• Your handwriting says a lot about your personality.
• For example, if you write large letters, it could mean you are people oriented, whereas small letters could mean you are introverted. 
• Business Insider spoke to master graphologist, Kathi McKnight, who analyzes handwriting for personality traits, to figure out what these details in your handwriting mean. 

Your handwriting reveals much more than you might imagine.

There's a whole science behind analyzing handwriting for personality traits called graphology, which has been around since the days of Aristotle. Today, it's used for a variety of purposes, from criminal investigations to understanding your health. Someemployers even use handwriting analysis to screen potential employees for compatibility.

Business Insider talked to master graphologistKathi McKnight about what the seemingly insignificant details in your writing say about you. "Just from analyzing your handwriting, experts can find over 5,000 personality traits," she says. 

McKnight readily admits that the information she provides below is a basic overview, so it won't apply to everyone in every situation. Yet these factors can show you aspects about yourself that you may not have considered before. 

Try writing out a sentence. We suggest: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Then, keep reading to see what your handwriting says about you.

Size of letters and words

Slant

Pressure

Tucked into the bottom corner of a 110-year-old Victorian house in San Francisco is a 385-square foot apartment that has one bathroom and no bedroom. It's selling for almost $500,000.

It's nestled in San Francisco's tony Presidio Heights neighborhood, where the median home price is almost $5 million according to Redfin. So consider this half-a-million-dollar chateau a steal.

The home is being marketed as the perfect pied-à-terre, a French phrase to describe an abode that's for occasional use. And given its tight footprint, unless you've got a thing for very small spaces, the home seems best suited for popping in periodically to lay your head.

Take a look inside the studio:

SEE ALSO: The Silicon Valley housing market is so dire, these run-down or condemned homes sold for over $1 million

The one-story unit at 333B Cherry St. is one of three in the Victorian house. It sits about three minutes away from the opulent homes in the gated loopty-loop of Presidio Terrace.

It was built in 1908 but has been renovated in recent years.

The property is 385 square feet and includes a kitchen and a bathroom.

First lady Melania Trump's reserved public persona has been the target of a slew of conspiracy theories since her husband's 2016 election, all of which her staff have been quick to shut down.

It's hard to track which one came first, but it's sure none of them will be the last.

Here are four outlandish conspiracy theories about Trump, and the reasoning behind their spread.

SEE ALSO: Incredible facts about Melania Trump show she's unlike any other first lady

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Some think she's a Russian spy.

As "evidence," internet commenters point to a chat she had with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner for last year's G-20 Summit.

While Trump doesn't speak Russian, she does know English, French, German, Italian, and Serbian, in addition to her native Slovenian — more languages than any previous American first lady.

Many saw her engaged in conversation at dinner with Putin, and reports described the two as friendly during the meal.

But there is no proof that Trump and Putin have had any other interaction, and no reason to think she has performed any work as a Russian spy beyond the occasional satire piece.

She has worked as a model and is a self-described "full-time mom," but hasn't mentioned Russian intelligence as a specialty.

Some think she doesn't live in the White House.

There's a "persistent" rumor that Trump lives in a separate house in DC with her parents and son, Barron Trump.

In a Washington Post story about the first lady's private life, her office denied the rumor as "1,000% false." Trump's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, added, "We laugh at it all the time."

White House social secretary Rickie Niceta Lloyd called the rumor "an urban legend," and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was "ridiculous."

"Just when you think the Washington Post can't get things any more wrong, they do," Sanders said. "The first lady lives here at the White House. We see her here regularly."

Trump took longer than usual to move to the White House after her husband took office, spending the first five months of his presidency in New York City while Barron finished school in Manhattan.

In June 2017, the mother and son finally moved to the White House, and Barron started attending St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, in the fall.

Some think she has a body double.

The theory first sprang to life when some thought Trump had been replaced by a look-alike for a public appearance, and continued when she was pictured alongside a Secret Service agent with similar hair and complexion.

This rumor has been vehemently denied by her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, but that didn't stop the internet from going ablaze.

Business Insider's Kate Taylor dug into the mystery and noticed the agent was always wearing heels in photos of her with the first lady.

The photos of the agent have Trump in them, which would make it pretty hard for her to be a "body double" for the first lady.

• Authorities in Saudi Arabia detained several women's rights activists who campaigned for women's driving rights just weeks before the country is set to lift the ban on women driving.
• At least 10 women's prominent rights activists have been arrested in the last week.
• Saudi Arabia is set to lift its driving restriction on June 24.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested several women's rights activists who campaigned for women's driving rights just weeks before the country is set to lift its long-standing ban on female drivers.

At least 10 prominent women's rights activists have been arrested since May 15, according to rights groups.

Human Rights Watch reported last week on the arrests of seven men and women all tied to previous campaigns aimed at allowing women the right to drive. At least three more have been arrested as the crackdown widens, both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch told Reuters.

Saudi state media has been quick to brand the activists as "traitors," and accused them of forming a "cell" in conjunction with foreign agents, Amnesty International said.

The government first announced it would lift its ban on women driving in September, and is set to come into effect on June 24. Critics of the ban say it is symbolic of Saudi Arabia's strong patriarchal society, an image which Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is rapidly trying to change with his Vision2030 modernization efforts. 

And while the nation was celebrating the abolishment of the ban, the government was doubling down on activists who had fought for the right.

Activists told the Journal that on the day of the announcement they received calls from the Saudi government banning them from speaking to the media or even praising the move. 

"We were told: ‘Don’t talk. We don’t want you to comment positively or negatively. Don’t do it, don’t give interviews,"' an unnamed activist told the Journal.

Activists said the recent crackdown is aimed at preventing anyone from claiming credit for the government's decision to lift the ban.

"They put pressure on the government and the government is still angry, even if it has accepted that women will be allowed to drive,” another activist told the Journal. "Women will drive soon, and they don’t want anyone who can comment."

Among those detained this week are Loujain al-Hathloul, a well-known young activist who spent 73 days in jail for defying the ban in 2014. Two other women, aged 63 and 70, helped organize the first driving protests in 1990.

Saudi's Press Agency said the activists were arrested for having "dared to violate the country’s religious and national pillars through making suspected contacts in support of the activities of foreign circles." The statement also said those detained sought to "destabilize the Kingdom."

SEE ALSO: Women in Saudi Arabia can now join the army but still need permission from a male guardian first

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• Everyone has dark triad personality traits — those associated with narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.
• But not everyone is a full blown narcissist or psychopath.
• In everyday life, we can use our dark triad characteristics to our advantage.
• In fact, it's probably to your detriment if you don't.
• Some people struggle with this, but it's like playing with fire — you just have to know what you're doing.

Some people check their reflection out in the mirror, then ask themselves "am I a narcissist?"

This may be because they are hyper-aware of becoming narcissistic due to having one as a parent or an ex-partner, or it could be because of low self-confidence and an overwhelming desire to be liked.

Whatever the reason, some people struggle with their own dark triad characteristics — traits associated with narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

But what everyone doesn't realise is that we all fall on the spectrum somewhere, and dark triad traits are rarely as much of a caricature as people expect. For instance, you don't have to be Jack the Ripper to have some psychopathic tendencies, and not all narcissists adore themselves and take selfies all day.

What even fewer people don't realise is that dark triad attributes are beneficial. In fact, psychopaths thrive in some jobs way better than other people.

According to Perpetua Neo, a doctor of psychology, we all have the ability to capitalise on traits like confidence, grandiosity, and entitlement — you just have to know how to do it in the right way.

"It's almost as though confidence is a bad thing, and caring for themselves or loving themselves is disgusting," she told Business Insider. "I would ask some of my executive clients in the UK 'when you hear about self love what do you think about?' — and you could see this look on their face, like that is so pompous, so egotistical, and narcissistic."

But taking care of yourself doesn't make you a narcissist. Neither does being confident, or knowing what you deserve. Neo highlighted four ways we can learn from how a narcissist's mind works, and how we can use our dark traits to our advantage.

1. Confidence

You need confidence if you are going to a big job interview, or about to deliver an important pitch. Without that fundamental confidence in yourself, you aren't going to win. This is an example of the obvious, outwardly facing confidence we are used to, but it can also be apparent in other ways — like how you set your boundaries.

It's really obvious when someone doesn't have confidence in their own boundaries, Neo said. Even if they state their boundaries, they do so tentatively, and they are susceptible to violation.

Sometimes, a lack of confidence can be the direct result of an abusive relationship with a narcissist, who told you how unkind and selfish your were. After you have healed, Neo said these people actually highlighted where your vulnerabilities were, so you can start building up your confidence again in those areas.

"There are weak spots around our fort, and they got in, so when everything has been blown over and dusted, you can learn how to make the best of it," she said. "What points in my fort are weak and how can I strengthen it so I don't repeat this again? So I can be a champion for my younger self, or help somebody else, and be the most amazing human being I can possibly be?"

2. Grandiosity

One of the reasons narcissists have such contempt for everyone else is their grandiosity. It is essentially their deluded sense of superiority, and a feeling that everyone around them is inferior in some way. They also tend to think of themselves as unique or special.

This isn't a particularly enviable trait to have, but in small amounts, grandiosity can be really useful, Neo said. For example, without any grandiosity in their ideas, people would never have been able to create air travel.

"If we have some grandiosity to believe in our abilities, and in our dreams, that actually helps to bring some dreams to life," she said.

3. Entitlement

Too much entitlement, and you come across as a spoilt brat expecting special treatment just for being who you are. But in small doses, it just means having respect for how we expect to be treated.

"We have to believe to some extent we are entitled to do well in this life, or having our ideas heard," Neo said. "For women, we need to believe we are entitled to equal treatment, equal pay, and equal rights."

4. Manipulation

If someone throws around the word manipulative, it has very negative implications. Narcissists are incredibly manipulative. They know how to use other people to drain them of their resources before they move on to the next victim.

But there's a difference between manipulating a person and manipulating a situation, Neo said. That way, you're simply framing things in a way you can use to your advantage.

For example, if you work in sales, there is a certain format you follow. First, you befriend the person you're talking to and try and engage them as a human being, so they lower their guard — also known as getting your "foot in the door."

"That is a strategic way of doing it, but it's helping you organise the flow of the conversation," Neo said. "But a person high in empathy, who feels icky about preparing these things, because they feel they are manipulative, will not do that."

Similarly, it's not overly manipulative to have an elevator pitch, or to ask a friend you want to know better to more coffee dates. You're simply making the most of your opportunities — and there's no shame in that.

Narcissists do not have empathy

The main difference between full-blown narcissists and someone just using their traits is whether they have empathy as a foundation. Narcissists are unwilling to accept anyone else's needs or feelings as important, so all of their actions are self serving.

"At the end of the day it's about asking your conscience: 'What am I being guarded by? Am I being loyal to my friends and the people I care about?' — If I am it doesn't matter," Neo said. "It's kind of like fire. Fire can burn everything down, or it can be used to cook food... That's essentually how I see it."

SEE ALSO: 10 reasons it's difficult to spot narcissists and psychopaths — and how they use these to hide in plain sight

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NOW WATCH: Why you should never release your pet goldfish into the wild

• A new study has shown how millennials have a higher risk of mental health problems if they are lonely.
• Young adults and teenagers are at the highest risk of loneliness, according to some research.
• Some people blame the rise of social media use, but the reasons are likely to be more nuanced than that.

You might not know why you're lonely. After all, being alone doesn't mean you have to be lonely, and being lonely doesn't necessarily mean you're on your own.

But if you're feeling isolated from other people, it can be completely debilitating to your life. It's bad for stress, can make women feel hungrier, and even increases the risk of early death by 26%.

According to a new study published in the journal Psychological Medicine, lonely millennials have twice the rick of developing mental health problems like depression and anxiety, compared to those who are connected to others.

In the study, researchers from King's College London analysed 2,066 millennial twins in England and Wales. They were asked about their experiences at different stages of life, their relationships, how lonely they were, and how their mental and physical health was.

The most recent data was taken while the twins were 18. Results showed that 7% of participants said they often felt lonely, while 23-31% said they felt left out or lacked companionship.

Overall, being lonely was associated with double the chance of a mental health problem, and a 38% increased risk of being unemployed. Also, lonely individuals were more likely to engage in risky behaviours like smoking and not exercising.

"If somebody discloses to their friends or family, or a GP, that they feel lonely a lot of the time, that could be a warning sign that they are struggling in other areas of life," Timothy Matthews, co-author of the study from King's College London, told the Guardian.

Younger people are the loneliest

Last year, a study found that, contrary to popular belief, older people aren't necessarily at the highest risk of being lonely. In fact, loneliness is greatest among teenagers and young adults.

Some link the loneliness of the millennial generation back to social media. However, while some research does show that using sites like Facebook and Instagram can be isolating, they probably aren't as bad as we think.

It ultimately comes down to how you use them. For example, many people use social media platforms as a way to make friends, especially those who struggle in real-life social situations.

If you're using them to keep in contact, it's less likely to be a problem. But if you spend most of your time scrolling aimlessly and feeling jealous about what everyone else is doing, you're more likely to get FOMO and feel lonely.

In an article for Forbes, Caroline Beaton discussed another possible reason that millennials are so lonely, in addition to spending more time on the internet.

Loneliness, she said, can be contagious. A study from 2009 showed how people are 52% more likely to be lonely if they are connected to someone who is lonely. Also, people who aren't lonely tend to become lonelier around someone who is.

"Lonely people are less able to pick up on positive social stimuli, like others' attention and commitment signals, so they withdraw prematurely — in many cases before they're actually socially isolated," she wrote. "Their inexplicable withdrawal may, in turn, make their close connections feel lonely too."

The lonely can also act a little hostile, possibly as a defence mechanism. This further severs their social ties and perpetuates their loneliness.

The researchers said this new study's findings could help "underscore the importance of early intervention to prevent lonely young adults from being trapped in loneliness as they age."

The participants were only 18, and it's very possible their loneliness levels will change when they grow up. But for those who struggle until later on in life, further research could help them figure out why it is.

"Feeling lonely isn't in itself a mental health problem, but the two are strongly connected," Stephen Buckley from the mental health charity Mind told The Guardian.

"Being sociable and connecting with other people is rewarding in its own right and can help significantly improve your mental well-being, especially if you're not feeling so good."

SEE ALSO: People can be lonely even if they're married or have a ton of friends — and the ones we worry about probably aren't those most at risk

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Old people are more likely to be alone, but that doesn't mean they are the most lonely.
• Research shows loneliness is greatest among teenagers and young adults.
• Loneliness at any age can affect our mental and physical health.

Older people are often thought of as being lonely. Maybe their partner has passed away and they live alone, and their age means they can't get around like they used to.

Research has shown how loneliness is bad for our health. For example, one study looked at how being lonely can increase the levels of stress hormones in our bodies, which have been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and dementia. Another showed how lonely people have a 50% increased risk of early death.

Older people are already at a higher risk of health issues, so this is bad news if they are more likely to be lonely too.

But while we think of older people being more solitary, and thus more lonely, this might not actually be true.

According to the work of Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, loneliness is actually at its peak among teenagers and young adults.

Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues analysed 70 studies, and found that there were stronger risks of loneliness-related illness for under- 65s than over-65s.

Also, the US National Social Life, Health and Aging Project states that just 30% of older adults feel lonely fairly often.

"Older adults should not be the sole focus of the effects of loneliness and social isolation. We need to address this for all ages," Holt-Lunstad told The New York Times, which summed up the health impacts of loneliness in a recent article.

"If we recognize social connections as a fundamental human need, then we can't discount the risks of being socially isolated even if people don't feel lonely," she added.

Being lonely and being alone are two different things. While older people might be alone much of the time, this doesn't mean they are unhappy about it.

In fact, people can feel lonely when they're surrounded by others. Many lonely people are also married.

"Being unmarried is a significant risk," Dr. Holt-Lunstad told the New York Times, "but not all marriages are happy ones. We have to consider the quality of relationships, not simply their existence or quantity."

It is well known that things like alcohol, diet, smoking, and air pollution can contribute to us living shorter lives.

But it's important not to overlook loneliness as something that can be detrimental to both our psychological and physical well-being too.

SEE ALSO: Single men are more worried about finding a partner for Christmas than women — here's why

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here is how to survive an avalanche

• People with a night-owl chronotype can struggle with a fixed 9-to-5 routine.
• Failing to get to sleep early can mean you don't get a consistent eight hours a night.
• A lack of sleep has been associated with an increased risk of early death.
• But according to new research, you might be able to reduce your risk by catching up on sleep at the weekend.
• However, the consensus in the sleep-science community is that consistency is key and that there is no substitute for a regular bedtime when it comes to your health. 

As a night owl, I know what it's like to struggle with the strict schedules society has set for us. Getting to bed to ensure eight hours of sleep is a daily battle, but it's nothing compared with getting up in the morning to make it to work on time.

Throughout the week it can feel as though my body hasn't rested enough because I often fail to fall asleep until very late. So I take the opportunity at weekends to catch up on my shut-eye — I rarely set an alarm and tend to wake up when my body wants to.

Sleep scientists have long been critical of my method. One of them, Matthew Walker, said last year: "Sleep is not like the bank. You can't accumulate a debt and pay it off at a later point in time."

But according to a study published on Tuesday in the Journal of Sleep Research, the effects of insufficient sleep over the week could actually be countered by a later lie-in at the weekend.

Sleep researchers from the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University looked at data from more than 43,000 adults collected in Sweden in 1997. They then checked the national death register to see what happened to participants over 13 years.

They found that adults under age 65 who got only five hours of sleep or less a night, for seven days a week, had a higher risk of early death than those who consistently got six or seven hours. But those who made up for it at the weekend by sleeping in had no raised mortality risk compared with the steady sleepers.

"The results imply that short (weekday) sleep is not a risk factor for mortality if it is combined with a medium or long weekend sleep," said the researchers, led by Torbjorn Akerstedt. "This suggests that short weekday sleep may be compensated for during the weekend, and that this has implications for mortality."

Overall, Akerstedt suggested that it was a person's average amount of sleep that seemed to make a difference and that the new study adds to the growing body of research that highlights this.

However, in the sleep-science community, the overarching advice is that consistency is key and that there is no substitute for having a regular sleep pattern.

In a previous interview with Business Insider, Elise Facer-Childs, a research fellow at the University of Birmingham, said that the more regular your sleep, the better. Otherwise, you can experience something called "social jet lag," the misalignment between social and biological time. (Essentially, our bodies have clocks, called circadian rhythms — and if we mess with them, it can cause problems.)

"I would say that it is all about getting the right balance," Facer-Childs said in a recent email. "Yes, if you are extremely sleep-deprived during the week, then continuing that over the weekend isn't ideal, and maybe you should think about getting a few more hours."

She added that the most important thing is the timing of sleep. For example, getting up at 6 a.m. for work during the week but sleeping until 10 a.m. at the weekend — a four-hour difference — can make your body feel as if you're flying to Dubai every weekend then coming back on Sunday. You're basically jet-lagged.

"If you're sleep-deprived, it is probably better to try and fall asleep earlier than get up later," she said, adding: "Although our social commitments at the weekend tend to prevent us from doing this."

Not getting enough sleep has been linked to an increased risk of obesity and heart disease, as well as brain diseases like Alzheimer's. There's also evidence that sleep deprivation can contribute to a lower sex drive, reduced fertility, and generally poorer mental well-being.

So forget "sleep when you're dead" — it might be more like "don't sleep, and you will be dead."

SEE ALSO: You may be better at sports at certain times of day thanks to your biological clock

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NOW WATCH: I ate nothing but 'healthy' fast food for a week — here’s what happened

• More stories about George Clooney reportedly partying at the royal wedding reception are emerging.
• Clooney apparently danced with Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton at the after-party.
• Now people are saying he also poured shots of his own billion-dollar tequila brand, Casamigos, from behind the bar.

There are many things that make George Clooney one of the most likeable Hollywood A-listers on the planet: his political activism and humanitarian work, extreme generosity — he reportedly once gave 14 of his friends $1 million each— and the fact that he apparently likes a party, because who doesn't?

If rumours are to be believed, then George Clooney was part of the life and soul of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding at the weekend, along with Serena Williams who reportedly slayed at beer pong.

Clooney, who is understood to have been among the select 200 guests invited to the evening reception at Frogmore House, is said to have danced with both Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton. Now, it's rumoured that he was also spotted pouring shots of his own billion-dollar tequila brand, Casamigos, from behind the bar.

Sources reportedly told Entertainment Tonight that at one point Clooney jumped behind the bar and began serving drinks.

"George hopped behind the bar and was actually bartending for a bit. He poured Casamigos drinks and shots and got everyone dancing," one source said.

Casamigos started as an idea between Clooney and friend Rande Gerber while they were in Mexico. The company was sold to Diageo for up to $1 billion (£790 million) in June 2017.

People are speculating that the connection between Casamigos and the royal wedding came through 31-year-old Jack Brooksbank, who will marry Harry's cousin Princess Eugenie in October, and who also just so happens to be an ambassador for the brand.

Gerber told Business Insider he and Clooney researched extensively to create a tequila they could drink all day without getting a hangover.

Prior to the Diageo sale the pair said they still taste every batch of the tequila, which is sold in 20 countries and doubled its volume of sales in 2016.

SEE ALSO: George Clooney dancing with Meghan Markle, 'dirty burgers,' and fireworks: Here's what apparently went down at the royal wedding after-party

SEE ALSO: George Clooney's tequila company just sold for $1 billion — here's the story of how it was set up by accident

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NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos reveals what it's like to build an empire and become the richest man in the world — and why he's willing to spend $1 billion a year to fund the most important mission of his life

• "Versailles in Manhattan," an Upper East Side townhouse, has been on and off the New York real-estate market since 2003.
• Its highest asking price was $35 million in 2007 — now that it's in the hands of residential brokers for the 12th time, it's listed for $19.75 million, the New York Post reports.
• Real-estate experts say no one is buying the townhouse because of its less prestigious location, museum-like grandeur, and long market history. 

With steep prices for little space, the New York real-estate market is known to be a bit outrageous.

Even so, one of the city's most lavish townhouses — with more than 8,000 square feet of living space — can't find a buyer.

Dubbed an "architectural masterpiece" and "Versailles in Manhattan" by brokers, a 15-room neo-Georgian townhouse can arguably add "unsellable" to its list of nicknames.

The Upper East Side townhouse, owned by the commercial real-estate broker Kenneth Laub, has been on the market since April 2003 and now finds itself in the hands of its 12th set of residential brokers trying to sell the home, the New York Post reports.

Newly listed with agents at Douglas Elliman and Corcoran, the price has been slashed to $19.75 million.

That's quite the drop from its $35 million asking price in December 2007, its heftiest price tag in the past 15 years. Word through the real-estate grapevine is that no other Manhattan townhouse has spent as much time bouncing around the market, according to the Post.

Laub purchased the home in 1986 for $4 million. In 2009, when the home was still at its $35 million asking price, he told the Observer: "If I'm overpriced, then so be it ... If someone feels that the house is worth what I think it is worth, then they'll buy it. And if not, then they won't. And it's not the end of the world one way or another."

Even now, some real-estate experts find it priced a little higher than its "no man's land" location calls for, according to the Post. Its price tag is more on par with sought-after townhouses that hold the prestige of Central Park and Fifth Avenue locations. A townhouse in the same area as this one recently sold for $9.5 million in January, the Post reports.

Sources told the Post there were a few reasons buyers aren't biting: The square footage is a bit misleading since it includes the finished basement, the property may have gained a bad reputation after sitting on the market for so long, and its gorgeous Versailles-inspired interiors, which came to life after Laub renovated the townhouse, may be a bit old-fashioned for the contemporary buyer.

Keep scrolling to see inside the townhouse.

SEE ALSO: Nobody wants to buy this $79.5 million Upper East Side mansion that costs $240,000 a year in taxes

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The Versailles-inspired townhouse covers about 6,700 square feet across four stories. Counting the finished basement with inlaid marble and wood flooring and a window, it's roughly 8,000 square feet. It was built in 1872 by the architect John G. Prague "in neo-Georgian style with an exterior facade of raked limestone and red clay brick" and has monthly real-estate taxes of $8,290, according to the listing.

Source: Douglas Elliman

Laub renovated the townhouse after buying it for $4 million in 1986. The entry forecourt includes a separate service entrance and radiant-heat sidewalk for snow removal. Among the home's many features are 15 rooms, eight ornate fireplaces, eight marble baths, an elevator servicing all floors, a gym, and a rooftop garden.

Source: Douglas Elliman

But that's just the beginning of its opulent interior. The Louis XIV-style living room features "10 canvas panels inspired by the Fragonard Room of the Frick Collection."

Source: Douglas Elliman

• Oklahoma farmer Carl Barnes, who died in 2016, isolated types of corn from his Native American ancestors.
• Barnes saved and replanted seeds from particularly colorful cobs.
• A fellow farmer started growing larger plots of the rainbow-colored corn and made new strains with more vibrant colors and patterns.

Glass Gem corn, a unique variety of rainbow-colored corn, became an internet sensation in 2012 when a photo of the sparkling cob was posted to Facebook.

Shortly after, the company that sells the rare seeds, Native Seeds/SEARCH, began ramping up production to meet the high demand. The Arizona-based companystill sells Glass Gem seedson its website.

Meanwhile, a Facebook page devoted to Glass Gem allows growers to share pictures of the vibrant corn variety.

But the story behind Glass Gem is just as remarkable. It begins with one man, Carl Barnes, who set out to explore his Native American roots.

The history was largely retold by Barnes' protegee, Greg Schoen, in 2012, when the corn gained national attention. We've broken out the highlights.

This article was originally published in 2013 and has been updated because the story is timeless.

SEE ALSO: How cats see the world compared to humans

The story of Glass Gem corn begins with an Oklahoma farmer named Carl Barnes. Barnes, who died in 2016, was half-Cherokee. He began growing older corn varieties in his adult years (no one is exactly sure when this began) as a way to reconnect with his heritage.

In growing these older corn varieties, Barnes was able to isolate ancestral types that had been lost to Native American tribes when they were relocated to what is now Oklahoma in the 1800s. This led to an exchange of ancient corn seed with people he had met and made friends with all over the country.

At the same time, Barnes began selecting, saving, and replanting seeds from particularly colorful cobs.

• A mistake from the model of the Millennium Falcon made it into the full-size set.
• According to "Star Wars: A New Hope" set decorator Roger Christian, a photo of an unfinished version of a model of the Falcon being made in the US got to Christian and the production design team in the UK, and was built into the full-scale version.
• But don't look too hard, even Christian doesn't know exactly where the mistake is.

It turns out the unique look of the Millennium Falcon is partly because of a mistake during the design of the famous “Star Wars” ship.

During preproduction of “Star Wars: A New Hope,” the production design team in the UK had a strange way of communicating with the visual effects team back in America, and it led to an error being built into the full-scale set of the Falcon.

According to Roger Christian, who was set decorator on “A New Hope” (and earned an Oscar for his work on the movie), both teams showed their work to each other by mailing a pouch across the pond every week. Christian and his fellow set designers would mail the VFX team the pouch every Tuesday with photos showing how their work on the building of the Falcon was going, and every Thursday the pouch would return from the States showing photos of the models being built of the ship.

The two teams had to stay in constant contact to make sure both the sets and models, which would be used for the shots of the Falcon flying in space, were the same. And because this was 1975-1976, it was long before email and even fax machines.

Then one Thursday, Christian said, the pouch returned with a note from visual effects artist Joe Johnston that read, “You built in my mistake.”

It turns out the previous round of photos of the model sent to the UK were taken before Johnston was finished with it.

"Just before they photographed it, Joe didn't like one piece and pulled it off, expecting to replace it," Christian told Business Insider. "They photographed it before he did that. The photo came back in the pouch and we built it. So somewhere on the Millennium Falcon there's glue marks where a piece is missing that we built full-scale.”

So where is the mistake on the ship? We’ll probably never know.

“Neither Joe or I can remember where it is exactly,” Christian said. “It's on there somewhere."

Chalk this up as just another legend to add to the lore of “Star Wars” and its most iconic ship.

SEE ALSO: A creator of the original Millennium Falcon describes how the legendary "Star Wars" ship was made was airplane scarps and lots of imagination

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Spotify has shared a list of 16 songs that the streaming service predicts could become the most popular tracks of the summer. 

Spotify's list includes recent Billboard No. 1 hits like Drake's "Nice for What" and Childish Gambino's "This Is America," alongside a 2018 album cut from rapper Cardi B, and a new collaboration from Pharrell Williams and pop singer Camila Cabello. 

The company said in a release that its list was compiled "based on factors such as a song’s chart performance, listener engagement in playlists, current trajectory, industry buzz and good old-fashioned gut instincts."

Here are the top 16 song of the summer contenders, according to Spotify:

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16. "Youth" — Shawn Mendes feat. Khalid

15. "Solo" — Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato

14. "Burn the House Down" — AJR

Who is the most famous athlete on the planet?

It's a question sports fans have often asked themselves, and after analysing 600 of the biggest sportsmen and women in the world, ESPN believes it has an answer.

In order to produce its World Fame 100 list, the media giant used three metrics to determine popularity:

1. Search score (how frequently is a player's name typed into search engines on the internet?)
2. Endorsements (how much money has the athlete generated from his or her own brand value?)
3. Social media followers (how many millions of followers does the athlete have on his or her biggest social media channel?)

Once all of these factors were taken into acccount, ESPN was able to whittle the 600 strong list down to a top 100.

Scroll down to see the 18 most famous athletes in the world, ranked in ascending order:

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18. Conor McGregor. The UFC fighter is renowned for his work in mixed martial arts, but the Irishman only fought once last year — and it was in a boxing ring rather than a UFC octagon. McGregor's loss to Floyd Mayweather made him $100 million richer, and his alleged attack on a UFC team bus last month made him even more infamous.

17. Sun Yang. Chinese swimmer Yang is a gold medal magnet and his performances in 2017 continued to attract titles. His highest social media profile has 32 million followers and he was the only athlete to grace the 2017 Forbes China Celebrity List.

16. Jordan Spieth. The American golfer is "the real deal," according to ESPN. Last year was a standout period for Spieth as he won The Open, a victory that ensured he had won three of golf's four majors at 23 years old.

There's no place like home. That is, unless you work in the newly opened Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, where employees at Salesforce's new global headquarters may never want to leave.

The building, the tallest office tower west of the Mississippi River, opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the who's who of San Francisco grandees on Tuesday. The event marked the culmination of a decades-long building and planning process for the $1.1 billion skyscraper.

Business Insider went inside Salesforce Tower to see what it's like to work there. Take a look.

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Salesforce Tower rises 61 stories over San Francisco's Transbay district, a downtown center that's starting to get crowded with marquee tech companies including Facebook and LinkedIn.

It's next-door neighbors with San Francisco's tilting, sinking skyscraper, Millennium Tower.

Read more: A 58-story skyscraper in San Francisco is tilting and sinking — and residents say their multimillion-dollar condos are 'nearly worthless'

Salesforce Tower was originally named Transbay Tower, but the enterprise giant bought the naming rights in a landmark real-estate deal. Salesforce will pay the developer Boston Properties close to $560 million over 15 and a half years to lease 30 floors at the building.

• Generation Z renters will spend more money on rent before they buy a home than any previous generation, according to a report from HotPads.
• Gen Z will spend an average of 11 years renting before becoming a homeowner, one year less than millennials.
• The top four cities where Gen Z renters are projected to spend the most money on rent are all in California.

It's no surprise that rent is more expensive for millennials than it was for baby boomers.

But soaring rent costs will hit Generation Z the hardest, those born between 1998 and 2016, according to new analysis from HotPads, a Zillow Group site.

Even when adjusted for inflation, today's youngest adults will spend more on rent in their lifetime than their predecessors, according to the report. Members of Gen Z will spend an average of $226,000 on rent before ever owning a home.

That tops older generations, surpassing the $202,000 millennials will end up spending on rent, and the average $148,900 baby boomers spent on rent before becoming homeowners after adjusting for inflation.

But while Gen Z will spend more money on rent in their lifetime — paying a median of $1,710 a month — HotPads estimates the younger generation will be quicker to buy homes than millennials. Baby boomers spent an average of 10 years renting before buying, Gen Z will spend 11 years, and millennials will spend 12 years renting.

"While there are a lot of unknowns about how the American economy will evolve over the coming decades as Generation Z grows into adulthood, if historical trends hold, the long-term forecast right now suggests that Generation Z is likely to benefit from a stronger job market than millennials," said HotPads economist Joshua Clark.

Clark also said that "while rising rents and home values mean that it won't be as easy for Generation Z to become homeowners as it was for baby boomers, they should get there sooner than millennials did."

HotPads analyzed government data and its own rental data to determine how much total rent each generation paid or will pay in their lifetime before becoming homeowners, as well as how many years they spent or will spend renting. HotPads based their projections on data for the average person in the median birth year of each generation — 1954 for baby boomers, 1987 for millennials, and 2002 for Gen Z. They also assumed renters begin paying rent at age 20. 

Below, see the 10 cities expected to be most expensive for Gen Z renters, plus how much the average millennial and baby boomer renter spent or will spend there before buying a home.

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10. Miami, Florida

Generation Z total rent paid: $305,100

Millennials total rent paid: $258,400

Baby boomers total rent paid: $180,700

9. Denver, Colorado

Generation Z total rent paid: $320,300

Millennials total rent paid: $251,200

Baby boomers total rent paid: $169,500

8. New York, New York

Generation Z total rent paid: $323,800

Millennials total rent paid: $318,700

Baby boomers total rent paid: $194,700

• 'Light' and low-fat ice creams appear to be part of the low-fat diet trend that emerged in the 1990s.
• There is no evidence to suggest that these products help you lose weight. Studies actually suggest the opposite.
• To find out how healthy your sweet treat really is, look for three ingredients: protein, fat, and fiber.

Sweet, creamy, and cold, ice cream is a uniquely satisfying dessert. Some might even call it perfect. But that hasn't stopped food manufacturers from adulterating the original version.

In at attempt to adapt to American diet trends, low-fat and light ice cream varieties plague grocery store shelves. They claim to offer the same flavor and satisfaction with fewer calories and less fat. But it's tough to say whether these treats are any better for you than the original. In fact, experts believe the opposite may be true, and several studies back them up.

'Low-fat' products don't lead to weight loss

In the 1990s, a spate of scientific studies began to paint fat as the enemy when it came to weight gain. Intuitively, that argument made sense — eat fat, get fat. But the research was far from settled.

It turns out that many of the initial studies suggesting that eating fat would make us fat were funded, at least in part, by institutions and people with ties to the sugar industry. Since then, a series of new studies have revealed that instead of causing us to pack on the pounds, dietary fats from sources like olive oil and avocados may actually be a healthy part of our diet. 

The problem with low-fat products is simple. To accommodate for the loss of flavor that comes with removing the cream or richness in a product, food manufacturers tend to add sugar. The end result is a product that may have fewer calories and less fat, but has more sugar instead.

While high-fat diets have not been implicated in weight gain, high-sugar diets have.

A review of 50 studies on diet and weight gain published in the journal Food and Nutrition Research found that the more refined carbohydrates (such as sugar) that someone ate, the more weight they tended to gain. Similarly, the researchers behind a large review of 68 studies published in the British Medical Journal found that the more sugar someone consumed, the more they weighed.

In other words, the amount of sugar in a participant's diet could be used to roughly predict their weight.

That link becomes clearer when we look at the way our bodies process simple carbs and sugar. 

Eat sugar, crave more

When we eat carbs or sugar, the digestion process involves the pancreas. That small, sweet-potato-shaped organ pumps out insulin, a hormone that mops up some of the sugar floating around in our blood stream. But when we consume large quantities of either ingredient, the pancreas goes into overdrive and pumps out so much insulin that we wind up craving more carbs or sugar.

Edward Damiano, a diabetes researcher and professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, calls this "the insulin effect."

You eat sugar, then you crave more.

This could happen easily when consuming a low-fat ice cream that is devoid of other filling nutrients like protein and fiber.

When you eat foods that are high in sugar or highly processed, your body and brain have trouble telling you that you've had enough. Instead of getting cues that your stomach is full, these foods can send signals to tell the brain to continue eating, even when you've had too much.

While sugar does not fill us up, the body responds to ingredients like fat, protein, and fiber by eventually signaling to the brain that we've had enough. In addition to making our stomachs feel fuller, those components also help keep our blood sugar levels steady, which makes it easier to maintain energy levels and stop cravings before they start.

This is why foods like doughnuts and cereal often only fill us up for a few hours and leave us hangry shortly after. They are all low in the ingredients that keep us satiated — fat and protein — and high in the ones that make us hungrier — sugar and carbs.

Low-fat ice cream tends to function in the same way.

That said, some newer "light" ice cream brands appear to have recognized the problem. Halo Top, for example, tends to contain hefty amounts of fiber and protein, making it a bit more filling and less craving-inducing than other light ice creams.

The best way to evaluate your ice cream choice is to check the nutrition label. If your sweet treat is low in protein, fat, and fiber but very high in sugar and carbs, it may be time to find a new dessert.

SEE ALSO: There's even more evidence that one type of diet is the best for your body and brain — and it could save you money, too

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• Fitbit is making a big move into health, starting with features that it says will allow it to better track heart rate and align with other medical devices like blood-sugar trackers for diabetics.
  
• It's also developing tools to detect common but serious conditions such as sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation.
  
• Shelten Yuen, Fitbit's vice president of research and development, told Business Insider that the company hopes its clinical trials and a new partnership with the Food and Drug Administration will enable it to make several fresh products available soon.
  

The company behind the simple fitness band aimed at getting people moving now has its sites set higher: playing doctor.

In recent months, wearable-device company Fitbit has made a big push toward healthcare. From an in-app feature for tracking women's menstrual cycles to a redesigned ecosystem that makes it more compatible with diabetic glucose monitors, the company is working to keep its device relevant alongside heavy competition from players like Apple.

As part of the health pivot, the company is also developing apps designed to detect two common but dangerous health conditions: sleep apnea, which affects 22 million Americans but goes undiagnosed in some 80% of them, and atrial fibrillation, a tough-to-spot heart disorder that's on the rise in the US.

It's all part of a strategic move to transform its products from casual, single-purpose fitness bands to comprehensive devices that do everything from tracking your steps to detecting and even treating illnesses, Shelten Yuen, Fitbit's vice president of research and development, told Business Insider. In the process, the company will be working closely with the Food and Drug Administration and running a series of clinical trials.

"We're consumer-centric and health-centric at same time," Yuen said. "We're moving into a new direction where those lines will become blurred and, I think, Fitbit will play a huge role in giving individuals insight there, and healthcare providers too."

From fitness trackers to far-reaching health tools

One-use devices such as wristbands that exist just to help count steps have fallen by the wayside as all-in-one gadgets like smartphones and smartwatches have taken their place.

Fitbit's share price, in turn, has taken a tumble. When the company went public in 2015, it did so at a $4 billion valuation; now its market cap stands at just over $1 billion.

So Fitbit is looking at broadening out its product to have a more comprehensive role as a health tool. And the company is starting by focusing on populations other wearable-device makers may have overlooked.

In February, the company put $6 million behind a tiny San Francisco startup that's working on a needle-free way to track blood-glucose levels, a key metric that people with diabetes rely on to make decisions about what to eat and when. Around the same time, Fitbit announced a number of new partnerships with diabetes-device companies designed to help better integrate the devices into the Fitbit ecosystem.

In May, Fitbit became the first major wearables company to introduce period tracking. The feature includes an in-app dashboard that allows users to log their periods, record symptoms, and opt into getting push notifications two days before and on the day of their predicted period start date. Eventually, Fitbit wants to use the data it gathers from the initiative to help women take steps to address painful period-related symptoms such as cramps and fatigue, Yuen told Business Insider.

"To take something most women have in their pocket or purse and use that to help give key health information not only to themselves but also to medical providers, that is such a powerful, and still relatively untapped, resource," Katherine White, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University who advised Fitbit on its female-health tracking initiative, said.

Diagnosing heart conditions, sleep apnea, and more

Next, Fitbit plans to roll out a host of more advanced medical features geared at detecting widespread but often unaddressed health conditions.

First on Fitbit's radar are sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, two disorders that frequently go undetected but can have dramatic consequences without treatment.

While sleep apnea is characterized by breathing that repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, atrial fibrillation is an irregular, often quick heart rate that can cause poor circulation.

In 2017, Fitbit enrolled in a new precertification program with the FDA designed to help speed the approval process for new digital health products.

As part of that work, Fitbit is conducting clinical trials on both sleep apnea and A-fib, to see if their devices could one day replace existing tests for the conditions, which are often invasive and expensive. Right now, diagnosing sleep apnea requires physicians to collect information on everything from your heart rate and blood-oxygen level to your airflow and breathing patterns.

For some people, that can mean spending the night in a sleep lab and spending up to $5,000 a night; others may be able to do so using home sleep-apnea tests that cost between $350 and $500. By comparison, Fitbit's most expensive smartwatch costs $300.

As with its female-health-tracking initiative, the new apps would give Fitbit access to a trove of data — in many cases where little or none existed before.

That data could be used as it is now — with researchers who are studying cancer and heart conditions drawing from it for scientific studies — or it could be sold. For instance, genetics-testing company 23andMe has sold anonymized genetic data from millions of customers to drug companies.

Fitbit's data could be more attractive than that of its competitors because it's all stored one place, no matter what device the consumer is wearing.

"We know people like to change their devices," Yuen said. "Regardless of which device you use, Fitbit is able to maintain a big database of this, and we think that's exceptionally powerful over the long term."

If the company can pull from that mass of data and capitalize on conditions that other wearable-device makers aren't addressing, that could be enough to keep customers — and researchers — coming back for more.

"The market is very large for these kinds of tools, but right now they're all behind this regulatory fence, and so we hope there will be some exciting commercial opportunities in the near future," he added.

SEE ALSO: A little-known technology that Fitbit and Apple are exploring could be the answer to healthy eating and peak performance

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• Meghan Markle became an instant fashion icon after her engagement to Prince Harry. 
• Her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, has been hugely influential in shaping fashion over the past decade.
• The two have very different styles. As the royal wedding has now come and gone, we took a look at how they match up.

All eyes have been on Meghan Markle in the days before and after the royal wedding. 

Since news broke that Markle was dating Prince Harry, her profile skyrocketed, and she became an international fashion icon. It's a role that only one other woman in recent memory can directly identify with — her sister-in-law Kate Middleton. 

It's rare for the royals to speak their minds in public. That goes double for Middleton and Markle. As women in the spotlight, anything they do can spark backlash. As a result, fashion can provide a way for them to express themselves.

As Markle prepared to marry Harry, we found ourselves wondering how she would compare to Middleton when it comes to fashion. And, with the wedding in the rearview mirror, our fascination with figuring out how Markle will both compare and differentiate herself has only grown.

Here's how Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, measures up to Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge:

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Let's start with a Markle specialty: movie premieres. As an actress, she has plenty of experience dressing for the red carpet.

It's a pretty simple look — a little black dress with strappy heels. Cute, but nothing groundbreaking.

As a duchess, Middleton also attends plenty of premieres. Here she is in 2012, at the premiere of "War Horse."

• Parenthood is wildly different now than when I was a child.
• There are many things my parents let me do that I would never let my own kids do today — like spend a month in Europe on my own or light fireworks.
• Sure, wandering miles from home and staying home alone during middle school worked out for me and my brother in the 80s and 90s, but that was then.
• Here are five things my parents let me do that I would never let my kids do.

Maybe the times have changed, or maybe I'm just not as laid back in my approach to parenting as my folks were. There are a lot of things my parents let me do that I would never allow my own kids to do.

My wife and I will encourage our kids (currently a four-year-old and an infant) to be freethinking and eager to explore the world, but that doesn't mean they'll be free to roam without supervision like I often did.

Sure, wandering miles from home during grade school, playing with fireworks, and road trips at age 16 worked out for my brother and me back in the 80s and 90s, but that was then.

Here are things my parents let me do that I’ll never allow my kids to do.

SEE ALSO: 7 ways people raise their kids around the world that US parents could learn from

1. I spent a month in Europe at age 14 ... without my parents

When I was 14, my buddy and I headed off to Europe for a month without parents. We were enrolled in a Spanish-language course that provided housing, meals, a daily schedule, and a nightly curfew. But for about four hours each afternoon and for entire weekend days, we were free to roam the lovely Spanish city of Salamanca without the least bit of supervision.

Since we were very mature eighth-grade graduates, we got into some trouble. For instance, I once got a mouthful of red wine vinegar after making a mistaken purchase at a grocery store. We also got chased out of a restaurant after accidentally exploding a glass ashtray using a butane lighter. 

My kids aren't going on any overseas odysseys without me until they're at least a few years older than I was.

2. I drove alone starting the day I got my license

I got my driver's license the day I turned 16, and that very day I was allowed to hop into our blue Toyota Previa and head out on the road alone. Granted, I drove all of two miles that first afternoon, but within a matter of weeks I was cruising around with impunity, even driving myself to school despite the fact that sophomores weren't supposed to. (For the record, my parents didn't know about that particular school policy.)

My kids can start driving themselves around alone after first driving around with my wife or me in the car for a year.

3. I played with fire ... literally

In my younger years, fireworks were one of life’s greatest pleasures. We would even combine the contents of multiple cherry bombs, rockets, and roman candles into one horribly dangerous concoction.

Looking back from the vantage point of adulthood, it's a miracle that I have all ten fingers and zero burn scars. It's an absolute certainty that my kids aren't going to play around with fireworks of any kind — especially not without me there to play, too.