode produces a wonky kind of haziness in the background. It's reminiscent of other portrait mode apps I've tried, which use shortcuts to add bokeh to photos. One of the biggest problems is how much the haze in the background seeps into the subject of the photo.

• CoinDaddy is the most famous "bitcoin rapper" in San Francisco.
• The 28-year-old behind CoinDaddy, Arya Bahmanyar, left a lucrative career in commercial real estate after he said he made a fortune in bitcoin.
• Bahmanyar now makes rap music inspired by bitcoin, and the community of power brokers and devotees who evangelize the digital currency.

Arya Bahmanyar, 28, makes rap music about driving Lamborghinis, "slinging coin," and indulging an urge to check the price of bitcoin on his phone while he's having sex.

His style of hip-hop is an acquired taste. But the biggest bitcoin devotees in the world are here for it.

After he said he made a million dollars in bitcoin, Bahmanyar left a lucrative career in commercial real estate and became the "bitcoin rapper" known as CoinDaddy. He writes and performs songs for YouTube, and lives off his earnings from investing early in bitcoin.

The self-described cryptocurrency millionaire hopes to turn his hobby into an entertainment brand, leveraging the character CoinDaddy to bring crypto culture to the mainstream.

CoinDaddy is the 'Weird Al' Yankovic of bitcoin rap

The first CoinDaddy track was inspired by a bad cryptocurrency trade that resulted in a big loss. Bahmanyar channeled his negative energy into creating a parody meditation tape that told listeners to breathe "bit" in and exhale "coin" out.

Friends shared the video: The song really spoke to down-on-their-luck traders. Its swift virality sparked an idea.

"I'm going to make songs that aren't that good," Bahmanyar said he thought to himself.

Though his music is inspired by prolific rappers Eminem and Sean "Diddy" Combs, it more closely resembles the stylings of "Weird Al" Yankovic, with a more specific appeal. The concepts string together bizarre crypto slang, like "HODL" and "mooning," and iconic crypto figures.

In "Holding the Bag," he name-drops several cryptocurrencies and boasts of buying the dips — the term for purchasing coin when the price is down, with an eye towards collecting big gains later. The second verse starts:

"Apartment's looking like the Palace of Versailles/Long position riding on an all time high/If you want the ride, and you want the riches/Then buy more coin and get the b-----s"

Here's the song:

The idea was to create music that holds a mirror to the crypto community. It aims to comfort investors in times of volatility, and self-congratulate when the price of bitcoin soars.

One of his most popular videos, called "The Siphoning," tells the tale of two tokens: bitcoin and bitcoin cash. Bitcoin split in two last August when the popular cryptocurrency forked, creating bitcoin cash. The event divided bitcoin's power brokers and caused the coin's price to take a hit.

In the song, CoinDaddy assures his audience, "Bitcoin gonna live, bitcoin's gonna live."

How Bahmanyar made a fortune in bitcoin

Created in 2008, bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that allows people to buy things and send money without attaching their names to transactions. The core technology doesn't rely banks or middlemen to function, and there are no obstructions to sending bitcoin across international borders. 

It was the decentralized nature of bitcoin that first excited Bahmanyar, he said.

In 2013, Bahmanyar was a recent graduate of George Washington University looking for work and sharing an apartment with four other people in New York City. After a fateful encounter with a group of bitcoin boosters in a bar, he found himself at the apartment of one of the most vocal evangelists for what turned out to be an educational session on cryptocurrency. His new friend told him to dump all his savings into bitcoin, which he did.

Years passed, and he checked the price of bitcoin almost daily.

His parents begged him to undo his investment, calling bitcoin a scam, referring to it as "magic internet money." But the price mostly trickled up.

"I just held," Bahmanyar said.

He worked a series of unrelated jobs in entertainment, business development, pharmaceuticals, and commercial real estate before quitting his last job and taking off for a backpacking trip across Europe in 2017. He stopped checking the price of bitcoin.

It was during a visit to see extended family in Oslo, Norway, in October that a relative asked Bahmanyar what he knew about this crazy thing called bitcoin, according to Bahmanyar.

He pulled out his phone to show them an exchange app and saw that the price of bitcoin had more than doubled to nearly $6,000 per coin within the four months since he stopped checking. He packed his bags for home, abruptly ending his visit. 

"I was like, 'What? I love you but not that much," he remembered saying.

Bahmanyar returned to the place where he grew up — the San Francisco Bay Area — to be part of the action. He would not disclose his initial investment in bitcoin or his current net worth.

His advice: 'HODL'

Last year at a holiday party for the San Francisco Bitcoin Meetup group, Bahmanyar stepped out for the first time in his new look.

He wore a long white fake-mink coat over a leopard print shirt and a matching porkpie hat. A photographer with the New York Times snapped his photo at the party, giving CoinDaddy his first brush with mainstream fame. He has the article framed in his apartment across the bay from San Francisco, near Oakland.

Bahmanyar said more people today know him as CoinDaddy than as Arya, his real name.

He spends most of his time traveling for speaking engagements and conferences. Bahmanyar said he drives the same car that he owned before making a fortune in bitcoin, but he eats out more often. He spends frugally, knowing that the price of bitcoin remains extremely volatile.

Bahmanyar plans to ramp up production of new videos in 2018 and create songs that educate people who are new to cryptocurrency investing — like a "Bill Nye the crypto guy," he said.

When asked what advice he has for other bitcoin investors, he said, "Just hold."

"I've done pretty well so far," he added.

Disclosure: The author owns small amounts of bitcoin and ether.

SEE ALSO: This 24-year-old said he quit his job after making a fortune in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — here's how he did it

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: NFL superstar Richard Sherman is all-in on cryptocurrencies, but doesn’t think his grandmother should invest

• Many experts think that by eating a high-fat or keto diet, it's possible to become a more efficient fat burner and get more energy from ketones.
• Intermittent fasting may have a similar effect, helping people become better at fueling themselves from fat.
• Ultramarathon world-record holder Zach Bitter recently explained how changing his diet helped improve his performance.

Our bodies might work better when we're burning fat as fuel.

From a health perspective, burning fat rather than primarily getting fuel from carbs might help stabilize blood sugar. From an athletic perspective, being a fat-burner might help some people recover more quickly and perform at a higher level.

Zach Bitter is an ultra-marathon runner who holds the world record for the longest distance run in 12 hours (101.77 miles). On a recent episode of his new podcast, Human Performance Outliers, Bitter discussed his decision to switch to a keto-like diet designed to turn him into a more efficient fat-burner. 

In 2011, Bitter said, he'd been eating what most would consider a healthy, whole-food, high-carb diet that might be expected of someone running 50-mile races. But he was hurting, waking up throughout the night, seeing his energy levels fluctuate, and dealing with chronic swelling in his ankles.

Instead of cutting back on racing, he changed what he ate, embarking on a whole-food, high-fat diet. He cut out most carbohydrates, relying instead on foods like stir frys, bacon, eggs, nuts, and seeds. He often cooked with coconut oil or duck fat.

Although he still consumed some carbs while racing, Bitter said the dietary changes made him feel less need to eat while running. And overall, he felt better.

"It was pretty eye-opening to me — in the first four weeks, all of those symptoms going away, the swelling, the sleeping [problems], the energy levels throughout the course of the day," Bitter said on the podcast.

Why going high-fat or keto might help

Becoming a more efficient fat-burner is the main idea behind the popular keto diet and behind intermittent-fasting programs as well. There are even new supplements designed to push your body to become a supercharged, fat-burning — or "fat-adapted" — machine.

Most of us burn sugar for fuel first. Our bodies burn through easily accessible glycogen energy stores, which we get from breaking down carbohydrates. After we burn through our supply of those, our bodies can eventually start getting energy via ketones, which are produced from fatty acids (basically, energy from fat).

People whose bodies are more used to burning fat tend to get more energy from ketones on a regular basis, not just after they run out of sugar fuel.

Fasting may be the most efficient way to get your body more accustomed to fueling itself via ketones. But a low-carb, high-fat diet can do the same thing over time.

Becoming fat-adapted for performance's sake

The effect that fat adaptation has on performance has been debated over time. 

In 2015, sports nutrition researcher Louise Burke wrote in the journal Sports Medicine that although she had thought researchers put the "nail in the coffin" on the idea that fat adaptation was beneficial, there did seem to be evidence that low-carb, high-fat diets may help in certain cases.

Bitter credits his dietary switch with helping him build the strength to become a world-record holding racer.

Within a few weeks of the change, he said he noticed improvements. But it took about two years before things really "clicked" with regard to his performance, Bitter said on the podcast.

"In the fall and winter of 2013, I was able to race and recover and race again and hit some training blocks in between at a frequency that I never would have thought possible earlier," he said.

That December, he set his world record.

When it comes to nutrition, however, approaches that work for some people don't work for everyone. Bitter understands that.

"Everyone is different — it was developing what worked for me, for my lifestyle," he previously told Business Insider.

Still, he said most of the runners he's coached have gotten at least some boost from trying a high-fat approach during their training.

"From middle- to back-of-the-packers to people who are looking to podium ... if they follow the program right, I have not seen any athlete that has come to me not have a successful outcome from it," he said.

SEE ALSO: The amazing ways intermittent fasting affects your body and brain

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Animated map of Mars reveals where humans should build the first Martian cities

• The world's richest people always travel in style. 
• From private jets and yachts to custom excursions, vacations for the super rich are perfectly planned.
• One travel company, Abercrombie & Kent, shared the itinerary for a 25-day, 6-continent tour that costs $150,000. 

For many of us, glacier hiking in Patagonia, whale watching in Australia, and stargazing in Easter Island are merely pipe dreams. 

For the mega-rich, that's all accomplished in one month of the year. 

Those in the upper echelon of wealth value travel like the rest of us, except their experiences are vastly different. Instead of reading travel blogs, consulting hot travel lists, and scouring the internet for cheap airfare deals, the mega-rich often outsource their vacation planning to luxury travel agencies.

Abercrombie & Kent is one such company. The travel and concierge service transports guests on its fleet of private jets and chartered mega-yachts with the exclusivity and five-star treatment millionaires are so accustomed. 

Its portfolio of luxury family tours ranges widely, including trips such as origami and kimono dressing lessons in Japan, riding in a tuk-tuk through a Tanzanian village, gladiator combat lessons in Rome, and kayaking among the giant tortoises in the Galápagos Islands.

But one of Abercrombie & Kent's must luxurious experiences is Around the World, a 25-day journey through 7 countries and 6 continents for $150,000 per person. 

Below, a closer look at the Around the World itinerary — how the mega-rich travel the world. 

SEE ALSO: Billionaires' vacation perks range from Ferrari-driving lessons to after-hours tours away from the crowds — here's what it's really like to travel while rich

DON'T MISS: Meet the kids of the world's richest billionaire business moguls

Day 1: Miami

The trip begins in Miami, where travelers mix and mingle during the first night. They stay at the Four Seasons, and enjoy the fitness centers and on-site restaurants. The global adventure begins in the morning. 

Days 2 - 4: Nicaragua

Board a private jet and depart the US for Nicaragua. 

Guests arrive at the luxurious Mukul Resort and Spa, situated on the country's Emerald Coast.  There's no shortage of adventurous and exhilarating activities in Nicaragua. Explore the cloud forest on foot and from up above on a zip line. Or, there's the option to sport fish, take in a round of golf, or pedal around on a bicycle. 

The ultra-rich can also imbibe the country's finest rums and try their hands at cigar rolling. 

Days 5 - 7: Chile

Arrive in the Southern Hemisphere via private jet and board the adventure vessel 'Skorpios III.' 

One of the best ways to explore the pre-historic Patagonian fjords, glaciers, and rocky crags is by water. The region is rich with wildlife so it's not uncommon to spot dolphins, grey foxes, Patagonian puma, or Andean condors. An expert glaciologist is on hand to lead glacier climbing tours for the ultra rich as well.

Humans do not live in our homes alone. There are approximately 7,000 different species of bacteria floating around in your house right now. And that's just in the dust. 

The rich and complex web of dirt, viruses, and pollen floating around us isn't all bad. It's important to keep some microbes around to help us stay healthy and strong. Plus, you could say that microbes are the reason you're alive today — after all, ancient anaerobic bacteria came well before oxygen-breathing creatures, and thrived as some of the first life on Earth. 

Still, it's best to keep microbe levels in check inside your house. Some household items need a good wipe-down every day, while others do best when we scrub or sweep them once a week or every few months. 

Here's the perfect house-cleaning regimen to keep everything you own safe and squeaky-clean, without going insane.

SEE ALSO: There's now even more evidence that one type of protein is best for your body

Your sponge is one of the grossest things you own. Microbiologists say you should replace it once a week.

The warm, moist environment inside a sponge is a delightful spot for bacteria to grow.

Microwaving or boiling sponges won't sterilize them — it'll only kill about 60% of the bacteria they're hosting. Bleaching a sponge is more effective, and a solution with 10% household bleach and 90% water solution should do the trick.

Tasting Table suggests that you can bleach a kitchen dish sponge after week one and relegate it to countertop-wiping duties, then bleach it again after week two and move it to bathroom polishing. Bleach is strong enough to kill anthrax spores, and it's always good to bleach a sponge after it comes into contact with raw meat or vegetables.

Your phone should get a daily wipe down.

Smartphones are with us nearly every waking moment. They often come into the bathroom and fall on the ground. They sit in our palms at almost every stage of the day, regardless of where our hands have been or how clean they are — and then we nestle the phones next to our ears.

It's no surprise, then, that smartphones can pick up E. coli and Streptococcus bugs along the way. A phone can easily be dirtier than a toilet seat. So most infectious disease experts, like Philip Tierno, a microbiologist and pathologist at the New York University School of Medicine, suggest giving it a wipe at the end of the day.

You can use a wet wipe or a gentle microfiber cloth. For extra cleaning power, add a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar to a corner of the cloth.

We spend around a third of our life rolling around in our sheets. Science says washing them every week is best.

Our beds are wonderful places for life to thrive. Skin cells, lotions, powders, and oils on our skin, as well as little crumbs of food, all contribute to a germy, microbial soup of growing filth that we sleep with every night.

Change your sheets once a week to keep the dirt levels in check, as Tierno suggests.

• "Rampage" wins the domestic box office with an estimated $34.5 million.
• A big reason for that is because of the movie's star, Dwayne Johnson, who is one of the few actors in today's Hollywood who bring audiences to the theaters. 
• And he draws even bigger bucks overseas. In China alone the movie took in $55 million.
• "A Quiet Place" earned a solid second place finish putting its total domestic earnings to $99.6 million (it was made for $17 million).

Dwayne Johnson proved this weekend that he really is bulletproof.

There's no question that The Rock is the biggest action star in the world, but he proved this weekend with Warner Bros.'s "Rampage," an adaptation of the popular 1980s video game, that if his name is on the project people are going to run to the theater to see it — a lot of people.

Despite the movie sporting a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and last weekend's box office hit, "A Quiet Place," looking to have a strong second weekend in theaters, the Johnson brand went into overdrive leading to "Rampage" winning the weekend at the box office with an estimated $34.5 million, according to boxofficepro.

Johnson (who in a rare occurrence was not on set of another movie while his latest is in theaters) spent Saturday surprising audiences at an AMC theater in Burbank, California and he's been posting video messages on his Instagram reminding his fans to go out and catch the movie.

That led to "Rampage" taking in $13.8 million on Saturday, a 20% hike from its $11.5 million on Friday.

But where Johnson really flexed his muscles is overseas.

"Rampage" opened in 61 markets abroad and is doing strong across the globe, but especially in China. The second-largest movie market in the world is constantly a major focus by Hollywood because of its incredible growth over the last decade, and this weekend proved that they love Dwayne Johnson over there as the movie took in $55 million its opening weekend in the Middle Kingdom when the estimates come in.

"A Quiet Place" had a strong second place finish with $32.6 million. The surprise horror hit for Paramount saw a minuscule 35% decrease in sales from its $50 million opening weekend. The movie, made for $17 million, now has a total domestic gross of $99.6 million.

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• "A Quiet Place" is now a box-office hit, which isn't just a surprise for most in Hollywood, but also for those who made it.
• The production company behind the movie, Platinum Dunes, told Business Insider about the test screening that left its audience confused, and the anxiety of showing the finished movie for the first time.

Warning: Mild spoiler below if you haven't seen "A Quiet Place"

This weekend Paramount’s new horror movie, “A Quiet Place,” about a family forced to live in silence to hide from monsters that kill anything that makes a sound, won the weekend box office after earning an impressive $50 million domestically — exceeding all industry projections.

Made for $17 million, the third (and by far most successful) directing effort by actor John Krasinski snuck up on everyone in Hollywood to become the latest hit horror movie. And according to the producers behind the movie, Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller of Platinum Dunes, no one involved with the movie knew they had a potential hit on their hands until about a month ago.

Horror remake kings

Form and Fuller, along with their mega-blockbuster filmmaker friend Michael Bay, started Platinum Dunes in 2001 and quickly made a name for themselves remaking classic horrors like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003), “The Amityville Horror” (2005), “Friday the 13” (2009), and “A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). They made a nice profit on all of them — “Chainsaw Massacre” made $107 million worldwide on a $9.5 million budget, “Amityville” made $108 million worldwide on a budget of $19 million, and “Elm Street” made over $115 million worldwide on a $35 million budget.

Since then, the company has expanded its portfolio. It got the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, releasing two movies on the characters for Paramount. It teamed with Jason Blum at Blumhouse Productions to make “The Purge” movies — three releases have earned a combined $319.8 million worldwide (all made for $10 million or under), with a prequel, “The First Purge,” coming July 4. And it's developing TV projects like “The Last Ship” for TNT and the upcoming Amazon series, “Jack Ryan,” starring Krasinski.

But Platinum Dunes’ comfort zone will always be horror, and it proved this weekend it’s a major player in the genre.

Krasinski's power play

Screenwriters Bryan Woods and Scott Beck wrote the “A Quiet Place” script on spec and 18 months ago, while deep into preproduction on “Jack Ryan,” Form and Fuller got a call from their agents at WME that they wanted to pass along the script, which they described as a “high concept” genre movie.

“They send it over and the script is 67 or 68 pages long, and I'm like, 'This is a movie? This is like a one-hour pilot,'” Form told Business Insider. “When we went through it you realize there's no dialogue in the movie. The script had a map of the farm and numbers on a page for a countdown. There were literally pages that were just one number. So it wasn’t even like the script had pages of full text. But the story was there.”

They took the project to Paramount, where Platinum Dunes has a first look deal, and the studio bought it. Then Form and Fuller reached out to their “Jack Ryan” star, John Krasinski, to see if he would play the role of the father in the movie, Lee Abbott.

“John called back a couple of weeks later and said, 'I definitely want to play the dad, but I also want to rewrite the script and direct it,’” Form said. He and Fuller quickly agreed.

The project became even more attractive when Krasinski’s wife, Emily Blunt, signed on to play the role of the mother. On paper, it all seemed right. But would audiences get a “silent” horror movie?

A test screening leads to lots of anxiety

Form and Fuller said they only did one test screening of the movie before its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March, and it got mixed reactions because of one obvious omission.

“The big problem was there was no creature in the test,” Form said. “It was either plates or a motion-capture actor. Sometimes John was in the motion capture suit playing the monster. In that basement scene he was the creature down there.”

Not having a creature in the test screening was most apparent in the scene where the monster runs away from the daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), because her hearing aid hurts its sensitive ears.

“When her hearing aid goes off in the cornfield you have her in the shot but there was nothing behind her, so the audience did not understand that a creature came up behind her,” Form said.

But that scene worked incredibly well at the SXSW screening, when audience could see the terrifying creatures brought to CGI life by Industrial Light and Magic.

However, the uncertainty leading up to the night of that screening had everyone on edge. Though Paramount studio executives had seen cuts and liked what they saw, as Form put it, “1,200 strangers in a theater can tell you something very different.”

“If there was optimism it was self-created,” Fuller said of the lead-up to the SXSW screening. “Usually when you go into a screening like that you know what you have, this was totally blind. It was crazy. We were all very apprehensive. When the movie ended and the people started cheering I put my head on my wife's shoulder and cried because it was so fraught with tension and emotion. Because we had no idea.” 

Now the movie is riding high. Leading up to its opening weekend it was sporting a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. And Form and Fuller now have some bragging rights on their horror colleague, Jason Blum, as “A Quiet Place” topped the opening weekend box office of Blumhouse’s last two hit movies — “Get Out” ($33.3 million) and “Split” ($40 million).

“A Quiet Place” is the latest example that audiences will come out to theaters for more than just superhero movies and “Star Wars.” And though Platinum Dunes has no problem getting into the blockbuster game — it’s one of the production companies on the upcoming first Transformers spin-off movie, “Bumblebee” — the company is also striving to develop genre projects that are high in originality and will attract studios.

“It's a miracle that a major studio made a movie that is practically devoid of dialogue,” said Fuller, who wouldn’t address the possibility of a sequel to “A Quiet Place” (though with its big opening weekend number, it would be shocking if Paramount doesn’t want one). “But I also think studios recognize they have to make concepts that get people to leave their homes, so as producers it's incumbent upon us to find things that will get people to go watch a movie in a movie theater. So if you find a strong concept, I think they will always get behind it.”

"A Quiet Place" is currently playing in theaters.

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With the simplicity and convenience of keeping up to date on the biggest stories in the world through two earbuds, podcasts are becoming an increasingly popular medium for people to get their news.

Given the high interest level of the public into knowing everything that is going on with President Donald Trump's administration, news organizations that cover politics have plunged head-first into the audio space.

Here are 10 must-listen political podcasts to add to your list:

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"The Daily"

The political podcast setting the pace these days is "The Daily" from The New York Times.

After hosting its campaign podcast "The Run-Up" before the 2016 presidential election, political reporter-turned-audio man Michael Barbaro is the voice and managing editor behind the premier podcast.

For about 20 minutes every weekday, Barbaro dives deep into one or two stories and interviews Times reporters about the news stories making headlines around the world. This is the podcast to subscribe to if you're looking for a deep-dive on the biggest story of the day.

"Up First"

"The Daily" is not the only early morning podcast making waves; NPR's "Up First" has claimed its place in the ears of morning commuters and others going about their day.

Dubbed as "the news you need to start your day", "Up First" covers the biggest stories in politics and news for about 10 minutes every morning.

Hosted by NPR's "Morning Edition" team of Rachel Martin, David Greene, and Steve Inskeep, "Up First" brings on NPR reporters to discuss three or four of the biggest stories of the day.

While "The Daily" looks to do a deep-dive on one or two stories in longer segments, "Up First" is perfect for the individual looking to know several of the biggest news stories of the day in a shorter time frame.

"Political Gabfest"

Arguably the most popular political podcast is the most informal one: Slate's "Political Gabfest."

Hosted by Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, iTunes listeners once voted it "Favorite Political Podcast". The trio, which has been together on the podcast since 2005, discusses the biggest political stories and news on a weekly basis for about an hour in a way that other podcasts do not.

Much of the conversation is reportedly off the cuff and unscripted, thus showing the chemistry that the three have with each other. This is the podcast for people looking for good political discussions in a light-hearted, free-flowing manner.

Coachella may be having its greatest year on record.

Fans are losing their minds over one jaw-dropping show after the next at the annual music and arts festival hosted in Indio, California. Though, Coachella is now being called "Beychella" on Twitter, after Beyoncé delivered the headliner-performance of a lifetime on Saturday night.

Here's what you're missing at Coachella 2018.

SEE ALSO: Beyoncé gave what fans are calling the greatest show in history at Coachella — here's what happened

Let's just jump right in: Beyoncé slayed Coachella better than any artist in history.

Queen Bey brought out Destiny's Child, Solange, and Jay-Z for a truly inspired set.

It took no fewer than a hundred backup performers, three months of rehearsals, and five costume changes. Critics and entertainers are calling it the GOAT Coachella show.

Read more: Beyoncé gave what fans are calling the greatest show in history at Coachella — here's what happened

• Airsteam just introduced a new trailer, its first-ever production fiberglass model.
• The product came from a 2016 acquisition of an Oregon-based startup.
• The Nest by Airstream can be towed by relatively modest vehicles.

If you know Airstream, your know the 85-year-old company because it manufactures, in the USA, the all-American trailer at its best, crafted from shimmering aluminum and exuding timeless cool. 

But shiny silver-bullet trailers aren't all the iconic brand has going on. 

In 2016, under CEO Bob Wheeler (who joined in 2005), Airstream acquired NEST Caravan, a startup that has produced a prototype fiberglass trailer that caught Airstream's eye.

Now the first Airstream-flagged trailer has officially launched. It's called "Nest by Airstream," it costs $49,500, and it weights 3,400 pounds.

"There's really nothing else like it," Wheeler said in a statement. "Nest acknowledges Airstream's lasting legacy, while anticipating a new potential for outdoor adventure."

The Nest's design came via Robert Johans, who founded the Oregon-based company prior to its acquisition by Ohio-headquartered Airstream. Johans oversaw the expansion of the Nest prototype for Airstream, and the exterior was designed by Bryan Thompson, who had also worked on Airstream's outdoors-friendly Basecamp, the smallest aluminum trailer in the lineup.

According to Wheeler, Airstream is in a good position to capitalize on multiple business trends moving forward. 

He and his team have been asking themselves what an autonomous vehicle looks like, and what happens when you don't have forward-facing seats. The mobility experience might make them more social, involving more entertainment and even sleeping.

"That starts to seem a lot like a recreational vehicle," he said in an interview with Business Insider earlier this year, adding that Airstream is now focusing intently on the intersection between transportation and residential design. "We want to make sure we're in that conversation."

Nest is a good example. Two available floorplans provide a pair of seating setups. The first has a U-shaped dinette that converts into a bed, "a permanent bed with a plush Tuft & Needle mattress," the company said.

The low weight is also a boon, enabling Nest to be towed by a relatively modest vehicle. (Airstream's largest trailer, the Classic, tips the scales at over 8,000 pounds, meaning you'd need a big SUV or full-size pickup to cover hauling.)

Nest, meanwhile, can be towed by a compact SUV, such as Toyota RAV4. For a target audience of younger buyers looking to get into the outdoor life or just take to the road without the need of hotels and motels along the way, that makes the Nest an attractive investment, with the venerable Airstream brand backing it up.

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• Costco deals are a great way to save money — but they're not always obvious.
• Business Insider asked Costco employees to share their top tips for saving money and making the most of your experience at the store.
• From learning how to navigate the store to figuring out how to identify clearance items, here's some advice from Costco employees.

Costco's deals are a huge draw for many members.

The retail chain is known for hawking just about everything — and selling it in bulk.

Business Insider reached out to Costco employees to learn more about their top shopping tips, because it pays to shop armed with insider information. Thirty-five ended up sharing their best strategies.

One employee of four years suggested shopping for everything at the chain, which isn't that far-fetched of an idea, considering Costco sells cars, vacations, food kits for the apocalypse, yummy fast food, and even caskets.

"The deals are amazing," a Costco employee of four years told Business Insider. "Always think Costco first. From auto insurance, travel, mortgages, return policy, warranties — if you can get it through Costco, you absolutely should."

Here's what Costco workers had to say about how you can instantly improve your shopping experience.

SEE ALSO: Costco employees reveal the worst, grossest, and most bizarre things they've seen on the job

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Buy Kirkland

Kirkland products are the way to go, according to Costco employees.

Kirkland Signature — named for the chain's former headquarters in Kirkland, Washington — is Costco's private label.

"Buy Kirkland — it's cheaper and the same product as the name brand," a Costco employee who has worked for the store for five years told Business Insider.

An employee who's been with the store for 25 years agreed.

Don't hesitate

See something you like at Costco? Buy it. Don't hesitate.

That's what eight Costco employees told Business Insider. Seasonal items often disappear forever. If you decide to sit on your hands, you might end up regretting it.

"Too many people come back looking for something we phased out," an employee of 10 years told Business Insider. "Buy it when you see it."

You can always return it later if you decide you don't want it.

Spring for the executive membership

A standard membership at Costco is $60 a year. An executive membership will cost you $120 a year and net you an annual 2% reward of up to $1,000 on your purchases.

Five Costco employees who've worked at the store for six, two, four, 12, and six years, respectively, told Business Insider that they advised that customers spring for the executive membership.

"Come on," said one employee who has worked at the chain for six years. "You get 2% back on travel. Go to Hawaii. Make money."

• Netflix has pulled its titles from playing at this year's Cannes Film Festival following a rule change.
• The industry has conflicting thoughts on this latest bold move from the streaming giant.

Since Netflix began releasing its own movies, it has disrupted the film industry by going against decades-old exclusivity agreements with exhibitors. It has also used film festivals as a platform for its titles, putting them on the site soon after they screen and forgoing a theatrical run before streaming.

The latter is what got the exhibitor community in France angry last year when the renowned Cannes Film Festival showed two Netflix films in competition. It led to a rule change this year that no movie could be shown in competition if it had no plans for a theatrical release in France.

Netflix's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, fired back last week, announcing that the company would not screen any of its titles at this year's Cannes Film Festival because of the rule change. This has sparked directors, producers, and even Cannes' head programmer, Thierry Fremaux, to ask Netflix to reconsider.

Some in the industry are even wondering whether the streaming giant has finally crossed the line.

"Fundamentally, I believe Netflix does not see value in the existing domestic film-community infrastructure to audiences, but they seem to want the credibility that this infrastructure lends to their prestige projects without having to fully participate in the community," a veteran film-festival director told Business Insider. "This is clear in the current Cannes dispute."

But if Netflix is perceived to lack interest in the film community, will that make filmmakers think twice about working with it?

The producer Filip Jan Rymsza, who had been toiling for years to get Orson Welles' final movie, "The Other Side of the Wind," to audiences, acknowledges that if it weren't for Netflix, that dream would never have become a reality (it will be available on the site later this year). But the movie's coming-out party was to be this year's Cannes (where Welles was beloved), and with the ban, he said last week that his appreciation for Netflix's deep pockets didn't "lessen my disappointment and heartbreak."

There are plenty of other filmmakers who have said that if it weren't for Netflix, their movies would not have been made — from Duncan Jones ("Mute") to Martin Scorsese (his coming "The Irishman").

But it's uncertain whether the latest move by Netflix will cost it future talent.

"In some sense it becomes a question of ego versus practicality," one producer told Business Insider. "The money will still be there aside from the prestige."

"I think it's overblown — I don't think it'll have a huge effect on filmmakers," another industry insider said. "It would really affect business if it were a Sundance ban."

This brings the question: Why does Netflix need any film festivals? It may be that despite the company's constant boasting about trailblazing a new path for moviegoers and filmmakers, Netflix still wants to be respected by the industry. And part of the reason for that could be that film-festival prestige can please shareholders.

"The Monday after 'Icarus' won the Oscar, Netflix's stock popped," a festival veteran noted. "So the value of participating in the film community and playing by community rules might just make economic sense for them."

Still, Cannes is made up mostly of established filmmakers who are at their peak or are legends in business. For filmmakers just getting their break, Netflix is a godsend, and all of this Cannes-ban talk is just noise.

Ryan Koo, whose debut feature, "Amateur," is a Netflix original that recently went live on the site, believes the company is giving opportunities to filmmakers like him that were never possible before. This means not just financing his work but also making it available to millions worldwide instantly.

"For film to survive and thrive, we need to be more inclusive and expand the definition of what a movie is, not restrict it and be more precious by saying 'only these films are eligible for awards or competition,'" Koo told Business Insider. "Everyone in the industry knows that there is no difference in the way a theatrical film is made versus a streaming one. In many cases, during production, you don't even know who's going to pick it up and how it's going to come out. You're simply making a movie. And everyone in the real world — actual human beings who enjoy watching movies — don't care about any of this. A movie is a movie is a movie."

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• Signs of untrustworthiness include wishy-washy language, tight-lipped smiles, and unclear expectations for others.
• Experts say it's pretty easy to lose someone's trust quickly.
• Here's what to avoid if you want to earn other people's trust and respect.

You can lose someone's trust pretty quickly.

All it takes is a missed deadline, a weird facial expression, or a feeling that you just don't "get" the person you're talking to.

Social scientists and other experts have spent a lot of time thinking and talking about all the ways to make people distrust you. We've listed seven of the most common below. 

SEE ALSO: A former US Marine outlines how to earn people's trust, in 4 steps

You have a big gap between your words and your actions

The former Marines who wrote the book "Spark" call it the "say-do gap." It's the space between your words and your actions.

According to the authors, the wider the gap, the less trustworthy you seem.

For example, if you say you'll turn in a project by Friday, forgetting that you have another big assignment due Thursday, you'll want to turn in that project by Friday anyway. If you don't stay accountable, you risk hurting your own reputation.

You're not clear about your expectations for others

The "Spark" authors say that leaders should communicate to their reports exactly what they want done to establish trustworthiness.

Chances are good," the authors write, "that someone's poor performance is a result of something you did not do versus something [your coworker] did do."

Still, the authors say it's better to communicate what you want accomplished than how, so as to inspire creative problem-solving.

You display a tight-lipped smile

A 2016 study published in Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction found that certain facial expressions are perceived as signs of untrustworthiness— even if they're not really.

For example, participants in the study — who role-played negotiations in pairs — thought that "controlled smiles" were signs of untrustworthiness, even though they weren't.

The only behavior that was perceived as a sign of untrustworthiness and really was such a sign? How much someone talked.

• Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996.
• Xennials are a "microgeneration" born between 1977 and 1985.
• There are meaningful differences between their lives. For example, xennials were already in the workforce when the recession hit, while many millennials were just graduating from college.

If you were born between 1977 and 1985, you're officially a member of the microgeneration known as xennials.

The term was coined by Sarah Stankorb in a 2014 Good magazine article to describe a group that straddles Gen X, born between 1965 and 1980, and millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, according to the Pew Research Center.

Xennials, according to Stankorb and the many similar stories that followed, grew up watching "My So-Called Life" and popping cassettes into the stereo, but transitioned pretty seamlessly to using smartphones and social media.

Some people call them the "Oregon Trail generation," after the once popular video game, or "Generation Catalano," after Jared Leto's character in "My So-Called Life."

Below, we've outlined some of the biggest differences between xennials and their slightly younger siblings, millennials.

SEE ALSO: There's a term for people born in the early 80s who don't feel like a millennial or a Gen X-er — here's everything we know

Xennials were already in the workforce when the recession hit. Many millennials, however, were just graduating from college and looking for jobs. Interestingly, some research suggests that xennials may have been hit hardest by the recession because of a combination of student-loan debt, job losses, and other factors.

Sources: GOOD Magazine and CityLab

Many xennials made it through their childhood and teen years without social media — no Facebook or even Myspace. Many millennials, on the other hand, had Myspace and Facebook accounts before entering college.

Source: Social Media Week

On September 11, 2001, xennials were in their teens and 20s; millennials were much younger. As one writer said of xennials, "Much of our childhoods were spared the dark shadow cast by tragedy and war," while millennials were somewhat shaken out of their innocence.

Source: GOOD Magazine

I'm no stranger to fitness apps, having tried everything from an app that promises the benefits of a trip to the gym in seven minutes to a tool that lets you track and share your runs with other users.

But when I first heard about Sweatcoin, an app that "pays you" in a type of currency that it aims to eventually turn into cryptocurrency to reach your fitness goals, I was intrigued.

Naturally, I had to give it a shot. Here's how it went.

SEE ALSO: I tried the science-backed 7-minute routine that was one of 2017's hottest workouts, and it actually works

The first thing I learned about Sweatcoin after installing it on my iPhone is that it doesn't actually pay you to walk around — at least not in the conventional sense of the term.

The app lets you earn "Sweatcoins," or points based on the number of steps you take in a day, which you can then use to buy a limited number of specific goods that Sweatcoin has made available — like a Fitbit tracker, fitness classes, or subscriptions to apps designed to help you eat healthier. Eventually Sweatcoins founders aim for it to be listed on cryptocurrency exchanges, but it isn't yet.

The irony of the fact that my Sweatcoins could only be used to purchase fitness equipment and classes was not lost on me. Nevertheless, I kept the app running in the background of my phone, thinking perhaps it would spur me to move more.

Although I was feeling slightly less enthusiastic about my potential purchases with Sweatcoins after learning how they could be spent, I kept the app running in the background of my phone. If you hard quit the app (or swipe up when you're not using it), Sweatcoin will stop tracking your steps. 

I also learned that Sweatcoin doesn't track all of your steps — only those the app believes are completed outdoors.

Because the app is constantly running on your phone — something that many users have complained drains their battery — it is able to use GPS to roughly determine when you're inside and outside. The only steps that count towards your Sweatcoin earnings are those you take outdoors. Also, the app doesn't sync with Fitbits or other fitness trackers. Instead, it relies on your phone's step tracking software.

• Costco sells 10-carat diamonds worth as much as $420,000. 
• Sky News reporter Jennifer Bechwati tweeted Sunday that she found a diamond ring costing 499,999.99 AUD (or roughly $388,900 USD) at a Costco store in Australia "between bulk AA batteries and dustpans." 

Costco sells 6.5-carat diamond rings worth nearly $400,000 amid the bulk groceries and home goods that lure bargain seekers to its warehouse stores. 

Sky News reporter Jennifer Bechwati tweeted Sunday that she found a diamond ring costing 499,999.99 AUD (or roughly $388,900 USD) at a Costco store in Australia "between bulk AA batteries and dustpans." 

She posted a photo of the round-cut ring that listed its weight as 6.55 carats with color and clarity of "G" and "VS1," respectively. The diamond was set in a platinum band.

It turns out that the warehouse chain sells a host of expensive diamonds in stores and online. Costco's US website lists 303 diamond rings with stones as big as 10 carats. Prices range from $159 to $420,000.

Shoppers might not expect to find such expensive rings in stores, but a Costco spokeswoman told the Daily Mail that every one of its warehouses has at least one "WOW" item in its jewelry department. 

Some people commented online that the color and clarity of the 6.55-carat stone could be better for the price. A search online at James Allen, another diamond retailer, shows a diamond with a similar cut, clarity, and color for $354,000, or about $34,000 cheaper than the Costco ring.

Costco was ordered to pay the jewelry company Tiffany more than $19 million last year for selling about 2,500 rings falsely identified on store signs as "Tiffany" rings. Costco argued that the description referred to the rings' settings, and wasn't meant to be confused with Tiffany's brand.

SEE ALSO: A billionaire just bid $890 million to save Toys R Us

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