How do you know if you're taking full advantage of your 20s, making all the right decisions in your personal and professional lives?

Well, you don't. Life is about taking chances and doing your best.

But those who've already been through this critical decade can certainly help point out the landmines. That's why we turned to threads on Quora and Reddit, where users weighed in with their biggest regrets from their 20s.

Here are a few things you might want to avoid:

1. Not exercising

Quora user Carl Logan regrets never working out in his 20s.

"If I [had] hit the gym I probably would've been a lot happier and would've had more success with the opposite sex," he writes.

Even beyond happiness and the ability to attract mates with your six-pack abs, regular exercise in your 20s can help prevent health issues down the line. One recent study found that your fitness level in your 20s may have a major impact on your risk of heart disease and death as you progress toward middle age.

2. Worrying about what other people think

"I wasted a lot of time worrying about what others think — I've learned it rarely matters," Logan says.

In fact, research suggests that people generally overestimate the amount of attention others pay them. It's called the spotlight effect, because people mistakenly believe that they are the center of attention in a room.

If you accept this idea in your 20s instead of later on, you'll have more time to act freely, without fearing that you look like an idiot.

3. Letting your parents' opinions determine your life choices

Riina Rinkineva says she regrets "not standing my ground against my parents for what I wanted for myself in my life and what I didn't want."

It's incredibly important to set some boundaries between you and your folks, so that you have space to figure out what you want personally and professionally.

At the same time, you shouldn't cut yourself off completely from parental support. As psychologist Jeffrey Arnett told Business Insider, parents "often have life experience and wisdom that you haven't acquired yet."

4. Racking up credit-card debt

Yash Mishra says he regrets getting a credit card and "charging like crazy" in his 20s.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, consider taking a tip from one Business Insider reporter and going on a cash-only diet, during which you stop using credit and debit cards completely.

5. Getting married too quickly

Before getting married, Diane O'Neil says, "I should have first found out who I was and what I was capable of achieving as an individual; I became someone's wife long before I found out what I wanted to do personally."

Obviously, everyone is different and, for some people, getting hitched before 30 is the perfect choice. In fact, some research suggests that people who marry in their mid to late 20s have happier marriages than those who marry later.

But if you feel like you need more time to explore — by traveling, trying out different careers, and learning what you want in a romantic relationship — you may not want to rush to the altar.

6. Not investing

One of Ramya Sridharan's biggest regrets from her 20s is that she didn't invest in the stock market. As she notes, the earlier you start investing, the higher the returns.

Sridharan is right — the earlier you invest, the more time your money has to accrue interest — it's a principle called "compound interest." That's why you should open a retirement account, such as a company-sponsored 401(k) or an individual retirement account (IRA), as soon as possible.

7. Not traveling the world

"The biggest regret I have about one decision I made in my 20s is not traveling enough when there were a lot of opportunities," writes Vishnu Prabhu.

Inspired to globe-trot but overwhelmed with all the potential places to visit? We've narrowed it down to 40 trips you should take before you turn 30 — from swimming with jellyfish in Palau to camping out in Nevada for Burning Man.

8. Not mustering the courage to ask someone out

Over on Reddit, stardust7 says, "I regret not being more direct when I liked someone. I had no confidence back then."

If you're not quite bold enough to approach the object of your affection in person, be slightly less bold and take these tips from comedian Aziz Ansari on how to text them. Hint: "heyyy" probably won't work.

9. Forgetting to floss

"I have cavities now because I didn't floss daily," says Eurycerus. "Kills me that I could've prevented it. Now I floss daily."

But it's not just cavities that result from letting plaque build up between your teeth. Medical experts say that not flossing can cause periodontal disease — when the gums recede and create a gap between the gum and the tooth that can become infected.

Periodontal disease is linked to other issues as well, including heart disease, HPV infection, mouth cancers, diabetes, and kidney failure.

10. Never living alone

"I always had a roommate or lived with my fiancé/wife," writes an anonymous Redditor. "I strongly believe I missed out on discovering some level of self sufficiency. ... It's not the [worst] thing in the world, but I feel like it could have contributed to my growth."

Living alone is getting more common. As of 2013, as many as 23% of Americans were doing it, partly thanks to the decline in marriage rates. But there's still a relative paucity of advice for singletons.

Kate Bolick, author of "Spinster," tells Business Insider that, if you're living alone, it's important to accept that you'll be lonely at times and there's nothing shameful about it. You'll also want to place special importance on your friendships, which can have a big impact on your health and happiness.

SEE ALSO: 11 things you'll regret doing in your 30s

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NOW WATCH: Tony Robbins has an unusual morning ritual that keeps him at the top of his game

If you've seen a candid engagement shot come up in your Facebook newsfeed, a single question probably springs to mind: Who took it?

The answer might be the bride-to-be's sister ... or it might be a paid photographer lurking in the proverbial (or literal) bushes, playing paparazzi to capture the moment.

In Pacific Standard, Rick Paulas examines the trend of engagement photography, writing the "super-niche industry" has been around for years, but recently exploded thanks to — you guessed it — social media.

And here's the thing about hiring a professional photographer to capture your proposal: It isn't cheap.

Of one photographer's services, Paulas writes:

The standard Proposal Photography Package ($495) comes with a pre-consultation about the logistics of where everyone needs to be, and one hour on the day-of "to capture the build up, the proposal moment, and take portraits and ring shots after you pop the question." There are bumps in cost if you want to make your friends jealous with a proposal in front of the Times Square big screen ($1,550) or on a San Francisco Cable Car ($1,360). Those aren't cheap prices, even when you're dealing with the money-to-burn, nothing's-good-enough mindset of today's wedding market.

The company, Paparazzi Proposals, captured nearly 700 of these moments in 2015.

The $1,000-plus packages on on the higher end, but on the whole, those prices aren't an anomaly.

In its 2016 Wedding Report, Thumbtack, a site that connects consumers with skilled professionals — like engagement photographers — found that nearly half of couples plan to spend $250-$500 on engagement photography. The Knot, the go-to place for all things wedding, says you can expect to pay "a few hundred" for a session in a photographer's studio, and for the trendier, candid (or "candid") location shoots, you should plan to pay "several times that much." 

Some photographers include engagement shots in their wedding photography packages, which again, don't run cheap. The Thumbtack report found 40% of couples plan to spend over $1,000 on pictures of their big day, and if you filter to include photographers who include engagement shots, the wedding photography search tool on the Knot includes packages that reach nearly $5,000. 

Take note that neither of these sites explicitly say your $1,000 photographer is willing to hide in the bushes — in these cases, it might be more of a post-engagement session than an of-the-moment snap. If you do want someone kneeling in the rhododendron, though, rest assured: You can hire someone to do it.

SEE ALSO: 7 thoughtful Valentine's Day gifts under $50

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No. 11: Hinge (22/100)

Hinge's innovation was that it only matched you with your extended social network — friends of friends. The app presents you with around a dozen matches a day for you to swipe yes/no on.

Download Hinge (iOS, Android)

No. 10: Grindr (28.5/100)

Grindr's mission was to help gay guys meet up, quickly, wherever they were. It quickly became a smash hit, and recently sold a majority stake to a Chinese gaming company.

Download Grindr (iOS, Android)

No. 9: Zoosk (30/100)

Zoosk recently had to lay off a third of its staff after being crushed in the market by apps like Tinder. It has features like photo verification, which lets you confirm that your photos are actually you.

Download Zoosk (iOS, Android)

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has been trying to build an exact replica of the Titanic for a long time. After construction was pushed back, Palmer's plans for Titanic II have finally reached fruition. The ship plans its maiden voyage in 2018, with increased safety precautions this time around.

Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Stephen Parkhurst

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One ostrich egg weighs more than three pounds, and the equivalent of about two-dozen chicken eggs. They're enormous, and cooking them can be tricky. Laura at RollingDiaries showed us how it's done.

Story by Jacob Shamsian and editing by Kristen Griffin.

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There might be more science behind the concept of "Netflix and Chill" than you would think. In a survey of 1,008 U.S. Netflix subscribers, 58% of them considered watching Netflix a way to bond with their partner.

And forget the "big step" of giving them the key to your apartment, 51% of those polled considered sharing a Netflix account to be a sign of a serious relationship. 17% think it'd be more appropriate to save that for after the engagement.

Netflix kindly consolidated those and other findings into the single infographic featured below. Whether or not these stats match up to your love life it might be worth taking some time to spice up your queue.

SEE ALSO: 16 Netflix hacks that will take your binge-watching to the next level

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NOW WATCH: The ‘Be Like Bill’ Facebook memes driving everyone crazy have a darker side no one is talking about

When was the last time you were caught choosing a decadent dessert over a healthy snack despite previously promising yourself to eat healthier?

Chances are you're not alone. And some new research reveals what's going on in the brain when you opt for the cake instead of the fruit platter.

When people see a thing that reminds them of something that was rewarding in the past — like a slice of chocolate cake — the part of their brains linked with pleasure may be flooded with the brain chemical dopamine, even if they're not paying attention to it, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

The findings could explain why it's so hard to stick to a diet.

Even when you've decided not to eat junk food anymore, your brain is still rewarding you for past bad behavior, Brian Anderson, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University and one of the study's authors, told Business Insider.

"When you have a difficult time getting your mind off something that was rewarding in the past but you don't want to do anymore, you can't help but pay attention," he said.

The brain remembers past rewards

Previousresearch has shown that when we have a rewarding experience such as eating a piece of cake or having sex, our brains are flooded with the brain chemical dopamine. But the reason we continue to experience these rewards even when we're not consciously seeking out the thing that causes them has been a mystery.

To find out, Anderson and his colleagues recruited 20 people for a brain-scanning study. They had to perform two tasks while having their brains scanned in a PET machine, which measures brain activity using a radioactive chemical injected into their blood.

In the first task, the volunteers had to find colored shapes on a screen. They were paid $1.50 for finding red objects and $0.25 for finding green ones.

In the second task, the participants had to do the same thing, except they were no longer paid for finding shapes of a particular color.

Here's the surprising part: Even when they were no longer being paid for finding the shapes, the participants automatically focused on red objects when they appeared, and the brain scans revealed a release in dopamine in a region at the base of the brain called the ventral striatum, which is known to be involved in experiencing rewarding things.

They were also slower to find shapes of other colors, perhaps because they were distracted by the red ones, the researchers theorized.

What the findings showed was that a previously rewarding experience (finding red shapes) was still linked with the brain's release of feel-good chemicals, even when the person no longer expected a reward from the behavior.

While the experiments involved a fairly abstract paradigm with shapes on a computer screen, we may be able to extrapolate the findings to real-world scenarios, such as trying to stick to a diet, Anderson said. When you see a donut, for example, your brain may already start releasing dopamine because of your previous experience of a delicious donut, even though you may not even be thinking about eating one.

Of course, self-control "is a complicated process, and many things contribute to your inability to overcome a desire to do [something] that's not good for you," he said.

How to resist temptation

So given this knowledge of how our brains work, what can we do to resist temptation?

Anderson suggests two strategies:

1. Avoid situations in which you know you're going to encounter the temptation, such as going to a donut shop.
2. Reward yourself for doing things you want to keep doing, like letting yourself watch your favorite TV show after going to the gym.

But when it comes to self-control, not all of us are created equal. And the strength of the reward signal in your brain can predict how much you struggle to avoid paying attention to it, Anderson said.

In a small previous study of people with drug addiction, he has found that addicts may be more strongly affected by temptations of any kind, not just drugs. When he and his colleagues gave 17 opioid addicts and 17 healthy people the same color-finding task as the one in the new study, the addicts were much slower than the healthy volunteers to recognize the colors that weren't rewarded with money. The addicts also scored higher on a test designed to measure their impulsivity.

These findings suggest that addiction may be part of a much broader problem in how the brain makes decisions, which is something the researchers plan to look into in the future.

NEXT UP: Here's the real reason so many diets don't work

SEE ALSO: Here's what's going on in your brain when you can't spell a word

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As luxe toiletries and complimentary services become more and more common in hotels, some are taking their amenity offerings to the next level.

While some of these amenities come with a price tag, others are completely free of charge.

We reached out to hotels around the world to find some of the most unbelievable and luxurious amenities guests can enjoy.

From free Fender guitars to getting a personal wake-up call from a country star, here are 28 of the craziest amenities you can enjoy during your next stay.

SEE ALSO: 17 things you should definitely ask for the next time you check in to a hotel

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THE LODGE AT SEA ISLAND: TIE BUTLER

Forgot to pack a tie? That's not a problem if you're staying at The Lodge at Sea Island in Georgia, where a Tie Butler can bring you curated selections of Peter Miller ties, as well as tips for tying both classic and exotic knots. Guests can also purchase a tie for $115. 

WILD DUNES RESORT: BEST MAN FOR HIRE

Taking a cue from Kevin Hart in "The Wedding Ringer," the Wild Dunes Resort in South Carolina offers its Best Man For Hire program, where guys can literally hire a best man for their big day.

In exchange for his hard work being the ultimate wingman, the best man charges $150 for one hour, $650 for half a day, $1,000 for a full day, and $2,000 for a full weekend.

HARD ROCK HOTELS: FENDER GUITARS

The Sound of Your Stay program, which is available at any of Hard Rock Hotels' 23 hotels and 11 casinos, includes free rentals of a Fender guitar with a Mustang look Amplifier and Blue Mo-Fi headphones so you can rock out.

You can also get exclusively curated playlists and Native Instrument mixing systems sent to your room.

Bubble gum starts out with gum base, then flavorings and sweeteners are added. When it's all mixed up, it looks like a giant pink monster. The way it's streamlined into small pieces of wrapped gum is surprisingly elaborate.

Story by Jacob Shamsian and editing by Kristen Griffin.

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While we will always recommend shaving your head if you're losing your hair, we'd be remiss if we did not outline some other options.

Some patterns of male hair loss can be covered in different ways, depending on where you're losing it and how far it's progressed.

We've teamed up these methods with some of their most famous practitioners.

The Jason Statham buzz cut

Statham has stopped short of shaving his entire head with a close-cropped buzz cut all over. This is a hyper-masculine style he carries with aplomb. It's less severe than an all-over shave, and is a less drastic change to your lifestyle. Since Statham still has some hair on top, he can pull it off.

Getting it done is pretty simple: It's just clippers all over, set to a low setting.

The Jude Law one-inch

According to a dermatologist quoted by Esquire, the hair above your temples is the first to fall out for most men. This provides an interesting dilemma for men whose hairline doesn't recede evenly, providing a sharp point inches long.

Jude Law has cleverly gotten around this problem with a one-inch all-around haircut, which is tapered on the sides. This will give you enough hair on top of your head, without looking like you're trying to hide things or cover anything up.

The Roger Sterling part

Roger Sterling, the "Mad Men" character played by real-life balding guy John Slattery, suffers from the same problem Jude Law does, but his peninsula is less severe.

This enables him to leave his hair a bit longer than Law, according to Art of Manliness, and it looks great parted to the side. The sides are still kept short, however.

The Prince William layers

Prince William exhibits a different pattern of hair loss, with a thinning top but little front hairline loss.

For this, the prince can get away with cutting his hair into layers that lay on top of each other, creating the illusion he has more hair than he really does.

To get this from a barber, ask him to cut it in uneven layers, which you can tousle when you style it, hiding the thinning hair.

A word of warning, however: this won't work forever, and you'll eventually need to shave.

The Last Resort

If all else fails, just shave it all off. 

Don't worry: this isn't as drastic as it sounds. Getting used to your newly bald head should be a breeze. 

SEE ALSO: Here's how you should dress when you're losing your hair

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With Valentine's Day fast approaching, Facebook has revealed the top 10 most popular New York City restaurants to dine at for the special occasion.

The data is based on check-ins from last year and includes everything from posh eateries like TAO to low-key spots that serve irresistible food, like Katz's Delicatessen. 

Here are the top 10 most popular New York restaurants with Facebook users: 

1. 230 Fifth

2. Hard Rock Cafe New York

3. TAO Downtown

4. TAO

5. Katz's Delicatessen

6. Jekyll & Hyde Club

7. Churrascaria Plataforma

8. Junior's Restaurant & Cheesecake

9. Serendipity 3

10. Smith & Wollensky New York City

These restaurants were a hit with the crowds last year, which means you may encounter a wait if you're still finalizing your Valentine's Day plans. 

SEE ALSO: 11 gifts guys actually want for Valentine's Day

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NOW WATCH: The hottest restaurant in the world has a 27,000-person waiting list and is only open for 70 days

Norwood Thomas was stationed in London during World War II. He dated Joyce Durrant for a few months while serving. In 1944, he was called to fight at Normandy, cutting their romance short. 70 years later, they found each other online. Here's what happened when they met in person.

Story by Jacob Shamsian, editing by Adam Banicki.

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In a city filled with pizza joints, Artichoke Pizza has become a standout since opening in the East Village in 2008.

Owners and first cousins, Francis Garcia and Sal Basille, tell INSIDER the secret to their success: "Blood, sweat, and tears. It's delicious, people don't come here to eat the wallpaper, they don't come for the service, they come here because the pizza is undeniably delicious."

And the creamy artichoke pizza doesn't hurt, either.

Story by Aly Weisman, editing by Stephen Parkhurst.

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*You may think that Valentine's Day — the day you send your significant other flowers and chocolates — is Sunday, February 14.

And you'd be dead wrong.

"The impact is made when you send flowers to their work ... it's a status symbol," says Tom Sebenius, cofounder of The Arrangement Floral Design, a boutique company specializing in weddings and social events in New York City.

That means you have one day to get them sent to the right place. That's it.

Normally this time crunch would mean an emergency pop into your local Walgreens to grab some carnations and a box of whatever-chocolates so you can just barely skate through the holiday on your good looks and charm.

To that, we at Business Insider say simply, do better.

All is not lost. You can still order flowers for your special anyone that will make them think that you appreciate their attention (which is allegedly what the holiday is about).

So what do you do now that it's down to the wire?

"Get on the phone, right now, don't use the internet to order your flowers," said Sebenius. Right now you want to talk to a human — a local human — who will know where you're sending your flowers. You're going to get better service that way.

How do you choose which florist to dial? Keep two things in mind. First, now is not the time to be looking for deals. Florists are business people, too, and right now they're dealing with markups from wholesalers. If you try to find yourself a deal, you're going to get lost.

Besides, says Sebenius, "If you're paying $25 for a dozen roses, it's going to look like $25 for a dozen roses."

What you should look for is a delivery minimum in the $50-$70 range. That will ensure that whoever you're buying them from is buying the good stuff.

"I always suggest orchids, evoke tropical thoughts, have a sexuality about them," said Sebenius.

Keep your card simple. "Love" and your name. Don't embarrass yourself trying to write a poem or something.

Good luck and Godspeed.

*We know February 14 is actual Valentine's Day people. But this is about the goods, not the date.

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The ingredients for ice cream cones look a lot like the ingredients for waffles and pancakes. But the way they're made is much, much more elaborate — and mesmerizing.

Story by Jacob Shamsian and editing by Carl Mueller.

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If you're enjoying a life of wedded bliss, congratulations on beating some impressive odds.

In the US, people are getting hitched less often than they once did, and young Americans are putting off marriage more than ever before.

In 1962, half of 21-year-olds and 90% of 30-year-olds had been married at least once. In 2014, only 8% of 21-year-olds and 55% of 30-year-olds had been married.

According to Bloomberg, married Americans are now the minority.

Relationship experts believe that American marriages are more challenging today than ever before because we expect so much more out of marriage, and when higher expectations aren't met, it can suffocate a marriage to the point of destroying it.

As a result, we tend to see more extreme manifestations of struggling and healthy marriages.

While we know that marriages come in all shapes and sizes — some are short-lived, while others are enduring; some are really happy, and some aren't — how does marriage ultimately impact the many facets of your success?

Well, there's no simple answer. But these studies will begin to unpack the question a little and help us better understand the many factors at play.

SEE ALSO: 9 scientific ways having a child influences your success

Marrying your best friend makes you really, really happy.

A recent study on marital satisfaction released by the National Bureau of Economic Research and previously reported on by Business Insider suggests that the happiest people are those who are married to their best friends.

Controlling for pre-marital happiness, the study concluded that, overall, marriage leads to increased well-being.

But while couples who saw their best friend as someone outside of the relationship were happier than single people, the study found that those who consider their spouse or partner to be their best friend get about twice as much life satisfaction from marriage as other married people. 

The authors concluded that partners can provide each other with a unique kind of social support and help each other overcome some of life's biggest challenges, and people with the most difficult lives — for example, middle-aged people, who often experience a dip in personal well-being — can benefit the most.

Married people are less social.

Your network of relationships, among other things, can help you find jobs and make you happier happier, healthier, and more open to insights. 

Unfortunately for married people, research suggests that, compared to Americans who have always been single, they are less likely to support and stay in touch with their family and less likely to help, encourage, and socialize with friends and neighbors.

Married people get some monetary bonuses.

According to two Atlantic writers who crunched some numbers, married women can pay as much as $1 million less than their single counterparts over a lifetime.

The writers looked at the tax penalties and bonuses, as well as living costs like health spending and housing costs.

According to the Tax Policy Center, a married couple suffers a "marriage penalty" if they pay more income tax as a married couple than they would have as two single individuals. A couple receives a "marriage bonus" if they pay less income tax as a married couple than they would have as two single individuals.

When couples combine their incomes, especially when they have similar incomes, this can push them into a higher tax bracket, which would result in a higher tax rate.

In addition to the tax break you receive from filing jointly, couples are more likely to receive a marriage bonus when spouses earn different amounts.

There are a lot of factors affecting marriage penalties and bonuses, but generally, according to the US Department of the Treasury Office of Tax Analysis, more married couples under the age of 65 filing joint tax returns on average see bonuses than penalties.

According to the BLS data the Atlantic writers looked at, couples also spent on average 6.9% of their annual income on their health, while single men spent only 3.9% and single women spent 7.9%.  

And when it came to housing, couples spent on average 23.9% of their annual income, compared to single men who spent 30.3% and single women who spend 39.8%. 

By combining resources and splitting costs, married people have the edge on all kinds of day-to-day expenses in addition to rent or mortgage: one cable bill, one utilities bill, and shared groceries can all lead to big savings.

You could call them the most eligible bachelors in the world. 

Five of the wealthiest men on earth are still unmarried, according to Wealth-X, a company that conducts research on the super-wealthy. With Valentine's Day in mind, they provided us with a list of the richest bachelor in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. These five tycoons are worth a combined $90 billion, and none of them are currently married.

From American tech moguls to the richest person in Saudi Arabia, here are the wealthiest bachelors around the world.

SEE ALSO: The 50 richest people on earth

NOW READ: 7 extremely wealthy people who choose to live frugally

20s: Evan Spiegel

Net worth: $2.1 billion

Age: 25

Country: US

While still a student at Stanford in 2011, Evan Spiegel helped found Snapchat, the messaging app that lets users send disappearing photos to friends, with his classmates-slash-fraternity brothers Reggie Brown and Bobby Murphy. The app took off, making Spiegel a bona fide billionaire by age 23. Today, he continues to run the $16 billion company as CEO.

He hasn’t tied the knot yet, but it’s no secret that Spiegel’s been dating supermodel Miranda Kerr. The pair are often photographed out in Los Angeles, and Kerr is all smiles talking about him. "He's just a really kind person and very genuine and very authentic and I really appreciate that about him,” she told E!.

30s: Lukas T. Walton

Net worth: $10.6 billion

Age: 30

Country: US

An heir to the Walmart fortune, Lukas T. Walton is the grandson of the superstore’s founder Sam Walton. The young Walton is worth nearly $11 billion, but the extent of his wealth only recently came to light, when news broke in November that he had inherited twice as much as his mother, Christy, after his father John died in a plane crash in 2005.

Walton’s always stayed out of the public eye and continues to keep a low profile — little is known about the secretive heir, and he’s rarely, if ever, photographed. As a child, Walton was diagnosed with cancer, but survived. He went on to earn a degree in environmentally sustainable business from Colorado College and is now a partner at Cuna del Mar, a private equity firm that invests in aquaculture.

40s: Sergey Brin

Net worth: $35.8 billion

Age: 42

Country: US

As a Stanford PhD student in 1998, Sergey Brin partnered with classmate Larry Page to create BackRub, an early search engine. The project eventually morphed into Google — now called Alphabet — one of the largest and farthest-reaching companies in the world, worth a whopping $475 billion. While Page handles the more administrative side of running Alphabet, Brin focuses on developing the company’s next big innovation, exploring “moonshot” projects and ideas.

Brin’s personal life has gone less smoothly, however. In 2013, he separated with wife Anne Wojcicki, founder of 23andMe, and shortly after that she learned Brin was having an affair with Amanda Rosenberg, a Google employee who worked on Google Glass. The two divorced in May 2015 after eight years of marriage. Brin and Rosenberg are no longer together, either.  

Architects continue to push boundaries with their designs.

ArchDaily recently announced the winners of its annual Building of the Year Awards, determining 14 of the top buildings in categories that ranged from offices to religious structures.

Over 3,000 projects were submitted, with the winners including buildings that are incredibly beautiful, creative or that provide valuable service to their community. 

From a store that was turned into a skateboarder's paradise to innovative structures in less developed parts of the world, here are 14 architectural gems from around the globe. 

SEE ALSO: These are the most extravagant hotel amenities money can buy

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Cultural Architecture — Harbin Opera House, China

Architects: MAD Architects

Religious Architecture — Ribbon Chapel, Japan

Architects: NAP Architects

Interior Architecture — House of Vans London, United Kingdom

Architects: Tim Greatrex

Professional ballerina Misty Copeland, 33, made history last year when she became the first African American woman to be named principal dancer with the legendary American Ballet Theatre.

This week she's making headlines with a recent Harper's Bazaar photo shoot she did that recreated images from the famous paintings and sculptures of French artist Edgar Degas. 

Copeland told the magazine she had difficulty freezing in these certain pre-determined poses because, like all dancers, she's a bit of a control freak. "It was interesting to be on a shoot and to not have the freedom to just create like I normally do with my body," she told the magazine.

Her frame may be petite, but her stage presence is huge and has ignited opportunities that extend far beyond international magazines. She served as a judge on "So You think You Can Dance"; wrote a memoir and a children's book; was part of the Under Armour "I Will What I Want" campaign; was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME last year; and was the subject of the documentary "A Ballerina's Tale," which debuted at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. 

The dancer describes herself as an "unlikely ballerina" (it's the subtitle of her 2014 memoir), and it's true: whatever your ballet stereotypes, it's likely Copeland doesn't fit them. Here's how she went from "pretty much homeless" to dance superstar. 

Rachel Sugar contributed to a previous version of this article. 

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Misty Copeland was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1982. When she was 2, her parents divorced, and her mom, Sylvia, moved Copeland and her three older siblings to start over in Bellflower, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The next time she saw her biological father, she would be 22 and a dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

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Copeland spent her childhood "dancing to Mariah Carey videos, rewatching a movie about the gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and being very prepared for school, where she was a hall monitor and the class treasurer," wrote Rivka Galchen in a 2014 New Yorker profile.

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But she didn't take any formal gymnastics or dance classes until she was 13 — insanely late for a female ballet dancer. These kids below are auditioning for the super prestigious School of American Ballet. They're between 6 and 10.

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With Valentine's Day right around the corner, many couples may be asking themselves the question: How will I know if this one's going to last?

While there's no exact formula, we sat down with the CEO of the dating website eHarmony, Neil Clark Warren, and asked him what he thinks are the most important factors in successful relationships.

Before founding eHarmony, Warren spent nearly 40 years as a psychologist specializing in marriage counseling. In his experience, whether couples stay together or split apart depends on whether they have what he calls "broad-based compatibility."

eHarmony determines whether couples have this based on 29 aspects of personality, such as character, sociability, and intellect. 

According to Warren, these are the top five things successful couples share:

1. Both partners are emotionally healthy

One of the most important things for a strong relationship, Warren said, is that both partners are mentally healthy, and do not have disorders such as bipolar disorder or severe depression. In a 2014 study of the spouses of 60 patients with depression and 65 patients with bipolar disorder, members of both groups reported high levels of burden. Spouses of bipolar patients reported much lower satisfaction with their sex lives, too.

2. And have what he calls "healthy characters"

In addition to emotional health, it's also vital that both partners have healthy characters — and honesty is especially important, Warren said.

A 2015 study of 3,459 Korean adults that included 542 pairs of identical twins and 122 pairs of fraternal twins surveyed people about their temperament and character. They found that spouses reported character traits that were more similar to each other than to those of their children, parents, or siblings — and the similarity increased the longer they had been married.

3. They have similar levels of intelligence

According to Warren, the most compatible couples tend to be within one standard deviation of each on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, one of the most commonly used tests of human intellect. If one partner is significantly smarter than the other, it tends not to work, he said.

It also turns out that in general, women are attracted to intelligent men. Psychologist Geoffrey Miller argues in "The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature" that the human brain, much like a peacock's tail, has evolved through generations of sexual selection in which women chose to have children with brainier men. But when it comes to men, research suggests they like the idea of dating a smarter woman, but don't necessarily want to in practice.

4. They share a sense of humor

It may seem intuitive, but having a sense of humor is incredibly important in a relationship. Humor acts as a
"social lubricant" that keeps a couple's interactions running smoothly, Warren told Business Insider.

Studies support this, but they make an important distinction between "wit" (spontaneous jokes that are genuinely funny and require intelligence) and preplanned jokes and one-liners (which aren't very funny or intelligent).

5. They are kind to each other

This was the number-one thing that couples report as being important for a relationship, Warren said. And there's research to back this up: A 2015 study of more than 2,000 couples in five cultures found that kindness, in addition to sex, finances, division of labor, and raising children, was a key factor in whether a marriage was successful.

Of course, many other factors contribute to a healthy, lasting relationship. But it's probably safe to say that compatibility on these five are a good starting point.

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