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This 16-acre estate is the most expensive home on the US market


This quiz tells you if you're a 'super-recognizer' of faces

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I've seen a lot of faces that I can't forget.

No, I'm not talking about being in love, as The Beatles lyrics might imply. Instead, I may be a super-recognizer, meaning that other peoples' faces get strangely seared into my brain — even those of complete strangers. It's not that I necessarily want to remember them — I just can't seem to help it.

And I'm not alone. Josh P. Davis, a psychology professor at the University of Greenwich in England who studies the phenomenon, told Yahoo Health that he estimates some 1% of the population could qualify as super-recognizers.

Davis developed a brief online test for super-recognizers, and you can take it now.

Keep in mind, Davis notes: "If you do very well then you may be a super-recognizer." If you want to know for sure, then you can inquire with his team about additional testing.

A 'creepy' ability

In 2009, a team of neuroscientists from Harvard did one of the first studies of super-recognizers. In it, they looked at just four people who claimed to have an unusually good ability to recognize faces.

All four subjects told the researchers about instances when they'd recognized practical strangers: family members they hadn't seen for decades or actors they'd glimpsed once in an ad and then seen again in a movie. They felt like there was something wrong with them.

One of the people in the study told the researchers that she tried to hide her ability and "pretend that I don't remember [people] ... because it seems like I stalk them, or that they mean more to me than they do."

What the researchers wanted to know, then, was if there were more super-recognizers out there. So they came up with a series of tests — like this one — designed to find out if other people had their subjects' uncanny abilities. Sure enough, they found a few more super-recognizers.

But they still haven't found very many. All of the studies of super-recognizers to date are based on tiny samples of people — anywhere from just two individuals to a half-dozen people. For that reason, it's tough to draw too many definitive conclusions about the ability.

Still, some police units in the UK are using people with the ability — many of whom Davis has tested personally — to help identify suspects from crime scenes.

Research suggests that super-recognizing is fundamentally different from memory, and isn't a skill that can be sharpened with training, like some aspects of traditional memorization can.

In a recent study in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers studied two so-called memory champions — people who'd competed extensively in memory contests and had even achieved recognition in the Guinness World Book of Records for their memorization abilities. When they studied their face-recognition abilities, the memory champs' skills were merely average.

"These findings lend support to the idea that face processing abilities are at least to a certain extent hard-wired," the researchers wrote in their paper.

There's something special about faces

In the 1990s, researchers identified a region of the brain called the fusiform face area (FFA) that is thought to play a key role in our ability to identify a face.

Some people with damage to that region experience a condition that is essentially the opposite of super-recognizing, called prosopagnosia or face blindness. Others appear to be born with it. People with prosopagnosia have difficulties recognizing familiar faces — even, sometimes, their own. Neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks was a famous prosopagnosia sufferer, and wrote about his condition in the book "The Mind's Eye."

"I am much better at recognizing my neighbors' dogs (they have characteristic shapes and colors) than my neighbors themselves," Sacks wrote.

SEE ALSO: Here's the test you can take to find out if you have synesthesia

DON'T MISS: People with these rare brain disorders have a disturbingly skewed perception of reality

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How to remember people's names

You just need to understand one simple fact to look way better in photos

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Have you ever taken a selfie, looked at it afterward, and thought, That's not even what I look like!

The problem was likely wide-angle distortion, the property of smartphone lenses (and other superwide cameras) that renders their subjects a bit odd-looking and cartoonish.

Fortunately, there's a simple way around the problem if you understand a bit about the optics of these devices.

Here's what you need to know:

SEE ALSO: Billions of people have the same favorite color and number, and scientists don't know why

Here's the thing: Looking like a normal human being in photos is hard.

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And smartphones don't make it easier.



Manufacturers build them with super-wide-angle lenses that can stretch and distort your face in unflattering ways.

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The 20 US cities with the most diverse food scenes

I finished 'The Toughest Footrace on Earth' ― here's what it was like

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The Marathon des Sables, a six-day race through the Sahara desert, has a hard-won reputation as "The Toughest Footrace on Earth."

The 31st edition of the race, the longest yet at 159 miles, ended Saturday, April 16, and I was among the 973 who crossed the finish line.

The race is not for the faint-hearted.

The route takes in towering sand dunes, airless oueds (dried-up riverbeds), and scrambled jebel (rocky hill) ascents.

The distance comes in at almost a marathon a day, with the longest stage this year a punishing double marathon.

Competitors run or walk through 104-degree plus temperatures, carrying their food for the week. Water is rationed. Salt tablets are essential.

Competitors sleep in bivouac tents, which do little to retain warmth when the temperature drops overnight and offer limited resistance to sandstorms.

It is no surprise then that a lot of competitors don't make it to the finish. There were 18 participants who didn't make it past day one, according to the provisional results, and nearly 60 more dropped out on day two.

In all, around 130 were forced to drop out, often through no fault of their own. The desert is relentless, and there is a large slice of luck involved in surviving what it has to throw at you.

This is what "The Toughest Footrace on Earth" is like:

The event required quite a bit of kit. We had to carry at least 2,000 calories a day for seven days, with the bulk of this made up by caloric freeze-dried meals. We also had to pack survival kit with items ranging from a venom pump to a signaling mirror.



We flew in to Ouarzazate in Morocco on Friday, April 8, before boarding coaches for the six-hour drive to the first bivoauc.



The bivouac camp has around 170 tents, each sleeping a maximum of eight competitors. The tents are organized by nationality, with large British and French contingents dominating camp. I stayed with three friends and a British runner named Dave who we met on the bus.



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The 11 best habits people have learned from friends and relatives

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Some of our best habits can be those we pick up from other people.

We see someone with a particular routine that makes them happier or successful, and we try to emulate it. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it catches on and becomes part of our everyday lives.

A recent Quora thread asked users for these habits: the ones they stole from others and then kept doing. The responses ranged from well-worn wisdom to the delightfully offbeat. But they all served to enrich the life of the person who ended up adopting them.

We went through and found the 11 best ones that might apply to your life. Here they are:

Drinking coffee black

"A man I had just met at the party challenged me on the dissonance between my preference for drinking IPA's, bourbon, and Cabernet Sauvignon, eating rare steak, and loving hot peppers and my daily choice to pollute my coffee with milk and sugar...

This stranger at the party dared me to drink my coffee black for a week. He bet me that if I could pull that off, that I would never go back to drinking it any other way...

"The taste is superior: somehow more visceral and legitimate. I've lost 5lbs entirely from making that switch in my morning habits, my energy level is up across the board."

-David Wilkerson



Never "snoozing" the alarm

"I used to really struggle waking up in the mornings. Hitting “sleep” a bunch of times, never getting to do everything I want to do in the morning, and sometimes sleeping through class.

One day, my best friend, who I admire very much, told me something he does. The minute his alarm goes off, he literally jumps out of bed. Jerks his body out of bed and gets up.

That’s it. Since then, I haven’t had a problem getting up. Now I’m used to it, and I start every single day like I want to be here."

-Jack Henson



Buying quality shoes

"Previously, I used to purchase any cheap shoes off the rack, especially sport shoes, which I generally wear everyday. My shoes generally don't last very long as I have a wide foot, and I just ended up buying a new pair after 3-4 months.

Over a few trips abroad, my dad made me purchase a good pair of (expensive) rugged Merrell shoes and later a customized pair of (again expensive) Asics running shoes, just like him. He told me not to worry about the price, as these would be great shoes and would work for me for the next few years.

And I could already feel the difference."

-Karmanya Singh



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This is the most stylish thing you can buy for your home right now, according to a top interior designer

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More and more often, affluent Americans are looking at their homes as a place meant not just for sleeping, but also for entertaining family and friends. 

Noa Santos, an interior designer who has worked with several entrepreneurs through his design startup Homepolish, says he is seeing more of his clients aiming to design their home in a way that will make them proud to show it off to guests. 

"Home is a place to do things, not just to be," he said. "People are focusing on items they should have in their home to start a conversation, or to make an existing conversation richer."

One item that is sure to provide the confidence necessary for an open conversation: a bar cart stacked with bottles. Santos said that the bar cart has become a huge trend across the homes he works on. 

west elm bar cart"I like to think design all the way through to what bottles you keep on a bar cart — I love D'Ussé XO bottles on a bar cart, and St-Germain bottles," Santos said.

"If people feel more empowered to decorate their home, they'll be more inclined to bring people into their home, than they are, say, to bring them to a restaurant, which we really love. It breaks the barrier a bit and makes the conversation a little easier."

You can find bar carts at many different retailers, from a $129 metal version at Target all the way up to a $999 vintage brass cart at Williams-Sonoma.

Regardless of the price and the bottles you put on it, the carts tend to give off a vintage, retro vibe. 

As for glassware, Santos names Riedel and Spiegelau as his favorites.

SEE ALSO: What the newly rich do with their homes after they make it big, according to a top interior designer

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This $195 million Florida compound is the most expensive home on the US market

20 of the most incredible works of Burning Man art ever made

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This year's Burning Man — the wild annual festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert — will start on August 28.

During the festival, a temporary, self-sustaining community pops up in the desert, free of the constraints and expectations of daily life. One of the main spectacles at Burning Man are the outlandish, elaborate and zany sculptures, structures and art installations that attendees create there. Many are intentionally destroyed at the end of the festival, since part of Burning Man's mission is to leave no trace, but some have left the desert and are installed in other locations around the world.

We've rounded up 20 of the most stunning works from past festivals. Check them out below.

SEE ALSO: An inside look at Burning Man's 30-year evolution from beach bonfire to international mega-event

Bliss Dance by Marco Cochrane (2010)

After debuting at Burning Man 2010, the 40-foot-tall sculpture moved to San Francisco's Treasure Island and then permanently to The Park Las Vegas, an outdoor area on the strip, in 2015.



The Prairie Wind Chapel by Robert Hoehn and Wind Tribe (2015)

This airy temple featuredVictorian reed organ and two wood and metal pipe organs.



R-Evolution by Marco Cochrane (2015)

Constructed of steel rods and balls covered in stainless-steel mesh, and lots of LEDs, R-Evolution was a 48-foot-tall sculpture of a woman. It was part of a series by Chochrane that also included the Bliss Dance sculpture shown earlier.



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17 quick and easy daily habits that can significantly improve your life

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Want to pick up some good habits?

The best approach is to start small.

In the Quora thread "What are some good 'mini habits' to practice each day?" readers shared the simple habits you should follow every day to become a happier, healthier, or more productive person.

The best part is, each one takes only a few minutes to complete.

Here are some of our favorites:

SEE ALSO: 16 things successful 20-somethings do in their spare time

DON'T MISS: 13 skills that are hard to learn but will pay off forever

1. Brush your teeth and floss

User Pankesh Bamotra says brushing and flossing your teeth not only prevents gingivitis and tooth decay, but it can also save your life.

The American Dental Association recommends you brush twice a day for two minutes and floss once a day. If you don't, you could be putting yourself at greater risk for developing dementia, diabetes, kidney disease, and cancer, among other things.



2. Smile at yourself in the mirror

Just after you brush your teeth, look at yourself in the mirror and smile, holding the smile for 10 seconds, suggests Nistha Tripathi.

Dr. Robert Zajonc, a famous psychologist, believed facial action leads to changes in mood, and in a 1989 study he found that participants who watched themselves smile in a mirror experienced a greater boost in mood than those who simply smiled.



3. Write down the day's most important task

Also known as "eating the frog," decide on the one task you must perform that day to be successful and do it first thing when you get to work, says Patrick Mathieson.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

8 things you should always buy with a credit card

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Credit cards often get a bad rap.

"There is no positive side to credit card use," personal finance guru Dave Ramsey wrote on his website. He has a good point, as our consumer-driven society makes it incredibly easy to spiral into credit card debt.

However, advantages to credit cards include the purchase and fraud protection they offer, and the fact that using them allows you to build the credit required for major purchases in the future, like a home or car. There are some situations when it's smarter to choose credit over debit — as long as you pay your bills on time, that is.

Now that that's out of the way, use your credit card responsibly for these eight types of purchases: 

BI_Graphics_8 things you should always buy with a credit card_02

Kathleen Elkins contributed to this story.

SEE ALSO: Flow Chart: Should You Use Credit, Debit, Or Cash?

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what Rio's 'uninhabitable' Olympic Village looks like

I've used a meditation app loved by Wall Streeters and Olympic athletes daily for the past 8 months, and now I can't imagine my life without it

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Over the past eight months, I've had fun being the obnoxious guy who tells everyone he meditates every day. 

Ever since I decided to try out the guided-meditation app Headspace last December after hearing about it on Tim Ferriss' podcast, I've been much more aware of my thoughts and emotions, and with a few exceptions (including a rough day at the airport) I've been much calmer and more collected in times of stress.

I've dealt with occasionally intense anxiety since I was 11 years old, so that's an accomplishment.

Headspace isn't a hippy-dippy placebo; it's a straightforward teacher that helps you learn the basics of breathing and visualization associated with secular meditation.

The company reports it has 8.5 million active users, and this includes Wall Streeters, Olympic athletes, and celebrity executives like Arianna Huffington and Richard Branson. Companies like Goldman Sachs and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have bought package subscriptions for employees. The app is free to download, but a subscription unlocks full access to all of its lessons.

After using it for so long, I've gotten to a point where it's become an essential part of my daily routine. Below, I'll break down what it's like to use.

SEE ALSO: I followed Barack Obama's morning routine for a week, and it taught me a valuable lesson about mental toughness

Headspace was founded by Rich Pierson, left, and Andy Puddicombe in 2012. Puddicombe was formally trained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk during a 10-year excursion in his 20s. Headspace's lessons are secularized versions of exercises Puddicombe studied.



Puddicombe is your Headspace teacher. He appears periodically in video tutorials to give you a bit of extra insight. I've become very familiar with his English-accented voice!



When you begin Headspace, you have access to the 30-day Foundation pack, which introduces you to the basics of guided meditation.

After going through the first 30 days, you can access the rest of the exercises through a subscription.

I signed up for the year subscription, which now goes for $96, though you may find some promo codes floating around for a discount.

It's certainly not cheap, but if you take it as $8 a month, it's worth it for a daily user.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

23 photos inside dreary Moscow dorms show what college life is like in Russia

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It's that time of year again — the start of the school year, when wide-eyed college freshman in the US are decking out their dorm rooms and marking their small bit of new territory. Some are even going viral for their over-the-top interior-design choices.  

While dorms in the US can cost up to $14,000 a year to live in, it's a different story in Russia. In 2014, photographer and reporter Pascal Dumont documented a dozen dormitories at various schools for The Moscow Times.

There, he found students living with bedbugs and roaches, underneath leaky ceilings. Obshagas, the Russian word for dorms, are not any of these students' first choice for living accommodations. But due to what Dumont calls "astronomical" rent in Moscow, many are left without a choice.

(Captions by Sarah Jacobs and Pascal Dumont)

SEE ALSO: Controversial photos inside the homes of Russia's ultrarich show the country's problem with wealth inequality

Kudakwashe Ndlova, a 25-year-old student attending Lomonosov Moscow University of Fine Chemical Technology, shares this obshaga with one other student from Russia.



Ndlovu, who attends the university on a scholarship, pays $10 a month for his room. "It's cheap. That's for sure," he told Dumont.



Ndlovu worries that water leaks from the ceiling could potentially cause an electrical fire at any moment.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A common misconception about marijuana could be its biggest strength for science

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Marijuana's official designation as a Schedule 1 drug— something with "no accepted medical use" — means it is pretty tough to study.

That can be frustrating to scientists who, regardless of their position on its legal status, almost uniformly agree that more rigorous scientific analyses of the drug are desperately needed.

Marijuana isn't as simple as it seems. It's a plant made up of hundreds of different compounds — each of which have a variety of potential effects ranging from pain relief to reducing blood pressure. Some of them play no role in getting you high. 

As a result, many experts say, barring marijuana research with a sweeping, all-inclusive ban simply doesn't make sense.

"In terms of does cannabis hold any therapeutic potential, cannabis contains many constituents. It’s not just THC. And whether these have medicinal properties that can be used, the answer is very likely, and they should be studied,"Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, who is the chair of Columbia University's department of psychiatry and serves as the director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute, told Business Insider.

In fact, marijuana contains roughly 400 compounds, each of which is thought to potentially affect the brain and body in a different way.

"We clearly do not have that much research about marijuana, and you need to know what chemical is carrying out its effects," Dr. Yasmin Hurd, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told my colleague Kevin Loria last fall. "Like many plants, marijuana has many different chemicals. There are specific components of the plant that can be developed for medical interventions," Hurd said.

Unfortunately, we don't know which compound is responsible for which effect. And without further research into the drug, we never will.

SEE ALSO: What marijuana does to your body and brain

SEE ALSO: The most 'addictive' drugs probably aren't the ones you think

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 surprising medical benefits of marijuana

How Usain Bolt spends his millions

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Usain St. Leo Bolt finished Rio 2016 as the greatest Olympic sprinter of all time.

Bolt has amassed six individual gold medals and three team golds since 2008 at the Beijing, London, and Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He also holds the world record in both the 100 meters and the 200 meters.

As a result of his relentless success, Bolt has amassed a fortune in prize money and sponsorship deals — his most lucrative, with Puma, will earn him more than $10 million each year until 2025, according to Forbes.

But how exactly does he spend all of that cash?

Usain Bolt earned $32.5 million in the year running up to the 2016 Olympics.

Source: Yahoo Sports.



He is the only track star who made it onto the Forbes list of highest-paid athletes, coming in at No. 32.

Source: Forbes.



Bolt's relationship with Puma started way back in 2002, and his $10 million-a-year deal is by far the most lucrative in athletics.

Source: CNBC.



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This cat feeder fixes the biggest problem with bowls


The 50 best colleges in America

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What makes a college great? In Business Insider's latest ranking of the best colleges in America, the top schools share a few common traits: They provide a quality education and graduate students on time, they set graduates up to earn well-paying jobs early in their career, and they provide a memorable and enjoyable campus experience that instills pride and loyalty for decades to come.

Business Insider's 2016 ranking uses a formula that relies very little on glamour statistics, like reputation and selectivity, that are featured in many college rankings. Instead, we primarily leaned on data available from the government, weighting early-career earnings and graduation rate the highest.

College years are formative for young adults, so we also gave significant credit to schools that provide a top-notch student-life experience, as measured by Niche, a company that compiles research on schools. Niche assessed the social and community life of universities and provided letter grades based on metrics like campus quality, diversity, party scene, student retention, safety, and athletics.

Other factors that counted for less and rounded out each school's score: full-time retention rate, average annual cost (after accounting for scholarships and financial aid), average SAT score of incoming students, and admittance rate. Read more about our methodology

The Ivy League dominated the list, taking the top three spots. But our top 10 featured a couple of surprises, too, including two top-notch universities from the South. Read on to see the full list of the best colleges in the US.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best law schools in America

DON'T MISS: The 24 smartest law schools in the US

50. Babson College

Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts

Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $85,500

Average SAT score: 1258

Student life score: B+

A leader in entrepreneurial education, Babson College equips students with the skills to innovate, experiment, and lead in the business world and beyond. The private college has produced numerous successful entrepreneurs in its nearly 100-year history, including Arthur Blank, the cofounder and former president of Home Depot who is the eponym of the college's on-campus entrepreneurship hub.



49. Hamilton College

Location: Clinton, New York

Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $57,300

Average SAT score: 1384

Student life score: A

Hamilton College takes its name from founding father Alexander Hamilton, who served as one of the school's original trustees in 1793 when he was the US secretary of the Treasury. More than 200 years later, Hamilton is still going strong: One year after graduation, at least 91% of the class of 2014 had secured a full-time job or internship or were enrolled in graduate school. For those who entered the workforce, employers included companies such as General Electric, Amazon, and The New York Times.



48. George Washington University

Location: Washington, D.C.

Median salary 10 years after enrolling:$64,500

Average SAT score: 1297

Student life score: A

Located right in the US capital, George Washington University offers more than 2,000 undergraduate courses and more than 70 majors. More than 1,400 students choose to study abroad each year at GW's study centers and partner institutions in more than 40 countries. The school also has some distinguished alumni— former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and actress Kerry Washington all attended the university.



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This stunning $117,000 tiny home can be built in under six weeks

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Prefabricated home design, which has a 100-year history, is one of the most efficient ways to build homes. (Though in recent decades, some prefab styles have been associated with cheap materials and shoddy construction.)

Factory workers build its parts off-site, then they are then shipped and assembled — a process that usually takes anywhere from 10 to 50 weeks.

Avava Systems, a startup based in San Francisco, has designed prefab tiny homes, called Britespaces, that can go up even faster. CEO Benjamin Kimmich tells Business Insider that Britespace construction takes four to six weeks. This is incredibly fast; many otherprefabstartups promise 10-week builds.

Avava ships a house's parts in flat-packed boxes (à la Ikea), which speeds up the time and efficiency of getting from the factory to the site, Kimmich says.

The startup works with third-party construction crews to build the actual homes.

In spring 2016, Avava launched three different-sized models, with base prices that range from $117,000 (shown in the rendering above) to $223,000. The price includes permit fees, construction, and contractor services, but owners need to buy their own furniture and appliances.

The homes are available to order in the US through Avava's site. Take a look at the designs:

SEE ALSO: Ikea is selling a $169 mini-kitchen designed for tiny apartments

Britespaces' model names — Model 264, Model 352, and Model 480 — reflect the amount of square footage they have. The two smaller ones are studios, while the largest is a one-bedroom home.



The homes feature concrete foundations and pine frames. Each precut component fastens into place, which contributes to a quick build.



You can customize the size, finishes, window color, trim color, cabinets, counters, and flooring. Here's a look inside a Model 264, which was shipped in 64 boxes:



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

How we ranked the best colleges in America

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4x3 50 best colleges in america 2Business Insider just released its 2016 ranking of the best colleges in America. This year, we adopted a new methodology that put less weight glamour statistics, like reputation and selectivity, and more emphasis on hard measures that demonstrate a school's efficacy. Here's how we put together the ranking. 

We started with the Department of Education, gathering hundreds of the most recent data points reported by several thousand colleges from across the country. We keyed on the following metrics, with points awarded for each: 

  • 2 points — Median earnings of students working and not enrolled 10 years after entry
  • 2 points— Median earnings of students working and not enrolled 6 years after entry
  • 3 points— Graduation rate within four years
  • 1 point— Full-time retention rate in 2014 
  • 0.5 point— Average annual net cost (According to the Department of Education, this includes "tuition and fees, books and supplies, and living expenses, minus the average grant/scholarship aid" and is calculated for full-time, first-time undergrads who received aid.)
  • 0.5 point— Percent admitted
  • 0.5 point— Average SAT score

College years are formative for young adults, so we also gave significant credit to schools that provide a top-notch student life experience, as measured by Niche, a company that compiles research on schools. Niche assessed the social and community life of universities and provided letter grades based on metrics like campus quality, diversity, party scene, student retention, safety, and athletics. We gave 2 points for a schools student life score. 

Each metric was normalized by fitting values on a scale from 0 to 1 and then multiplied by the points above. With these metrics ranked we sifted a group of several thousand schools down to only the 50 best. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This is what separates the Excel masters from the wannabes

These 2 classic cars made history at Pebble Beach this weekend

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1962 Shelby Cobra CSX 2000

Two separate sales records were set at the Pebble Beach auctions this weekend, and they were definitely worth it for these cars.

The very first Shelby Cobra ever made broke the record for the most expensive American car sold at auction Friday, selling for $13.75 million. The previous record was held by a 1968 Ford GT40 race car that sold for $11 million in 2012.

Pebble Beach: le mans jaguar

Additionally, a 1955 Jaguar D-Type broke the record for the most expensive British car ever sold at a public auction. It sold for a whopping $21.78 million. That record was previously set by a Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato that sold for $14.3 million in 2015.

1962 Shelby Cobra CSX 2000

The original Shelby Cobra may look a bit rugged and beat up, but it comes with a ton of historical value. The car was the first produced by Shelby-American, a company created by legendary racer Carroll Shelby after he won the 1959 Le Mans 24-Hour race.

The Shelby Cobra that sold for just above $13 million kicked off the company's relationship with Ford. The two would go on to create the Shelby Daytona, a car loosely based off the Cobra, which would put American sports cars and racing on the main stage as the first American car to win a international title at the World Sportscar Championship in 1965.

jaguar d-type le mans

The Jaguar D-Type that raked in over $20 million won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1956. Racing conditions were tough that year, described by a September 1956 Motor Sport Magazine as "terrible, with rain and mist." But the D-Type managed to narrowly beat out an Aston Martin with an average speed 104.47 miles per hour. The car's max speed was just above 156 miles per hour.

The auctions were estimated to bring in a total of $370 million, but CNBC is reporting that the the auctions only drew $345 million. 

SEE ALSO: 14 beautiful, vintage cars up for auction at Pebble Beach

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Mercedes-Maybach rivals Tesla with a new jaw-dropping concept car

7 weird dog behaviors and what they mean

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The pitter-patter of tiny feet is one of my favorite sounds to come home to at the end of a long day. 

And I'm convinced that my dog, Izzie, is just as elated to see me as I am to see her.

But what's she really thinking when I open the front door and our eyes meet? Is she simply excited for the dinner I'm about to feed her, or do we have a real bond?

To find out more, we spoke to canine behavioral researcher Julie Hecht and Duke University professor of cognitive neuroscienceBrian Hare, who wrote the book "The Genius of Dogs," and hosts a new podcast called DogSmarts.

Here are a few of the recent discoveries that Hecht, Hare, and other scientists have made about dogs:

DON'T MISS: I got my dog’s DNA tested and what I learned shocked me

SEE ALSO: How to know if your dog hates hugs

1. Why does my dog get so excited whenever I say the word 'walk'?

Dogs, like dolphins, apes, and parrots, can learn a series of vocal commands or words. One dog, a border collie named Chaser, learned more than 1,000!

Researchers say Chaser used a process called “fast-mapping,” or inference, which is pretty similar to how human children learn language skills. Basically, it involves guessing the meaning of a word based on the object that is being used in conjunction with that word. So if you're constantly saying "walk" and then fetching your dog's leash and taking him outside, he may be able to infer that the word "walk" has something to do with the action of going for a walk.



2. Why does my dog yawn everytime I do?

Just like people, dogs can "catch" yawns. A study in the journal Biology Letters says this "emotional contagion" is completely normal. More importantly, the researchers write, your dog catching your yawn is a sign of basic empathy.

Dogs are believed to empathize with us in other ways as well. A University of Helsinki study suggested that dogs can sense when their owners are angry and have even evolved to respond accordingly. Another study found that dogs respond in a similar way, physiologically and behaviorally, to people when they hear a human baby crying.



3. Why do dogs turn away from us when we try to hug them?

A psychologist who studies canine behavior found a disturbing trend in 250 photos of people hugging dogs— the dogs were not happy. How do we know? According to animal behavior researcher Julie Hecht, there are three common signs of stress in dogs: 1) Turning their heads away from the thing that's bothering them; 2) Showing the whites of their eyes; and 3) Lowering or pinning back their ears. Most of the dogs in these photos were showing these signs.

Still, some dogs might tolerate a hug, especially if it comes from someone familiar. In other words, dogs have myriad ways of showing affection, but hugs may not be one of them. If your pup tends to shrug away from your embrace, try patting her head or scratching her tummy instead, advises Hecht.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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