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Here's how to win limited edition Adidas sneakers made out of recycled ocean plastic

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adidasparleyfibers

In April, Adidas and advocacy group Parley for the Oceans teamed up to create a 3-D printed sneaker prototype made out of plastic and illegal deep-sea nets found in the ocean. Adidas turned these materials into technical yarn fibers that can be used in its sneakers and clothing products.

Now, the two companies have released 50 pairs of the shoes, which use the material in the upper part of the sneaker. The product was unveiled on June 7, a day before World Oceans Day.

The limited number of shoes cannot be bought and are instead being given to winners of a contest for Parley's A.I.R. initiative to end ocean pollution.

To be entered to win a pair of sneakers from the collaboration, make a video pledging your commitment to keep the oceans clean, upload it to Instagram, and tag Adidas and Parley in the caption with #ParleyAIR. The contest runs until July 31.

According to Adidas, the company will incorporate Parley's own brand of ocean plastic into one of its popular footwear lines later this year. They also said the current shoe release is "the first in a series of products that adidas is now able to produce using Parley Ocean Plastic."

Here are what the Adidas x Parley shoes look like:

SEE ALSO: 29 logos designed with a clever twist that's hidden in plain sight







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Here's what magic mushrooms do to your body and brain

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psychedelia

There's evidence that tripping on magic mushrooms could actually free the mind.

Several small studies have linked the psychoactive ingredient in shrooms (which are illegal) with several purported health benefits, including the potential to help relieve anxiety and depression.

But, as with any drug, shrooms also come with risks. And because they're classified as Schedule 1— meaning they have "no accepted medical use" — it's been pretty tough for scientists to tease out exactly what they can and can't do.

Here are a few of the ways we know shrooms can affect your brain and body:

SEE ALSO: What marijuana does to your body and brain

DON'T MISS: Scientists think this seemingly unlikely drug might one day be used to help tackle depression

Shrooms can make you feel good.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, magic mushrooms can lead to feelings of relaxation that are similar to the effects of low doses of marijuana.

Like other hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD or peyote, shrooms are thought to produce most of their effects by acting on neural highways in the brain that use the neurotransmitter serotonin, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. More specifically, magic mushrooms affect the brain's prefrontal cortex, part of the brain that regulates abstract thinking, thought analysis, and plays a key role in mood and perception. 

 



They can also make you hallucinate.

Many users describe things like seeing sounds or hearing colors. A 2014 study was one of the first to attribute this effect to the way psilocybin affects communication across brain networks.

In people injected with 2 milligrams of the drug, researchers saw new, stronger activity across several regions of the brain that normally rarely or never engage in such "cross-talk." To visualize what they were seeing in the people given the drug (as opposed to those given a placebo), the researchers created the representation above.



These hallucinations may be key to understanding how shrooms could help ease depression.

Imperial College London neuroscientist David Nutt, who authored a 2012 study on psilocybin, also found changes in the brain activity patterns of people on the drug. While some areas became more pronounced, others were muted — including in a region of the brain thought to play a role in maintaining our sense of self.

In depressed people, Nutt believes, the connections between brain circuits in this sense-of-self region are too strong. "People who get into depressive thinking, their brains are overconnected," Nutt told Psychology Today. But loosening those connections and creating new ones, the thinking goes, could provide intense relief.



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9 daily questions that could improve your life forever

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thinking

Benjamin Franklin began and ended each day with a question: "What good shall I do this day?" in the morning, and "What good have I done this day?" in the evening.

In fact, many great thinkers embraced the idea of constantly questioning things.

As Albert Einstein reportedly said, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."

Of course, getting into the habit of self-reflection is easier said than done, as we often prefer to avoid asking ourselves the tough questions. As philosopher and psychologist John Dewey explained in his 1910 book, "How We Think," reflective thinking involves overcoming our predisposition to accept things at face value and the willingness to endure mental unrest.

But enduring this discomfort is well worth the effort, as it can result in the confidence boost necessary to perform better in our work and daily lives.

To help kickstart your habit of self-reflection, here are nine daily questions you can start asking today:

SEE ALSO: Doing these 14 uncomfortable things could change your life forever

DON'T MISS: 15 daily habits that are easy to practice and can significantly improve your life

'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'

In 2005, about a year after he received his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs told Stanford's graduating class that, for 33 years, he would look in the mirror every morning and ask himself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

If the answer was "No" for too many days in a row, he says he know he needed to change something.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important," Jobs explained. "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."



'How do I see myself?

"This questions gets at your likely unspoken beliefs about who you are," writes Wanleo.com founder and CEO Deena Varshavskaya on Quora.

She says that changing how you see yourself in various situations can also change your actions and, ultimately, who you are.

"An example: if you see yourself as an unproven entrepreneur, the focus of your actions will be to prepare for later when you are more proven. By changing this to start looking at yourself simply as a hard working and capable entrepreneur, you can change what actions you take, who you chose to speak to, and so on," she writes 



'What is my biggest strength?'

VaynerMedia CEO and cofounder Gary Vaynerchuk writes on Quora that asking this question is the key to loving your job.

As he explains, so many people have jobs they hate because they haven't found their true passion yet. "They are good at a few things, so that's what they do here and there, but they aren't sure what that one big thing they want to do forever could be," he says.

"Stop doing stuff you hate. Nail down your strengths so you can discover your passion," he advises.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Why Apple's global flagship store features Burning Man-inspired art (AAPL)

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Laura Kimpton

On nice days, Apple plans to open the 25-foot high doors at the back of its new "global flagship" store in San Francisco, letting customers bask in a sunny public plaza while they get their iPhones and Macs fixed. 

In the center of that plaza is a sculpture called "Love," by San Francisco-based artist Laura Kimpton. You can't miss it from Apple's new "Genius Grove," which is replacing the traditional Genius Bar. The 10-foot high rainbow letters really stick out. 

To any "burners" visiting the store the sculpture might look familiar — because Kimpton's been making large word art at the annual Burning Man festival in Black Rock, Nevada, for years. 

"Apple and Hyatt are having conversations with me, so these very large organizations are no longer scared of Burning Man. It's an art festival," Kimpton told Business Insider. 

Here's the story of how a piece of San Francisco outsider art found a place at Apple's most important store in years.

Born on the playa

Love sculpture

Kimpton first went to Burning Man, the multi-day desert festival known for its mix of artists, nudists and partiers, in 2002 and it blew her mind. 

The next year she returned to create large scale art. "It had like fourteen things on fire, a projected flame of methanol and propane and a crew of sixty people," Kimpton said. "But after three years of doing that, I just thought I needed to come up with a simpler concept."

She settled on big words. First, she made a 10-foot high sculpture that said "MOM." 

"I thought that people at Burning Man would be mad at me that I reminded them of their mom. Instead it was the complete opposite. People were like 'oh I'm so happy I saw MOM, I just decided to cut it back a little bit and not party so hard,'" Kimpton said. 

The next year she decided to make a giant "LOVE" sculpture — and although she thought it was a little "too obvious," the rest of the Burners loved it. " And now every time Burning Man is represented in a magazine they use the word 'love,'" Kimpton said.  

Since then, she's done several commissions for large words sculptures — but the new rainbow-colored Love at Union Square is arguably the most high-profile yet. 

"Big words are everywhere now, it's so funny and I've been doing it for ten years. I've never seen it in a gallery situation, but big words are in every place on TV," Kimpton said. 

Enter Apple 

Love Sculpture

As the Apple press release about the Union Square store notes, Hyatt Hotels originally commissioned the piece. 

Apple says that a key part of of its new "global flagship" concept is that it integrates public spaces into the store. And the courtyard between the store and the Hyatt next door was perfect. 

Before Apple got involved, Hyatt came to Kimpton and wanted to commission some art from native San Francisco artists. "We were talking about an idea and we're like 'wow, what if we did a rainbow Love' in San Francisco," Kimpton said. 

"We chose rainbow because San Francisco is the city of love, and acceptance of loving whomever you want to," Kimpton said.

Apple got involved in January — just months before the store officially opened this past May. Kimpton was thrilled, partially because she uses Apple products to help create her art. 

"Apple believes that the courtyard is where you're going to be able to meet with the geniuses in outdoor areas so you're not stressed," Kimpton explained. "So for Apple to accept art from Hyatt was a little conflicted in the beginning, but they also thought it was really good for them too, and they also thought it was beautiful, so it ended up being a wonderful conversation."

Birds

Apple ended up paying a rush fee so that the 10-foot high sculpture would be done and installed by opening day. 

Even from inside the Apple Store, the Love sculpture is hard to miss. There's a hedge around it so discourage people from climbing on the sculpture, but looking on Facebook and Instagram, people are already climbing over all of it — just like people did on the "playa," or the desert where Burning Man takes place. 

You might be able to take the art out of Burning Man, but you can't extricate the Burning Man from the art. 

"I've got to tell you, I knew people would go crazy over words, but I never knew they would go this crazy," Kimpton said. 

Love sculpture

SEE ALSO: Apple Stores are getting their biggest makeover in 15 years

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NOW WATCH: This smart earpiece translates languages as they are spoken

Here's what one startup discovered from a study on women and alcohol

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Party drunk binge drinking shots

Your mobile phone can do so much these days. It can help you order a car, get your food delivered, and arrange for your laundry to get done.

But a growing number of women are using it for another purpose: helping them get pregnant, avoid pregnancy, and get general sex advice.

Glow, a startup created by PayPal mafia member Max Levchin, offers such apps.

Every now and then, Glow polls the more than 4 million women who use its apps about sexual topics. It also looks at the anonymized data collected by its apps to discover insights into women's sex lives.

Glow just studied how alcohol influences sex and confirmed that there's a definite correlation between how much a woman drinks and the kind of sexual behavior she might regret.

SEE ALSO: How to find out everything Google knows about you

A woman's interest in drinking ebbs and flows, just like her interest in sex. The most common day of the week for drinking is Saturday.

Source: Glow data



The least common day of the week for drinking is Tuesday.

Source: Glow data



The most common month of the year for drinking is July.



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This Japanese spa has unconventional hot springs filled with green tea, wine, coffee, and more

9 scientific ways being a dad affects your success

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Stephen Curry Riley Curry Golden State Warriors Victory Parade And Rally

Fatherhood isn't a one-size-fits-all cap you simply slip on once you have a child.

Working dads wear many hats when they become a parent, and for each father, how and when you wear these hats differs.

Some fathers split the child-rearing responsibilities with their partner down the middle, while others focus more on breadwinning and others still become primary caregivers at home.

At the end of the day, active fatherhood will inevitably affect your success, though how is a slightly more complicated issue.

Hopefully these studies will begin to unpack the question of how being a dad impacts your success a little and help us better understand the many factors at play:

SEE ALSO: The science behind why paid parental leave is good for everyone

DON'T MISS: Science says parents of successful kids have these 13 things in common

Being a dad could make you more hirable

A study out of Cornell found that, while employers tend to discriminate against mothers, fatherhood actually provides a boost in opinion from employers.

As part of the study, researchers sent employers fake, almost identical résumés with one major difference: some résumés indicated that the job applicant was part of a parent-teacher association.

Male job candidates whose résumés mentioned the parent-teacher association were called back more often than men whose résumés didn't, while women who alluded to parenthood in this way were half as likely to get called back than women who didn't.

The study participants also rated fathers as more desirable job candidates than mothers and non-fathers and deemed them more competent and committed than mothers or men without kids. At the same time, applicants who were fathers were allowed to be late to work significantly more times than mothers or non-fathers.



Having a child can help you earn more money if you're a father

"For most men the fact of fatherhood results in a wage bonus," research group Third Way's president Jonathan Cowan and resident scholar Dr. Elaine C. Kamarck write about "The Fatherhood Bonus and The Motherhood Penalty: Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Pay." 

In the academic paper, author Michelle J. Budig, a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, writes that, "While the gender pay gap has been decreasing, the pay gap related to parenthood is increasing."

In her 15 years of research on the topic, Budig found that, on average, men earn 6% more when they have and live with a child, while women earn 4% less for every child they have.

This jives with the Cornell study finding that employers are willing to offer fathers the greatest salary compared to non-fathers, mothers, and non-mothers. 



Dads are no less productive than their childless counterparts

Contrary to the popular belief that parents, who often have more responsibilities than childless workers, are more likely to be distracted at work, research suggests that fathers are not significantly less productive than their childless counterparts. In fact, some fathers' productivity may benefit from parenthood.

After analyzing the amount of research published by more than 10,000 academic economists, researchers commissioned by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that, over the course of a 30-year career, fathers of at least two children are slightly more productive than fathers of one child and childless men. Fathers become 52% more productive after the birth of twins.

 



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Here's how a computer knows if you're heading for a breakup

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Most of the time, you get a gut feeling right before the demise of a relationship.

But sometimes breakups come out of the blue, or at least faster than expected.

taylor swift blank space video

There's no sure way to ever know if your relationship will last, but researchers at USC have created a computer algorithm that can analyze certain aspects of what a couple says and does and determine the healthiness of a relationshipShrikanth Narayanan, one of the lead researchers on the project, has also determined other factors he's found that can hint at whether or not a relationship is doomed to fail using different computer algorithms.

Here's what he found:

SEE ALSO: Facebook is going to completely 'reinvent' its inbox

Couples whose movements aren't in synch may be falling out of synch.

If you and your significant other have similar movements when you're together, then that's a sign of a healthy relationship.

"A more positive interaction will show increased coordination (also often called behavior synchrony or entrainment) and vice versa," Narayanan, a USC professor of computer science, linguistics, and psychology, told Tech Insider.

"So a friendly interaction would show more coordination than one with conflict," he said.



How you and your partner move your heads while talking can speak to your relationship's health.

"How people move their heads together tells us something about the richness of their interactions," Narayanan said in an interview with Tech Insider.

A study Narayanan was a coauthor of found that "the more animated the couple, the more likely they are to exhibit similar motion events."

The study looked at how wives and husbands moved their heads when one was discussing an issue in therapy.

The researchers assigned four codes that measured the emotional component of the relationship: acceptance, blame, positive, and negative. It found that similar head movements between couples were correlated with healthier relationship codes, like positive and acceptance.



Couples in positive relationships tend to speak similarly.

Turns out that there's some merit to the idea that people who jibe well together tend to speak similarly.

Couples exhibiting positive interactions tend to speak with the same intonation and rhythm, according to another USC study.

"When applied to married couple interactions, it was shown that interactions rated by experts to be more positive had greater similarity than ones rated to be negative," Narayanan, an author on the study, said.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

These are the shorts to avoid if you don’t want to look like everyone else this summer

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salmon shorts

It comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that preppy style infiltrates summer wardrobes.

No matter how you dress the rest of the year, it always seems to bend toward seaside nautical.

Case in point: The extremely common salmon-colored shorts that are reminiscent of the East Coast classic Nantucket Reds. They're not the Reds though, merely pretenders to the throne.

And that would be fine, but there's a problem: salmon-colored shorts literally everywhere. On every street in every store and restaurant, it's hard to escape the sight of them, almost always paired with a navy T-shirt for the most basic casual men's outfit of the summer.

This isn't a new problem: Blogs have been railing against it for years. But it never seems to go away, even though the look has only gotten more tired.

It's not that salmon shorts are a bad choice — though some would indeed argue that, that's not what we're saying here. Instead, we definitely think they're absolutely fine to wear — they're just not interesting and they certainly aren't going to set you apart.

So what can you do instead? Well, don't go toward jorts or cargo shorts— that's the wrong direction.

Instead, just wear literally any other color. Blue, gray, navy, white, olive — the world of short colors is yours, so you should explore a little. You could even wear different fabrics, like linen or oxford shorts. 

There are a whole lot of different colors and types of shorts out there. Don't stick to salmon.

SEE ALSO: 17 clothing essentials every guy needs for summer

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NOW WATCH: 5 Reasons You Should Rock Shorts In The Office

This eye massager claims to relieve the strain caused by intensive screen use

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The Aurai is a project funded on Kickstarter to relieve eye strain caused by screen use. The mask circulates water in a pouch contained within the goggles. It uses a special chip to heat and cool the mask and even has a soothing vibration function. The Aurai sold for $150 during its Kickstarter campaign

Produced by Peter Chung. Video courtesy of Reuters.


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SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg just made a big investment in a startup that pays young people in Africa to learn code

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One common habit could have a lasting impact on your child's health

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modern family parents

If you've ever wondered what to say to a child whose eating habits could use a bit of improvement, consider this:

Commenting on a child's weight probably isn't going to help. If anything, some recent research highlighted on Thursday by the New York Times suggests it tends to make things worse.

For their study, researchers asked 501 young women between the ages of 20 and 35 questions about their body image. They also asked them to remember how frequently their parents made comments about their weight. 

The women who said they remembered their parents' comments were more likely to say they also felt they needed to lose a significant amount of weight — regardless of how much they actually weighed.

The finding is striking in part because it isn't so much about how frequently a parent made comments about weight or even about how critical or harsh their comments were. What mattered the most was whether or not the young women remembered that their parents had many such comments at all. An occasional comment, made by a mother at a particularly vulnerable time in a child's life, for example, appeared to be no less significant than daily disparaging remarks from a father. 

"A parent's comment about their daughter's food intake and weight, however well-intended, may have longterm repercussions," the authors of the study write.

woman eating at beach

Women, food, and body image

As with any study, this one has its limitations. For starters, the researchers only looked at women. This was in part, the researchers write, because other studies suggest that women still play the role of "nutrition gatekeeper" in most American households. (Research also shows that overall, women are exposed to more media-driven messages about thinness and body weight than men.) The paper also only included women whose families had lived in the US for more than two generations.

But its findings about negative comments from family members seem to square with other studies.

girl eating hot dog ketchup food

For example, a nine-year-long, 2014 study of thousands of 10-year-old girls published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that close to 60% of the participants had already been told they were "too fat" by age 10. Nine years later, those girls were more likely to be obese than those who had not been labeled "too fat," regardless of how much they actually weighed at age 10. When the remarks came from family members, they appeared to have stronger effects than when they came from outsiders.

More than just what you say

And while the current study looked at parents' comments about body weight, research suggests that other factors — from what parents eat to how they talk about food — may play an equally strong role in how young people feel about their bodies. 

Findings from a 2012 study, for example, suggested that parents' own eating and fitness behaviors can strongly influence those of their children. Similarly, a 2003 study found that the children of parents who ate more fruits and vegetables — and had them in the home — tended to also eat more of these foods.

UP NEXT: We're on the cusp of an explosive change in how we treat one of America's most ignored health problems

SEE ALSO: We asked a dietitian what anyone who wants to start eating healthier should do — here are his 3 best tips

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The simplest way to get — and stay — happy, according to psychologists

How to use math to find the ideal spouse

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Some people believe that when you find the right person you just know. The rest of us could use a little help figuring out how to choose the right spouse.

You can actually optimize your chances of marrying the best person using the solution to the famous Secretary Problem. This problem has many applications (including how to choose the best secretary), but this one is the most fun.

Produced by Sara Silverstein and Sam Rega

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The 10 US cities with the largest share of upper-class residents

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georgetown washington dc 2

The American middle class is shrinking, and consequently, the lower- and upper-income tiers are gaining share.

In a May 2016 report, the Pew Research Center found that between 2000 and 2014, the share of upper-income adults increased in 172 of the 229 US metro areas it analyzed.

The report also highlighted the 10 areas with the largest upper-income populations, which were mostly in the northeast region or on the California coast.

"Midland, Texas, the exception to this rule, leads the metropolitan ranking of upper-income areas," Pew reported. "Some 37% of the adult population in Midland was upper income in 2014, thanks to a prospering oil economy."

Pew defined upper-income households as those with an income that is more than double the US median household income. Incomes are adjusted for household size and for the cost of living in the area relative to the national average cost of living. "That means the incomes of households in relatively expensive areas, such as New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, are adjusted downward," Pew explained in its methodology.

Note that New York City didn't crack the top 10. In addition to Pew adjusting incomes for the cost of living, it's important to recognize that New York City, with a population of about 8.5 million, makes up less than half of the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, which has a population of about 19.8 million.

Read on to see which other metro areas joined Midland in the top 10. We included the share of the population that qualifies as upper-income in each metro, along with the median household income of the upper class (also from Pew).

SEE ALSO: The 13 best big US cities to live in if you want to get rich

Trenton

Residents who are upper-income: 28%

Median household income of upper class: $180,110



San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward

Share of upper class: 28%

Median household income of upper class: $185,290



Norwich-New London

Share of upper class: 29%

Median household income of upper class: $164,030



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The 29 best people in advertising to follow on Instagram (FB)

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padilla

A career in advertising can allow you to be creative every day — and get paid for it.

Execs on Madison Avenue spend their days plane-hopping to client meetings and schmoozing at cool celebrity-filled parties.

And many of them document their work — and what they do at the weekends — on Instagram.

We've picked out some of the best advertising and marketing executives' accounts to follow on Instagram. We've weighted our rankings using a (not entirely mathematical) scale of how often the user posts, and whether their pictures are beautifully shot/aspirational/offer an insight into their working life/or simply brighten up people's Instagram feeds.

29. Rob Norman, chief digital officer at GroupM. WHY? Mostly for photos of this dog.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/BERlIE1Ogmv/embed/
Width: 658px

 



28. Shiv Singh, SVP and global head of digital marketing and transformation at Visa. WHY? A stunning set of scenic snaps.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/BGCMYBKw-hU/embed/
Width: 658px

 



27. Eric Franchi, cofounder at Undertone. WHY? Hip hop artist selfies.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/6EBscDi6aT/embed/
Width: 658px

 



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Haunting and realistic images of a post-apocalyptic world

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post-apocalypse

A dilapidated subway car full of sand, an abandoned shopping mall overgrown with trees, a tattered library covered in debris — these are scenes that a photographer would normally have to leave their house to go out and find. But photographer Lori Nix is an exception. A homebody since she was a child, Nix found a way to photograph imaginative, and sometimes dismal scenes from the comfort of her own home. 

Nix and her partner, Kathleen Gerber, make extremly realistic mini-dioramas — and their recent collaboration, "The City," takes the viewer into a dark, post-apocalyptic world.

"Rather than go out into the world in search of these scenes, I choose to stay in my apartment and build my own worlds," Nix told Business Insider. Ahead, see more of the surreal mini-dioramas made by Nix and Gerber.

SEE ALSO: Photographer reveals what it's like to sail to one of the most isolated places on Earth

Nix and Gerber split the workload according to their skill set. Nix is the builder and architect — she designs the layout, creates the floors, walls, windows, and furniture.



Gerber is the sculptor and the painter. She makes the smaller objects and props such as skulls, specimen jars, space suits, and animals. Nix will set everything up and it's Gerber who then carefully destroys it, making it look truly post-apocalyptic.



"I [like that I] can mix and match details that would not normally be found together," Nix said. "I like being able to design all aspects of the scene."



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QUIZ: Does your favorite food have more calories at Starbucks, McDonald's, or Chick-fil-A?

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Drive Through

Sometimes your day is so busy, you just don't have time to cook. But if you're planning on stopping somewhere for a quick snack or meal, you might want to put some thought into it.

Not all fast foods are the same, and there are really some huge differences in the number of calories in similar foods at Starbucks, McDonald's, and Chick-fil-A. You'll probably be pretty surprised by some of the results.

Take this quiz to find out what the best fast food place is to grab a low-calorie snack. You won't regret the time, or the extra inches you'll save on your waistline.

MORE: More sleep may not be making you as productive as you think

UP NEXT: Turns out eating fat isn’t as bad for you as previously thought

1) Feeling like a little something sweet on the way to the office? Stop for a fruity treat...

Smoothies and milkshakes are a yummy addition to any breakfast. And, since they have fruit in them, they sound healthy. But depending on where you order from, it's easy to forget that these fruity drinks can basically be glorified morning sundaes. So, which one should you choose?

A) Starbucks: Orange Mango Banana Smoothie

B) McDonald's: Strawberry Banana Smoothie 

C) Chick-fil-A: Strawberry Milkshake 



Answer: Stop at McDonald's

The Golden Arches win here. A strawberry banana smoothie at the fast food joint will only run you 210 calories. Not bad for a tasty addition to your morning routine.

The others:

(Starbucks) Orange Mango Banana Smoothie: 260 calories

(Chick-fil-A) Strawberry Milkshake: 570 calories 



2) Mmmm...nothing like a breakfast sandwich to warm you up in the morning. But which one?

A smoothie isn't enough to sustain you through the agonizing hours until your lunch break so you might need a breakfast sandwich. But where should you pick one up?

A) Starbucks: Bacon and Gouda Breakfast Sandwich

B) McDonald's: Sausage McMuffin with Egg

C) Chick-fil-A: Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Converse enlisted Nike to completely reinvent its most iconic sneaker

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converse leather

It's not often a classic gets reinvented twice in as many years. But for a dinosaur of a shoe like the Converse All Star, it just makes sense.

Hot on the heels of the Converse All Star II released last year, parent company Nike is reinventing the classic basketball shoe again. This, time, however, the shoe has been completely reinvented and reimagined. While the All Star II kept the original styling of the All Star, with only tweaks to the styling to update it while making it more comfortable, the All Star Modern, completely changes it up.

The only thing the new shoe really shares in common with is the classic shoe's iconic silhouette. The Modern is "inspired by" the classic, using Converse's heritage in a new way

“The Converse All Star Modern is a perfect fusion of our sport heritage with modern design,” said Converse creative director and VP Bryan Cioffi in a release. “With this collection, Converse is delivering a comfortable, lightweight product that’s new, exciting and modern, but still feels very Converse.”

In the more expensive limited edition version of the shoe, goat leather replaces canvas for an upscale look with the All Star patch embossed on the side. Nike has also made a permanent collection of knit versions of the shoe. Both boast an impressive amount of Nike proprietary technology that makes the shoe breathable, durable, and lightweight. A soft Neoprene tongue was even added for additional comfort. 

all star modern group

The leather versions come in black and white and retail for $180. They were designed through a collaboration called HTM, that includes Nike CEO Mark Parker, streetwear brand Fragment Design founder Hiroshi Fujiwara, and Nike design legend Tinker Hatfield.

The knit version of the modern comes in black, red, green, and blue for $140 and come in both high and low top. They're now the most expensive mainline sneakers Converse sells.

The release of these shoes shows that Nike is finally trying to modernize the 108-year-old brand by infusing it with the magic that turned the parent company into the world's most valuable apparel brand and largest athletic apparel company in the US. It's mixing handsome vintage inspiration with wearable styling and proprietary technology and selling it at a higher — but not unreasonable — price than their usual offerings.

The redesigned All Star II's gained a following when they were released last year to positive reviews. Nike won't mess with success with these new versions, however. Many customers are very attached to the original Converse All Stars, and these new designs are meant to compliment, not replace those.

SEE ALSO: Stephen Curry's Under Armour shoes are exactly as boring as they need to be

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11 of the most luxurious homes for rent on Airbnb

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Anguilla Airbnb pool

For many of us, staying in a luxury home or villa on vacation is a pipe dream — especially when those accommodations cost hundreds or thousands of dollars a night. 

Airbnb is known for being home to inexpensive rentals, but it also hosts a number of luxurious homes that are up for grabs. Many of these luxury listings are outside of most budgets, but just because you can't actually afford to stay at an English manor or an Italian villa doesn't mean you shouldn't get to see inside. 

Below is a round-up of some of the most luxurious homes for rent on Airbnb. For more, check out Airbnb's list of luxury rentals from around the world. 

SEE ALSO: Airbnb raises $1 billion in debt financing to create new travel services

Island Harbour, Anguilla

For a casual $2,100 per night, you can rent out Villa Amarilla in Island Harbor, Anguilla. The five-bedroom luxury villa can accommodate up to 10 guests and has an infinity pool, private gym, and offers stunning views of the ocean.



Cartagena De Indias, Colombia

Located in the heart of Barrio San Diego in Cartagena, Colombia, this home sleeps eight guests and offers an open-air terrace, pool, and piano salon. The house is available to rent for $721 per night. 



Penafiel, Portugal

Located in the city of Porto, this rustic home features an infinity pool, four bedrooms, and views of the Duoro river. This cottage is — comparably — a steal at only $301 per night. 



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