• "American Animals" looks at a thrilling heist that took place at Transylvania University in 2004.
• Director Bart Layton explains to Business Insider the unique way he used the real-life criminals in his movie to make it more real than most "based on a true story" movies.

When a movie starts with the text “based on a true story,” audiences are meant to believe that what they are about to see is mostly true. But the words “based on” can be very misleading.

Often the rights to a true-life story are based on an article or book. This leads to the real-life people behind the story, if they are still alive, often not being involved in the storytelling. And that can mean the filmmakers taking a lot of major artistic liberties to get the story compelling enough for it to be worthy of the big screen.

But with a background in documentary filmmaking, director Bart Layton (“The Imposter”) wanted to change that perception with his new movie “American Animals” (in theaters Friday). And right from the opening, it promises to be different.

The text at the start boldly changes from reading “This is not based on a true story” to “This is a true story.”

Finding the men behind the heist

“American Animals” looks at the audacious attempted heist of priceless books from Transylvania University’s special collections library in 2004 by childhood friends Warren Lipka and Spencer Reinhard. The movie follows the two, along with two other fellow students they enlisted, as they plan and follow through with the heist. Every second they think they are masterminds when in fact they are a bunch of bored suburban kids who get in over their heads.

This may all sound like your typical heist movie, but here's the kicker: Layton also filmed the real members of the heist as well, so along with actors cast to play them, the movie also gets the perspective of the men who did it. The heist members even have on-screen discussions with the actors playing them at certain moments.

Reinhard (played by Barry Keoghan), Lipka (Evan Peters), and the two other members — Chas Allen (Blake Jenner) and Eric Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson) — were all caught after the heist and went to prison for over seven years. It was during their stint in prison when Layton, who had come across their story in a magazine article while on a flight, began writing letters to the men.

“I wrote to each of them and asked why, what was the motivation?” Layton told Business Insider. “They sent back these surprising letters about doing it because they were searching for their identity and the realization that maybe they weren’t going to be interesting or special in life like how they were told they would be when they were brought up. For me it took it from a great story to an amazing story.”

For years, Layton had a correspondence with the men through letters while also feeding his interest in the subject by getting their case files and police reports of the heist through the Freedom of Information Act. And despite a “big Hollywood producer” having the life rights to the men, according to Layton, he began to work on a script for a movie that would depict how the heist went down.

A style of true story you've never seen before

Layton is no stranger to putting a unique spin on stories that are already ambitious in nature. His major breakout in the movie world was his award-winning 2012 documentary “The Imposter.” In it, he tells the story of a man who in 1997 convinced authorities on two continents that he was a boy who had gone missing three years earlier at the age of 13. He even convinced the boy’s family.

Layton didn't just film interviews with all the players involved — even the crafty admitted imposter, Frédéric Bourdin — but filmed Bourdin’s recollections through reenactments, blurring what was true and what was made up by Bourdin.

For “American Animals,” Layton wanted to go a step further. He believed having the real people placed into the narrative would heighten the truth.

“I wanted to experiment with this notion that there might be a new way in which to tell a true story,” Layton said. “A gripping roller coaster white knuckle heist movie but at the same time because of the inclusion of the real guys you have a connection to the truth and to the reality.”

While trading letters with the heist participants in prison, Layton was informed that the Hollywood producer declined to reacquire the rights after they lapsed, allowing Layton to nab them and go forward with his movie. When the heist members were through with their prison sentences, Layton asked them to be in the movie, though making it clear that they were not going to receive a major pay day for their involvement.

“It was nothing that would commensurate to life rights from Hollywood,” Layton said. “We paid them for their time. We didn’t want them to profit from this seeing they did something that’s not legal.”

Getting the victim to agree to be in the movie

“American Animals” concludes with how the heist went down, and though it's depicted with all its stranger-than-fiction qualities, it’s the added element Layton plugged in that really drives it home.

Layton was able to track down the librarian who was working the day the heist took place. Depicted by character actor Ann Dowd in the movie, at a point toward the end of the movie, the real Betty Jean Gooch comes on screen, dressed exactly how she is in the movie, and is interviewed about the experience. It’s a moment in the movie that stands out for Layton because it defines what he tried to do with the movie — building an added element of fact.

“I wanted her to get the last word,” Layton said, though he admitted she needed a lot of convincing to be in the movie.

Gooch, along with the four real-life heist members, were the few who saw the movie before it had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (it was co-acquired there by The Orchard and MoviePass Ventures).

“She’s the only person I would have gone back into the finished film and changed anything," Layton said. “But she actually loved the film and said after we showed it to her that she could actually begin to find a degree of forgiveness toward the guys after all this time.”

SEE ALSO: "Solo" is the latest "Star Wars" movie to bomb in China, and Disney has a big problem on its hands

Join the conversation about this story »

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• The Hershey Company owns the rights to manufacture Cadbury chocolate in the US.
• It banned imports of British-made Cadbury chocolate in 2015.
• British expats claim that Cadbury's chocolate in the US tastes nothing like its UK counterpart, but according to Hershey, there's barely any difference in the ingredients.
• We tried both to see if we could tell the difference.

The difference in taste between Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate on either side of the Atlantic has become one of the most contentious debates of our time. 

For chocolate enthusiasts from the UK, the American version tastes like chalk and cheese. For others (with muted taste buds, perhaps), there's no real difference. 

This debate is especially significant to a Brit brought up in a country where Cadbury chocolate abounds and now finds themselves living at the mercy of Hershey in America. That is not to say that all American chocolate is inferior to the UK's — it is not.

Unless we are talking about Cadbury's Dairy Milk, that is.

The mysterious history of these two bars dates back to 1988, when Hershey paid $300 million for the US operations of the British candymaker Cadbury. This included Mounds, Almond Joy, and York Peppermint Patties, as well as Cadbury products such as Dairy Milk and Carmello. At the time, Cadbury used this as a way to enter the US market, which was dominated by Mars and Hershey. 

Then, in 2015, Hershey took legal action to bar US imports of Cadbury products that had been manufactured in the UK. A Hershey representative told The New York Times at that time that the company had the rights to manufacture Cadbury chocolate in America using different recipes. 

The Cadbury Dairy Milk bar that you'll find in the US today tastes almost nothing like its British counterpart, and there are different explanations for this.

The New York Times reported in 2015 that the British version of Cadbury has a higher fat content, as its main ingredient is milk. In an American-made Cadbury bar, the first listed ingredient is sugar.

But, according to Hershey, this is an incorrect interpretation of the bars' ingredients.

The Cadbury bars' contents appear to be different on each side of the pond because of different labeling standards in the EU and the US.

A Hershey spokesperson told Business Insider: "Our Cadbury Milk bars [in the US] start with quality ingredients we get straight from the Cadbury plant in the British Isles. Our 'chocolate crumb' — the core mixture of chocolate, sugar and milk — are made at the Cadbury plant using the same amounts of milk, sugar and chocolate as the UK version. In fact, it's the same milk sourced by Cadbury from cows in Europe. We add cocoa butter and mold the milk chocolate into bars for sale in the United States."

The only differences are the fat content and the amount of cocoa used in each bar. The US Cadbury bars use only cocoa butter as the "fat," in order to meet FDA standards. In the UK, the company is also allowed to use vegetable oils such as palm and shea.

We put them to the test to see how different they tasted:

SEE ALSO: We compared grocery shopping at stores in the US and the UK — and it was shockingly clear which country does it better

Here are the two bars side by side.

The packaging is the first difference we notice.

The US packaging is significantly more glitzy.

No plans this weekend? Thankfully, there are plenty of movies available on Netflix, and you don't have to choose among its entire catalog anymore.

Every week, we go through Netflix's inventory and select amazing movies that you can watch over the weekend.

We pick some that have recently come onto the service and mix in a few old favorites as well.

From Pixar's Oscar-winning tear-jerker "Coco" to the silly but enjoyable action-adventure film "National Treasure" starring Nicolas Cage, these are some great movies on Netflix that you can watch over the weekend.

Here are seven movies you won't regret watching on Netflix:

SEE ALSO: All your favorite Netflix original shows that have been renewed for another season

"Coco" (2017)

Netflix description: On the Dia de los Muertos, young would-be musician Miguel crosses into the afterlife on a quest to meet his ancestor and understand his family legacy.

Critic score: 97%

Audience score: 94%

Before you watch this sweet and visually stunning Oscar winner from Pixar, make sure you have a lot of tissues, because it will make you cry a river.

"The Truman Show" (1998)

Netflix description: Truman Burbank is the star of "The Truman Show," a 24-hour-a-day TV phenomenon that broadcasts every aspect of his life without his knowledge.

Critic score: 94%

Audience score: 88%

This film, one of the smartest movies from the 1990s, quickly became a classic for its thought-provoking twist and Jim Carrey's exemplary performance. It's such a pop-culture touchstone that people still discuss it 20 years later.

"Other People" (2016)

Netflix description: After a bad breakup, a struggling New York comedy writer tries to don a brave face and care for his dying mother in Sacramento.

Critic score: 88%

Audience score: 79%

This dark comedy about death from the "Saturday Night Live" writer Chris Kelly doesn't exactly cover anything new, but it has a fresh take. It's a smart, funny, emotional movie, and it's some of the best work Molly Shannon has ever done.

• Kanye West released his eighth studio album, "Ye," on Friday.
• Early fan reactions to the album — and to its livestreamed listening party in Wyoming on Thursday night — were largely positive.
• The album is available to stream now on all major services. 

Kanye West dropped his eighth studio album on streaming services early Friday, hours after livestreaming a star-studded listening party for the project on a ranch in Wyoming.

The album, "Ye," is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. It clocks in at just over 23 minutes for seven songs. Kid Cudi, Ty Dolla $ign, and Nicki Minaj are among the handful of guest artists who appear on the LP.

The album's cover features a photo of a mountain range in Wyoming; Kim Kardashian West said in a tweet that her husband shot it "on his iPhone on the way to the album listening party." The words "I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome" appear in green, corresponding with West's frank lyrics on the album discussing his mental health.

Early fan reactions to the album on social media were largely positive, particularly amid the livestreamed unveiling.

The album's release follows a promotional cycle that saw West draw intense criticism for his vocal support of President Donald Trump and his calling slavery "a choice" in an appearance on "TMZ Live."

Nonetheless, the majority of social-media chatter about the music on the album — an eclectic mix of trap and electronic influences, gospel and soul, featuring a good deal of humor and some affecting lyrics about his relationships with his wife and his children — appeared to be positive as of Friday morning.

But several ostensibly former fans of West were not looking to downplay his latest controversies.

Listen to the album below:

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos on breaking up and regulating Amazon

• Airline passengers tend to notice factors that impact comfort — like seat size, the behavior of nearby passengers, and turbulence.
• Airline pilots are trained to be attentive to small details that slip by most passengers.
• Some of these details have serious safety implications.

For most of us, air travel is an opportunity to sleep, work, read, or watch a movie with fewer distractions than you'd find on the ground.

When we do notice our surroundings, we tend to focus on factors that impact our comfort — seat size, the behavior of nearby passengers, turbulence — but for airline pilots and aviation experts, the experience can be different. Pilots and experts are trained to be attentive to small details on planes, so even when they don't have to fly the plane and can sit in the main cabin, they'll notice things that other passengers don't.

We interviewed two airline pilots and collected responses from a Quora thread to find out what pilots notice when they're flying in the main cabin. Here's what they said.

SEE ALSO: Passengers reveal the most annoying things people commonly do on planes

Ice accumulating

Most passengers are likely to be concerned about turbulence, but according to Tanya Gatlin, a pilot and associate professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, it's not as bad as most think. "It's not something that's going to cause an accident or is even a factor to safety," she said in a phone interview with Business Insider.

Instead, Gatlin is worried about ice. When necessary, ice and snow are removed from a plane before it takes off, and the plane is coated in materials that will prevent ice from building up while it's in the air — for a limited amount of time.

The difficulty can come when the plane turns down its engine while preparing to land.

"We're coming down in a very short amount of distance and there's no way we can get down that fast without the power being at idle," she said.

This means the engines don't generate as much heat as when they're taking off, which increases the chance that ice will build up on the plane and make a smooth landing difficult.

Suspicious scents

Scents can be one of the strongest indicators that something's wrong on a plane, as they can quickly hint at problems with the engine or fuel-storage systems.

"Sounds are always useful, but a passenger cabin often is pretty isolated from any sounds that might be indicative of a problem.Smells, on the other hand, travel around quite freely, and some (e.g., fuel, hydraulic fluid, superheated bleed air) are pretty distinctive," Tom Farrier, a former director of safety for the Air Transport Association, wrote on Quora.

The angle that light comes in through the window

Experienced pilots know that a sudden change in the angle of the light that comes through a cabin window can be the first sign that the pilot is changing course.

"An unexpected, significant shift in the angle of the Sun can be your first sign that a course change is being made," Farrier wrote.

Kanye West debuted his eighth studio album, "Ye," at a star-studded album-listening party on Thursday night at a ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

West invited 150 people, according to Variety, one of the outlets that attended the listening party. The rapper reportedly flew several journalists and artists into Wyoming on private jets. Democratizing access to the event, West also livestreamed it on the free streaming app WAV with a multicamera broadcast.

The actor Jonah Hill, the comedian Chris Rock, and West's collaborators Nas, Kid Cudi, Pusha-T, and 2 Chainz were among the notable people in attendance. At midnight on Thursday, the party gathered around a bonfire on the picturesque Wyoming ranch to listen to West's eclectic, revealing, and humorous LP.

Rock introduced the album with a few brief jokes, crowd work, and commentary on West's role in the history of rap music.

"Rap music, hip-hop music, is the first art form created by free black men, and no black man has taken more advantage of his freedoms than Kanye West," Rock said.

Hill told Pitchfork at the listening party that West was "the one person who I have an unending childhood kind of fascination with."

"I still look at him like I'm a little kid and he's a superstar," Hill said. "When I decided to come here, I thought: It's like if someone got to hear [Michael Jackson's] 'Thriller' in the middle of Wyoming."

Here are photos and footage of some of the notable people who attended the "Ye" listening party:

SEE ALSO: Kanye West has a new album out and fans are loving it despite his latest controversies

Jonah Hill

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KimYe with @JonahHillpic.twitter.com/fxnpTA59Ft

Chris Rock, introducing the album

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Chris Rocks intro to #Ye in Wyoming ...classic 😂pic.twitter.com/q3zUEdy3xY

Nas with Hill and Rock

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Chris Rock Calls Kanye A "Free Black Man" At Ye' Album Listening Party In Wyoming https://t.co/SpgdwpSrhFpic.twitter.com/CrDj57n3u8

As the chief programming officer at iHeartRadio, Tom Poleman oversees the music programming for over 850 radio stations nationwide and for the company's music streaming service.

His corresponding wealth of industry knowledge and access to up-to-the-minute data on popular music trends  make Poleman an ideal candidate to wager a prediction on the trajectory of this summer's pop charts.

Poleman spoke to Business Insider last week and walked us through his process of predicting "the song of the summer."

Poleman said he works with his team to analyze the movements of streaming and radio charts. To get ahead of the game, he also speaks with artists and label managers about the new music they're set to release.

And through iHeartRadio's various listening platforms, Poleman said he can gather intensive data on fan reactions to fledgling hits, both on broadcast radio stations and in curated playlists on the company's streaming service.

"There's a symbiotic relationship between when we play a song and what all those data indicators say, so we can check that cause and effect pretty quickly and find out if something's going to connect," he said. 

Radio is still the main source of "mass awareness"

Poleman explained how, even in the age of streaming, broadcast radio remains the most dominant influence on the pop charts and the strongest predictor of a song's commercial success. He said that broadcast radio still accounts for around 86% of all music consumption, while digital listening and streaming account for just 14%. 

"If you look at music consumers overall, streaming is actually a relatively small portion of that universe," he said. "Streaming is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle, especially for record labels and artists, because it's a massive income source, but in radio, we have to think beyond just that small subset of consumers to the wider audience."

In ranking his "songs of the summer," then, Poleman said that he picked artists whom he had seen or could see generating "mass awareness" across multiple markets of broadcast radio. 

"The ones that can cross multiple genres are the ones that can obviously get mass awareness," he said. "An artist like Cardi B can cross multiple formats, as can Ariana Grande. And Post Malone — I mean, the guy's got hits at multiple genres right now."

Here are the top 11 candidates for the song of the summer, according to iHeartRadio's Tom Poleman:

SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling music artists of all time

11. Drake — "Nice For What/TBD" (Album drops in June)

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10. Shawn Mendes — "Nervous"

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9. Anne-Marie — "2002"

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• A hot new type of workout called high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, promises the benefits of a traditional workout in under 10 minutes.
• Though HIIT may sound like hype, a growing body of research suggests this may be one of the best ways to get fit.
• We recently tried one type of HIIT plan called the seven-minute workout and came away with some surprising results. 

When I first heard about a fitness routine that promises the heart-pumping benefits of a sweaty bike ride in seven minutes, I brushed it off as little more than hype.

I was wrong. Turns out it's entirely possible to get the benefits of a traditional hourlong workout in just a few minutes — so long as you're following a relatively recent new approach called high-intensity interval training, or HIIT.

As opposed to workouts that involve spending 45 minutes to an hour doing things like cycling or running and then another 20 or so minutes doing muscle-building activities like planks or sit-ups, HIIT compresses all of that effort into a narrow frame of seven to 15 minutes.

Several recent studies suggest this regimen confers health benefits that are at least equivalent if not superior to traditional exercise. The latest is in the June issue of the journal Certified, which is sponsored by the nonprofit American Council of Exercise.

In the study, exercise scientists who compared people who did a HIIT plan for six weeks against folks who did a traditional workout for the same period found that people in the interval-training group saw essentially the same improvements in heart health and muscle tone as the traditional exercisers — but most of those benefits cropped up sooner, in less than half the time.

How interval training works

During a typical interval-training session, you put your all into a series of short bursts of movement — typically moves like sit-ups, jumping jacks, or planks — and spend 30 to 45 seconds on each one. After each brief interval, you rest to catch your breath and then move on to the next exercise. At the end of the workout, your whole body should feel it.

Given the growing body of research supporting this approach, I recently gave one of the workouts a shot to get a sense of how it works — and I was surprised by how much I could sweat in such a short time frame. I felt tired afterward, and my muscles were sore the next day. Since then, I've incorporated a HIIT program into my weekly fitness regimen, and I love the way it makes me feel.

Other people appear to agree. For the latest study, researchers took a group of 48 men and women aged 21 to 59 and randomly assigned half of them to a HIIT training program and the other half to a traditional workout plan.

After six weeks, people doing the HIIT regimen saw greater or equal gains in several measures of heart health and muscle tone than the traditional exercisers. Those benefits also cropped up sooner in the folks on the HIIT plan — in some cases by as much as three weeks earlier.

That's a significant finding, especially considering how many people give up on a workout plan when they fail to see or feel any results.

Less may be more when it comes to fitness

Chris Jordan, an exercise scientist who created the HIIT workout I tried, called the Johnson & Johnson Official 7-Minute Workout, is convinced that less is more when it comes to fitness.

Interval training "can provide similar or greater benefits in less time than traditional longer, moderate-intensity workouts," he told Business Insider in April.

Jordan isn't the first exercise scientist to recognize this.

A handful of recent studies comparing traditional workouts with HIIT-style regimens have come to similar conclusions: The interval-training plans are either better than or equal to regular exercise.

Tabata training, one kind of HIIT workout named after the Japanese National Institute of Fitness and Sports researcher Izumi Tabata, is made up of several four-minute exercises. Tabata and his team became some of HIIT's pioneers after publishing a seminal 1996 study suggesting that short bursts of intense strength training could yield better results than a traditional workout.

In 2013, researchers published a review of studies in the International Journal of Cardiology looking at nearly 500 participants who did either regular exercise or interval training. While they found roughly equivalent benefits in terms of heart health for people who did both workouts, the interval trainers had better peak oxygen uptake, an important measure of endurance.

A year earlier, a study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine comparing a group of runners who did traditional, continuous runs with those who did interval training found that both groups achieved nearly the same results, but again, those in the HIIT group had superior peak oxygen uptake.

And a more recent study in the journal Diabetologia found that doing walking interval training — an hour of alternating between three minutes of brisk walking and three minutes of stopping — helped people with diabetes control their blood-sugar levels far better than simply walking at the same pace continuously.

Whatever your preferred workout, the most important thing is that you commit to doing it regularly.

"Plan ahead, schedule — the most important thing is to do it on a consistent basis," Jordan said.

SEE ALSO: I tried the science-backed 7-minute fitness routine and was blown away by how well it works

Join the conversation about this story »

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

• In the US, certain states provide a superior work environment that might appeal to job seekers.
• WalletHub ranked the states based on factors like the unemployment rate, average commute times, and monthly starting salaries.
• The state of Washington topped the list.

Finding a great job can be tough.

But it's definitely easier in some parts of the United States. According to a recent report from personal finance site WalletHub, certain states provide a far better environment for job seekers.

WalletHub assigned each US state a score based on numerous factors, including median annual income adjusted for the cost of living, share of employees living under the poverty line, and the unemployment and underemployment rates.

WalletHub also assigned each state an employment outlook score using Gallup's job creation index. The score is based on the amount workers say their place of employment is increasing or decreasing the size of its workforce, with the highest score of 42 indicating the best employment outlook.

To read more about the study's methodology, check out the full report here.

Here are the top 15 states for finding a job:

SEE ALSO: The 15 best states for finding a job in 2017

DON'T MISS: The 20 best US cities for finding a job in 2018

15. Nevada

Median annual income (adjusted for the cost of living): $50,711

Unemployment rate: 5.0%

Share of workers living under the poverty line: 7.10%

Employment outlook: 40

Nevada tops the list of all of the states in the United States when it comes to job security.

14. New Jersey

Median annual income (adjusted for the cost of living): $60,461

Unemployment rate: 4.6%

Share of workers living under the poverty line: 4.55%

Employment outlook: 27

New Jersey has many available internships and a low share of workers living under the poverty line.

13. South Dakota

Median annual income (adjusted for the cost of living): $52,340

Unemployment rate: 3.3%

Share of workers living under the poverty line: 7.16%

Employment outlook: 30

South Dakota's has a short average commute time of 16.9 minutes.

• Kanye West dropped his new album "Ye" on Friday.
• In it, he says he has bipolar disorder and calls the mental illness his "superpower."
• The controversial statement follows several months of recent controversy on Twitter in which the artist proclaimed his support for President Trump, opined that "love is infinite," and alleged that slavery was a choice.

Kanye West's new album "Ye" is shaping up to add fuel to the controversy the artist started on Twitter last month.

After taking to the social media platform to alternately proclaim his support for President Donald Trump, suggest that slaves had a choice, and wax philosophical with statements like "love is infinite," West dropped his new album "Ye" on Friday in which he says he has bipolar disorder, a serious mental illness that West calls his "superpower."

In album art from the new cover, West wrote, "I hate being Bi-Polar / it's awesome."

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness that’s estimated to affect close to 6 million Americans, or 2.8% of the US adult population, according to data from the National Institute of Mental Health.

In one of the most widely-known recent representations of the disorder in the media, the hit Showtime television series "Homeland" featured a main character with bipolar disorder, CIA agent Carrie Mathison, played by actress Claire Danes. As somewhat accurately portrayed in the show's first season, people with bipolar disorder experience sharp swings in mood that shift from mania — or an extremely high-energy phase in which they may feel agitated, jittery, and paranoid — to severe depression, in which they have little to no energy and a pervasively negative outlook on life. For most people, symptoms start to emerge around age 25.

Although it can seem extreme, many cases of bipolar disorder are treated successfully with a combination of talk therapy and medication.

What we know — and don't know — about bipolar disorder

Because of its wide range of symptoms, bipolar disorder can frequently go undiagnosed or be mixed up with other disorders like ADHD, schizophrenia, and depression.

That's a significant challenge not only for psychiatrists and medical professionals who seek to accurately diagnose the condition but also for people with the disorder who are looking for help. The risk of suicide among people with bipolar disorder is high — roughly 6% of people who have it attempt to take their own lives over a 20-year period, according to a recent study in the British Medical Journal. Other harmful behaviors like cutting are common in people with bipolar disorder as well, oc curing in an estimated one third of those who have it.

As with so many mental illnesses and neuropsychiatric disorders, scientists still aren't sure what causes bipolar disorder.

The brain is our most complex and enigmatic organ, and researchers are only just beginning to lift the curtain on what goes on inside of it. In most cases, researchers can only characterize mental illnesses by the external symptoms that people display; we still don't understand how — or even to what extent — specific brain regions or patterns of activity contribute to each individual condition.

It is believed that genetics play a strong role in the overall risk of developing bipolar disorder, but environmental factors may influence this risk as well. A handful of small recent studies are emerging, which have begun to highlight some clues about better ways to identify these causes and diagnose the condition sooner — a factor that is key to good treatment.

One study published in 2016 in the journal Psychological Medicine suggested that testing the blood of children as young as nine could help determine their risk of developing bipolar disorder later in life.

Another study published last week in the journal Schizophrenia Research found that although bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are often confused, we may one day be able to distinguish the conditions by means of specific biologic markers — such as those found in the blood of young people — and that machine learning and artificial intelligence could help us do this faster and with greater accuracy.

So although there's much to learn about mental illness as a whole, there are signs of progress on the horizon. In the meantime, artists like West are doing what they can to make the most out of their diagnosis.

In the new song "Yikes," West calls his "bipolar sh*t" his "superpower" and says, it "ain't no disability."

SEE ALSO: Experts say the new season of '13 Reasons Why' has a dangerous problem that the show fails to address

DON'T MISS: A depression drug that researchers have called 'the most important discovery in half a century' just got a big lift

Join the conversation about this story »

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• The Mahiki Treasure Chest is a tropical cocktail which has been enjoyed by Drake, Rihanna, and Beyonce. 
• A choice of either Prosecco, Moet and Chandon, or Dom Perignon is poured into the cocktail. 
• Prices start at £95 and can go all the way up to £420.

The Mahiki Treasure Chest is served at Mahiki clubs in London, which are favourite destinations for celebs. 

The likes of Drake, Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Rihanna have enjoyed the drink.

The drink includes Mahiki's Coconut Rum, apple juice, lemon juice and a choice of either Prosecco, Moet and Chandon or Dom Perignon. 

The key ingredient - Mahiki's Coconut Rum - is available in Tesco nationwide. 

Produced and Filmed by David Ibekwe. Additional camera by Claudia Romeo. Special thanks to Mahiki.

SEE ALSO: This is how craft beer is brewed at Beavertown — one of the UK's biggest craft breweries

Join the conversation about this story »

• McDonald's jobs can be pretty trying at times.
• And certain behaviors from customers are almost guaranteed to tick off McDonald's crew members.
• From slowing down the line to having overly-high expectations about the "secret menu," here are some things employees wish people would stop doing in McDonald's.

McDonald's jobs aren't always a walk in the park.

And sometimes the fast food chain's customers are to blame, according to crew members. Business Insider spoke with a number of current and former McDonald's crew members about their experiences at the store. They shared with us certain things that they said were sure to irritate McDonald's employees.

McDonald's employees have also taken to Reddit to share their thoughts on the annoying thing certain restaurant patrons do, from treating the store like a babysitting service to making vague, poorly-thought-out orders.

Here are the annoying behaviors McDonald's employees wish customers would drop:

SEE ALSO: Employees from Costco, Walmart, and Target share their worst horror stories — and they'll make you rethink how you act when you shop

DON'T MISS: 11 insider facts about McDonald's that employees know and most customers don't

SEE ALSO: McDonald's employees share the 14 strangest orders they've ever gotten

Expecting crew members to whip up orders that aren't on the menu

A former McDonald's crew member from Virginia told Business Insider that "there is no such thing as a secret menu."

So how is it possible that Business Insider's Joe Avella and Nathaniel Lee were able to score some "secret menu" items from the fast food giant?

Well, according to a 2015 Reddit post from a former McDonald's crew member, they just lucked out when it came to the on-duty manager and store location.

"There is no 'secret menu,' really," the ex-employee wrote. "What these are, are 'menu hacks,' combinations which aren't on the menu, but are possible with the ingredients found around... What matters is if the manager on-duty will actually let you do these things. It's a crapshoot. Sometimes you'll get lucky. Sometimes you won't."

While McDonald's is famed for the consistency of its food, every store is different when it comes to serving up more avant-garde orders.

"McDonald's is a franchise and is independently owned and operated by thousands of different companies and owners across the world," the former crew member from Virginia told Business Insider. "Yes, we get our food from the same place, and we are all more or less designed the same, but there are regional differences between us."

The ex-employee said they worked at a McDonald's in Lynchburg, Virginia, that was situated beside a busy highway. They said they often encountered customers from North Carolina and Georgia — even some from as far away as Wyoming.

The former crew member said these travelers would often "order things I'd never heard of before in my life."

"If it's not on the menu, we don't have or don't know how to make it," the ex-employee said. "I don't care if they do it in Pennsylvania, I can't give you something we don't serve."

So, if you're craving a Land, Sea, And Air Burger or a Big McChicken, you can head over to your local Golden Arches and try your luck. Just be prepared to pivot back to a standard Big Mac if your request gets denied.

Ordering complicated 'special requests' in general

Some people love to get creative with their McDonald's orders. But sometimes, special orders can be a little too out-of-the-box, according to crew members.

In a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread last year, a McDonald's employee said custom orders could be a pain to make, especially when the store is busy.

"We label it as 'special request,'" they wrote, so the employees filling the order "have to literally stop working just to come over and ask what the special request is."

They added that requesting "something fresh" could also count as a custom order, as well as requests that ketchup is squirted between burger patties or for a specific placement of the cheese in a sandwich.

The employee gave the examples of a sandwich that substitutes the bun for lettuce or getting just one pancake instead of the standard three.

"It gets weirdly specific," the employee wrote.

A McDonald's crew member from Georgia told Business Insider that, in some circumstances, customized orders can cause issues for employees, like when customers order "so much customized ice cream and McCafé orders in the drive-thru."

'Hacking' the system in order to get fresh fries

A number of McDonald's crew members took to Reddit to complain about people who order French fries with "no salt" for the sole purpose of guaranteeing that they're fresh.

The thinking is that, by ordering your fries without salt, you'll be ensuring that they're freshly made, as crew members will have to whip up a new batch without any salt.

But crew members have said that it makes their lives easier if you just ask to get fresh fries.

"No salt fries are a pain in the a--, and it would be so much easier if people just asked for them fresh," a crew member wrote in a 2017 Reddit post.

"Personally, I hate the people that order no salt fries and then ask for salt packets in their bag," a different crew member wrote in a 2017 Reddit post.

"They think we're too stupid to put in a basket for fresh fries if they order 'fresh fries,'" another crew member replied. "That's why they order it 'no salt.'"

• The best places to visit in July are already on savvy travelers' lists.
• Business Insider looked at airfare trends, climate data, and peak travel times to find the best places to visit in July 2018.
• The destinations include tropical getaways, natural wonders, and America's oldest Independence Day celebration.

July is peak travel season for Americans, and if you're a savvy traveler, you're already thinking about where you'll escape.

Choosing the right destination isn't always easy — the summer months bring unrelenting heat in some places, and the threat of monsoon season in others. On top of that, travelers must contend with the throngs of other people who picked the same place for their summer getaways.

We looked at airfare trends, climate data, and cultural calendars to select 13 vacation spots that are some of the best places to visit this July. They include spiritual temple sites in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the stunning Iguazu Falls in South America, and the charming town of Bristol, Rhode Island — the site of America's longest-running Fourth of July celebration.

Read on to find the 13 best places to visit in July.

SEE ALSO: The 13 best places to travel in June for every type of traveler

DON'T MISS: 13 places to visit in May for every type of traveler

Chicago, Illinois

July is the hottest month of the year in Chicago, so if cold weather turns you off, now's your chance to visit the Windy City.

Timeless tourist classics that are perfect for the warm weather include Millennium Park, Wrigley Field, and the shores of Lake Michigan, and you could spend hours and hours at renowned museums like the Chicago Institute of Art and the Field Museum.

Outdoor festivals abound in July, too, from the Irish American Heritage Festival to the Chinatown Summer Fair. And of course, it wouldn't be the Fourth of July without a robust lineup of fireworks displays at several points throughout the city.
 

Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon, is blessed with natural beauty — an "almost unfair abundance" of it, according to Lonely Planet— and summer is the perfect time to explore it.

Popular activities for visitors in July include bike tours through the scenic Willamette Valley wine region and hikes through the winding trails of Forest Park.

Beer lovers will appreciate the many, many breweries that call the City of Roses their home, and the area is well-established as a haven for local music, food, and art. 

Bristol, Rhode Island

Don't have plans for the Fourth of July? Take a trip to Bristol, Rhode Island, to witness America's longest-running Independence Day celebration.

The Fourth of July festivities in this small seaside town date back to 1785. And one month isn't enough to contain the party — it actually starts midway through June, and includes several nights of concerts, carnivals, dances, and other entertainment.

Apart from the patriotic celebration, there are plenty of other activities to do in Bristol, including boating, bicycling, and indulging in some delicious New England seafood.

• Silicon Valley's favorite diet is called intermittent fasting, and it involves abstaining from food for anywhere from 16 hours to several days.
• Although you can eat basically whatever you want on the diet, intermittent fasting has been linked with weight loss that's on par with traditional diets.
• Fasting may have health benefits that go beyond losing weight, however, according to a small new study: It could make for a healthier blood pressure and increased insulin sensitivity. 

Diets that sound too good to be true are often just that. But a plan called intermittent fasting that frees its followers from calorie counting and carb cutting is quickly gaining traction in Silicon Valley. Scientific research suggests its followers are onto something big.

Popularized by Bay Area health nuts who don't mind being guinea pigs for science, intermittent fasting (or simply "IF" among fans), involves limiting the time you eat to a specific time period each day. While most of us snack somewhat regularly from the time we wake up until the time we go to sleep, intermittent fasters only "feed" within a strictly defined window, often from morning to afternoon or afternoon to evening.

Silicon Valley loves it. One Bay Area group of enthusiasts called WeFast meets weekly to collectively break their fasts with a hearty morning meal. Facebook executive Dan Zigmond confines his eating to the narrow time slot of 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and many other CEOs and tech pioneers are sworn "IF" devotees.

Despite not requiring followers to count calories, ban carbs, or restrict their eating to celery and juice, intermittent fasting has been shown to be just as helpful for weight loss as traditional diets. And animal studies hint that the plan could have a range of other health benefits from curbing cancer risk to even prolonging life.

But there are problems with intermittent fasting, too. Besides leaning heavily on animal studies, the approach may have several benefits that only arise as an incidental result of the fact that it tends to lead to weight loss.

With that in mind, researchers have recently been trying to pin down whether some of those benefits could emerge even if intermittent fasters don't lose any weight.

And for the first time, a rigorous, but small study published last month has hinted at a positive answer. They discovered that people who tried the IF approach but were given enough calories to prevent them from losing weight still saw boons like reduced blood pressure. That's a promising sign for future studies of the plan.

"We found that there were benefits to this approach that were completely independent of losing weight," Courtney Peterson, the lead researcher on the study and an assistant professor of nutrition science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told Business Insider.

How intermittent fasting works

Intermittent fasters can eat whatever they want, within reason — there are no strict limits on carbs, fat, or anything else. In general, most intermittent fasters stick to their normal diet; all they change when they begin the eating plan are the hours in which they eat. Having temporarily tried the IF lifestyle myself, I can tell you it's not for everyone. That said, I also understand why some people love it. When I fasted, I found myself thinking about food less, working out more, and even unintentionally curbing my caffeine intake.

So far, the most well-researched benefit of intermittent fasting is weight loss. Krista Varady, a nutrition professor at the University of Illinois who wrote a book about IF called "The Every-Other-Day Diet" in 2013, published a study last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that obese participants who intermittently fasted lost roughly the same amount of weight as those on a traditional diet that involved strict eating and calorie counting.

But a handful of recent papers suggest that in animals, intermittent fasting is linked with other more vital boons like improvements in blood sugar control and some antiaging effects. With that in mind, some researchers have been hard at work trying to suss out whether those benefits might also apply to people. At the same time, they also want to know something even more important: whether those perks are just a result of weight loss, or if they might have something to do with intermittent fasting itself.

The first intermittent fasting study of its kind 

Nutrition studies are hard to design and even harder to carry out. In many cases, scientists must rely on self-reports from participants, who often vastly underestimate the amount of food they actually ate.

So for Peterson's recent study, she and her colleagues decided to take a far more intense approach: they supervised everything their participants consumed, and only allowed them to eat the food that was given to them.

These sorts of studies are called supervised controlled feeding trials, and because of the difficulty involved in designing and performing them, they're rarely done. But the sort of insight they provide into a specific diet or eating plan is unique and high-caliber.

"Aside from locking up people in a hospital room and not letting them leave that room for weeks, supervised controlled feeding trials are the most rigorous type of nutrition study," Peterson said.

The difficulty of this kinds of research also means that large pools of people often get whittled down to just five to 25 individuals. After receiving interest from nearly 400 people who wanted to participate in the study, Peterson and her colleagues ultimately ended up with just eight men.

Still, the paper is the first study of its kind, and it hints at some surprising potential perks of fasting.

Fasting appears to improve blood pressure and our body's response to sugar

Although Peterson's study was small, some of its results were surprisingly positive. After doing intermittent fasting for five weeks, all of the eight participants showed improvements in blood pressure and insulin sensitivity, the body's response to sugar. 

Notably, the participants in the study who had the worst sensitivity at its outset saw the biggest improvements, Peterson said. The blood pressure findings were also significant: many people showed drops of roughly 10-11 points, a difference that's roughly equal to the benefit someone might get from trying out a blood pressure reduction medication, according to a 2008 study published in the Cochrane Database.

"These were huge differences for a 5-week study," Peterson said. "I was very surprised by that."

To do the study, Peterson and her colleagues had eight men who showed early signs of diabetes restrict their eating window to just six hours. During this time, they ate only food provided by the researchers, and only while under supervision. Importantly, in order for the researchers to home in on the potential benefits of fasting that were not linked with weight loss, the study participants were not supposed to lose any weight. With that in mind, they were given just enough food to maintain their current weight. 

Over the course of nearly four months, the men dedicated several weeks to a specific eating schedule. The first 5 weeks involved eating for just 6 hours a day from 7am to 3pm; after that study period, they all took a 7 week break. Then for a control period, the participants spent the next 5 weeks eating normally.

Before and after the study period, researchers measured participants' insulin sensitivity, the body's ability to process sugar, as well as their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels.

A the end of the study, all of the participants saw improvements in insulin sensitivity and blood pressure. No improvements in cholesterol or blood glucose were observed, something Peterson thinks might be a sign that those perks are closely tied to weight loss. Some people also experienced negative side effects like headaches, drowsiness, and increased thirst.

Those takeaways point to key places to start other studies, Peterson said.

"Our data suggests that no matter where you are [in terms of when you're eating], as long as it's a restricted window, there’s a benefit."

DON'T MISS: Silicon Valley's favorite diet could help with weight loss and even life extension — but there's one big pitfall

SEE ALSO: I tried the popular Silicon Valley diet credited with boosting energy and prolonging life — and I can see why people are obsessed

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Schedule your day according to what will make you happy looking back — and not according to what feels good in the moment.
• That's according to Laura Vanderkam, a time-management expert and the author of "Off the Clock."
• Vanderkam says too many of us winding up scrolling through social media posts instead of doing something more meaningful, simply because we prioritize our present needs and wants.

There is a version of me who spends her free time reading books about physics, and does yoga before bed, and bakes banana bread on Sunday afternoons.

There is another version of me who decides that physics is hard, as are yoga and baking, and instead spends her free time browsing social media.

There's a scientific name for Version 1, and it's not "you've gotta be kidding me." Instead, it's the "anticipating self." Version 2, on the other hand, is the "experiencing self." And here's the kicker: With a shift in mindset, it's possible to replace Version 2 with the ever-virtuous Version 1.

That's according to Laura Vanderkam, a time-management expert and the author of "Off the Clock: How to Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done." Vanderkam argues that there are three selves to every individual: anticipating, experiencing, and remembering.

The key to managing your time well (i.e. actually reading those physics books) is to ask yourself: Did my anticipating self want to do this? If so, do it! Your remembering self will be glad to have done it — and remembering lasts a whole lot longer than experiencing.

Somewhat counterintuitively, you should strive to live for the memories you'll make

Vanderkam's anticipating/experiencing/remembering framework is an extension of an argument made by Nobel Prize-winning psychologist (and pioneering behavioral economist) Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman argues that everyone is made up of two selves: experiencing, who lives in the moment, and remembering, who lives in the past.

Vanderkam goes so far as to suggest that our remembering self is "the keeper of our identity." The problem, she writes, is that "the present — the moment occupied by the experiencing self — has a disproportionate effect on our actions, given its fleeting nature."

Sure, it feels good in the moment to scroll mindlessly through pretty pictures of friends' beach vacations. But when you look back, you'll remember that day as much the same as every other lazy day — in fact, you might not even remember it at all.

The goal, then, is not to live in the present, or like there's no tomorrow, as so many pop songs would have us do. It's to live for tomorrow, and for the years after that, when you'll turn back to your memories as an indicator of what your life was like: happy and fulfilling or unsatisfying and boring.

To be sure, this mindset shift takes some effort, specifically resisting the experiencing self's inertia. It might take a few tries before it kicks in, but at some point you'll realize that the anticipating self, in cahoots with your remembering self, does indeed have your best interests in mind.

SEE ALSO: 7 of the best productivity secrets I learned from the woman who wrote the book on not wasting time

Join the conversation about this story »

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• With 1.3 billion people and 56 ethnic groups, China has one of the most complex and diverse cuisines in the world.
• Dozens of different regional cuisines are drastically different from one another with different flavor profiles, ingredients, and cooking methods.
• On a recent six-week trip to China, I tried to eat as many different dishes in the country as possible, tasting everything from Peking Duck to Shaanxi fried squid.

I'm not ashamed to call myself a foodie. The term has become wildly overused, abused, and then derided in recent years, but I take it to mean someone who is genuinely interested in the world's multivarious cuisines.

Think less latest brunch spot for avocado toast — though there's nothing wrong with that — and more hole-in-the-wall family-run joint.

You can imagine, as I was planning a six-week trip to China to report on the tech industry and travel for Business Insider, the thing I was most excited for was the food.

Chinese food is considered to be one of the most complex and diverse cuisines in the world by chefs, food critics, and travelers. Americans, and the rest of the West, tend to think of China as one monolithic place, but the opposite is true. China is comprised of over 1.3 billion people, 23 provinces, 56 ethnic groups, and at least as many different cuisines. Libraries-worth of books have been written simply on China's food.

Each cuisine has different flavor profiles, hallmark ingredients, and cooking methods. Sweet and sour is a common taste in Shanghainese cuisine, while Szechuan food is known for its extensive use of the numbing peppercorn of the same name. Steaming is extremely popular in Cantonese cuisine, while a number of western and northern regions boil dishes in a "hot pot." As you can probably guess, none of those hot pots taste remotely similar.

The cuisine is so diverse and specific that it is not uncommon for a particular county or town to be famous for a single dish that is not made anywhere else in the country.

During my time in China, I tried to eat as widely as possible, eating the same dish twice only if absolutely necessary. Still, I found that I had barely scratched the surface.

Needless to say you, can forget about Americanized dishes like lo mein, General Tso's chicken, and egg rolls, because those items have only a tangential relationship to actual Chinese food.

Here is everything I ate in six weeks in China:

SEE ALSO: Alibaba's futuristic supermarket in China is way ahead of the US, with 30-minute deliveries and facial-recognition payment — and it shows where Amazon is likely to take Whole Foods

DON'T MISS: Photos reveal what it’s like to shop at Walmart in China — which is shockingly different from the US and struggling to compete

I flew into Hong Kong in southeastern China. Hong Kong is known for having a robust street food scene. I started with a beef skewer cooked in chili-garlic sauce. The vendor also sold more adventurous skewers like squid and pork intestines, but I was just getting warmed up.

Cantonese food (i.e. Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong province) is typically associated with siu mei, or rotisserie roast meats. This roast goose is marinated in soy-garlic sauce and served with peanuts. Its skin is crispy and the meat is juicy.

On the second day of my trip, I headed to Macau for the opening of the MGM Cotai, a swanky new casino-resort. At Five-Foot Road, I ate Szechuan cuisine, known for its spicy, garlicky flavors and the use of the numbing Szechuan peppercorn.

You can read all about my adventure at the MGM Cotai — which is trying to change the perception of Macau as a city for the super-rich — here »

• Billionaires' vacations don't exactly look like your everyday vacation.
• Amir Benesh, CEO of luxury home rental service LVH Global, provided a glimpse of what a 7-day, $1 million vacation for 14 people looks like in Mykonos, Greece.
• It involves a private jet, helicopter ride, and charter yacht, plus gourmet food and VIP treatment at clubs.
• It's equal parts luxurious and adventurous.

Billionaires know how to upgrade their bucket lists. 

To get a better idea of what the endless luxury afforded to a billionaire looks like, Business Insider spoke with Amir Benesh, CEO of LVH Global, a luxury home-rental service that rents mansions, villas, and yachts to the world's wealthiest travelers. From the most exclusive restaurants around the globe to access to VIP sporting activities, Benesh has received many over-the-top accommodation requests from clients.

Benesh gave Business Insider a glimpse into a $1 million vacation in Mykonos, Greece, that accommodates up to 14 people. Included? A private jet, yacht, and luxury ocean-view villa.

Scroll through below for a look at the sample itinerary of a seven-figure vacation in this Grecian paradise.

The costs included are approximate. They are based on a weeklong trip of seven nights and eight days for 14 guests during the month of July and reflect the typical spend for guests, according to Benesh. All club prices are based on the number of tables needed to accommodate a group of 14.

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: When you're a billionaire, spending $174,349 on an Airbnb-style vacation rental is no big deal — and these pictures prove it's probably worth it

Day 1: Travelers arrive in Mykonos via an Alerion Aviation private jet from New York City ($287,920, round trip). They can check into Villa Cheyenne, Villa Ariana, or Villa Sara, pictured below ($213,500 for seven nights).

Villa Sara features an ocean view, helipad, fitness center, eight bars, jacuzzi, and 12 Aegan cocooning areas. With extras, such as a villa staff, VIP concierge, security, villa DJ, food, alcohol, and staff tip, the cost of stay can increase to $345,016.

Day 2: Soak up some Mediterranean sun and food at the beach club Scorpios, which serves organic eats with seaside views ($146,400 for six tables).

• School is challenging to some students, but to others, it’s a breeze.
• Getting straight As in school is an impressive accomplishment that can lead to success later in life.
• Though getting straight As is up to the student, how parents raise their children can position them to succeed.
• Here’s how Scott and Frances Smith raise their 15-year-old son to get straight As in school.

Scott M. Smith and Frances Chiaretta-Smith have many reasons to be proud of their 15-year-old son. One of them is that he’s getting straight-As in high school. Business Insider spoke with Scott and Frances about they are raising their son to excel academically.

How did you and your wife raise your son to get good grades?

Frances: We try not to judge, and we understand that perfection is impossible. We were both good students, and he has an awareness around a “bar” that we had perhaps unknowingly set early on.

Scott: No idea, unfortunately. I try to respect him as an individual and give him everything he needs to succeed. Just last night we let him ride his bike to the library to study with his friends. 

Honestly, a lot of it is just luck. Our son is a motivated individual who wants to do well. He's not obsessed with being the best or anything, but he wants to be in the running. He's never really been a difficult child. I think the universe knows I wouldn't be able to handle that very well. 

What do you think you did best as a parent?

Frances: Open communication. He feared failure and we stressed that failure is a part of the process. A good foundation and understanding allows him to move fluidly through life.   

Scott: The best thing I think we've done as parents is have an open and honest relationship with him. We discuss almost everything, and we do our best to do it without unnecessary judgment or critique. I've always addressed him as an actual person, even when he was a toddler. I never talked down to him and tried to discourage others from doing so.

Do you communicate how his grades may affect his future options in life, happiness in the long term, or college/post-high school options?

Scott: Being a college dropout who now has to punch a clock, I do my best to advise him every day to avoid my mistakes and pitfalls. Unfortunately, when I was his age, my father was absent and my mother was sick most of the time, so I went through the second half of high school and early college floating around with no direction.

I wasted many, many years being unfocused and lost. I am adamant about being available to counsel him and offer advice and options for the future. I really want him to make a living doing something cool that he loves, not get stuck doing whatever comes along.

Right now he's leaning toward being a sound engineer, and we are encouraging him to pursue that. I really want him to be fulfilled and excited by his work when he becomes an adult. 

Art, music, extracurricular activities — do you participate in them with him?

Frances: Photography and music, and I used to love to write with him when he was younger.

Scott: He's really taken to the guitar in the last couple of years and gotten very good at it. I'm doing everything I can to encourage him, he practices every day. Sometimes I try to jam with him, but I'm really bad. We have played together a few times over the years, we have guitars, drums and a keyboard. It's probably more fun for me than it is him. 

Do you impose any limits on his use of electronic devices, smartphones, TV, or other technology?

Scott: I made him turn off the NBA playoffs one night while he was doing his homework, but other than that we pretty much let him do his thing.

He claims listening to music helps him concentrate while doing homework, but I try to make him focus when it comes to reading. I don't believe you can fully comprehend your reading while listening to music at the same time through headphones.

Otherwise, he uses technology at his own discretion. I think the phone usage is a little high, but I'm in the minority in my household as my wife looks at her phone just as much as he does.

Do you or your wife participate as class parents, chaperones, PTA members, sports coaches, etc.?

Frances: Scott coached for years and works at the school.

Scott: Yes, when able to. 

Do you create any activities with your son that incorporate things he may learn in school to help him with his studies?

Frances: Community involvement, volunteer activities, to help him be aware of his social and political environment.

Scott: I try to balance him by teaching him some basic skills they don't cover in school: Changing a tire, cooking an egg, mowing the lawn, how to shut off the water lines, unclog a toilet, etc.

Do you limit his socializing?

Frances: No — we believe it’s key to being well-rounded.

Scott: Absolutely not. He's got a good group of friends and a girlfriend from a different school. He's much more advanced socially than I ever was or ever will be. I spent most of my time alone, mostly by choice. Luckily he's not a misanthrope like I am. 

Do you encourage him to socialize with 'good' kids or discourage him from hanging out with 'bad' kids?

Frances: No. But I might mention he hates watching children misbehave and tells me when he doesn’t agree with parents who allow this in public — in church mainly.

Scott: He has a good sense of who he wants to spend time with, and we let him use his own judgment. 

Does your son like getting good grades? Is he intrinsically or naturally motivated?

Frances: He’s intrinsically motivated.

Scott: He takes it upon himself to do well. 

SEE ALSO: 6 games for kids that will make them smarter

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Roger Federer, renowned for his style, reflected on his biggest fashion faux pas in an interview with GQ.
• Federer said he made a glaring wardrobe malfunction over 10 years ago that was picked up by the British press.
• Apparently, the error still haunts him to this day. 

The Grand Slam tennis champion Roger Federer is renowned for his finesse and style on and off the court, but the 36-year-old is still haunted by a fashion faux pas he made over 10 years ago.

Federer is often seen on the red carpet wearing a tailored suit with a matching tie and manicured hair. He has welcomed comparisons to James Bond, said he would relish seeing Leonardo DiCaprio play him in a biopic, and claimed he would never ever dress like Rafa Nadal.

Federer has picked up 20 of the major titles in the sport and has the celebrity appeal to match — but in an interview with GQ published Wednesday, Federer acknowledged he had been guilty of making public howlers.

Federer recalled what he said was an "embarrassing" wardrobe malfunction at a Wimbledon ceremony that was picked up by the British media.

"Back in 2005 or 2006, I was so excited I won, I wanted to put on the whole outfit that we'd made together," he told GQ. "I went to receive the trophy, and as I walk down I'm a bit nervous, and as I put my hands in my pockets I realise that the pockets are going backwards.

"I was like: 'It's too late! I can't change them anymore!' I lifted the trophy, and the pants were on backwards. You could hardly see it, but I think one British media picked it up and were like: 'What's going on? He's got the zipper at the back.'"

The incident actually occurred in 2007 — and there's photo evidence:

Federer added: "That was quite embarrassing!"

Federer has not played competitive tennis since a second-round loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Miami Open in March. He decided to skip the clay season so he could be as fit and as fresh for Wimbledon, which starts in July.

Hopefully this time he'll wear his trousers the right way round.

SEE ALSO: Everything tennis icon Roger Federer eats and drinks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

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UP NEXT: Roger Federer does one thing differently to everybody else, according to Andre Agassi's former fitness coach

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• It's easy to get addicted to your smartphone.
• According to a recent study, notifications could also be messing with your brain chemistry.
• When a message or alert comes in, we have to divert our attention away from what we were doing. 
• This is called "switch cost," and it's a highly inefficient way of working.
• Smartphones aren't necessarily evil, but it might be a good idea to come up with a way to limit your use if you're constantly on edge.

Scientists are pretty confident smartphone use can be addictive. When your screen blinks, it's hard to not immediately check out who's contacting you, or which media organisation sent you some alarming news.

We are constantly inundated with such messages, so it's hard to imagine a life without them. But an ever increasing body of scientific evidence suggests it's doing us harm.

For instance, constant awareness of being notified may put us on high alert, and when we receive messages we actually ignite our fight or flight response. Your body releases stress hormones, so you are ready for action to run away from a predator or fight for your life, when in reality, all you do is pick up your phone.

According to a study, presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America last November, the interruptions from alerts to your smartphone could be altering your brain chemistry.

Your phone sitting there, constantly lighting up throughout the day creates this pattern in the brain scientists call "switch cost."

It essentially means when there is an interruption, such as a notification, we switch our attention away from the task, then have to return afterwards — which is costly in terms of brain power, as well as time.

"We think it interrupts our efficiency with our brains, by about 40%," Scott Bea, a psychologist at Cleveland Clinic told CBS. "Our nose is always getting off the grindstone, then we have to reorient ourselves."

The team recruited 19 young people, with a mean age of 15 and a half, who were diagnosed with a smartphone addiction, and also a control group containing people of the same age and gender. The addicted group were given nine weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy, modified from a treatment program for gaming addiction.

They were also asked questions about the severity of their addiction, and how it affected their daily routines, social life, productivity, sleep, and feelings.

"The higher the score, the more severe the addiction," said Hyung Suk Seo, a professor of neuroradiology at Korea University in Seoul, and lead author of the study.

Addicted teenagers also had significantly higher scores in depression, anxiety, insomnia, and impulsivity, he added.

Constantly waiting for the next notification can put you on edge, meaning when it comes, your body releases cortisol, causing you heart rate to jump. Being away from your phone can also cause some people to have feelings of panic, known as phone separation anxiety.

It's difficult to get away from your phone, but it can be done with a little patience. After a while your brain will stop trying to convince you you're missing out on something, and you'll be better able to get through the day without constantly checking if someone wants to know what's up.

Staring at a screen at all hours also messes with our biology and makes it harder for us to sleep as it inhibits the release of melatonin — the sleepy hormone. So reducing that time, especially in the evening, will probably help you drift off to sleep a lot easier.

All this being said, it's not that phone use is necessarily the root of all evil. In fact, one study found how too much screen time is problematic, but just less than an hour a day can be beneficial.

Nonetheless, most of us could probably do with putting our phones a way a little more often. If you find you get stressed out easily about who is or isn't texting you back, or you can't help but instantly check when a message comes in, you might want to try giving yourself periodic times during the day to look at your phone. And if that doesn't work, there's always Arianna Huffington's phone bed.

SEE ALSO: Deleting Facebook could be bad for you — here's why

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