From the time a farmer harvests strawberries or green beans, they will last — at best — three weeks before they start to rot. It takes a week or two to reach the grocery store and then your fridge, giving you only a few days to eat them.

A Santa Barbara-based startup called Apeel Sciences says it has invented edible coatings that can extend a fruit or vegetable's shelf life by as much as five times. That means, if you spray it on a ripe strawberry that's starting to wither it will last about a week longer than normal. 

Made of leftover plant skins and stems, the coatings act as barriers that slow down the decay process. You can apply it to produce anytime during its lifespan — Apeel could even make a bunch of bananas grown at the same time each ripen on a different day.

Six farms in Southern California, Kenya, and Nigeria are using Apeel's products, CEO James Rogers tells Business Insider.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Apeel's first products, Edipeel and Invisipeel, as "generally recognized as safe," meaning they're OK to eat and sell.

Here's how they work.

Apeel's products, called Edipeel and Invisipeel, are transparent coatings you spray on or dip produce in.

Edipeel keeps water from leaving and oxygen from entering produce, while Invisipeel is for keeping insects away (these are both processes that make produce decay). To get the benefits of both products, you need to apply both.

After the coatings dry, they act as shields to natural gases (e.g. oxygen and ethylene) that make produce decay. With the barrier, produce lasts up to five times longer than untreated produce, Rogers says.

Apeel is testing Invisipeel and Edipeel on all kinds of fruit and vegetables. Below is a timelapse comparison of ripe strawberries — the startup treated the bottom row with Edipeel:

If you're looking for a new job in finance, you may want to check out openings at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

Those three companies are doing some of the heaviest hiring for jobs in the US that pay more than $100,000 base salary a year, according to Indeed.

The job-search engine compiled a list of big banks trying to fill the most full-time jobs that pay over $100,000. The salary data is a combination of company and user input.

Here are the 14 big-name banks with the largest number of job openings in the US right now for high-paying jobs:

DON'T MISS: Amazon, IBM, and 8 other big companies hiring for high-paying jobs like crazy right now

SEE ALSO: The 50 best places to work in 2017, according to employees

14. UBS

Job openings (for positions paying more than $100,000 a year): more than 50

Percent of jobs paying more than $100,000 on Indeed: 0.55%

The Swiss global financial services company employs more than 60,000 employees.

13. Goldman Sachs

Job openings (for positions paying more than $100,000 a year): more than 100

Percent of jobs paying more than $100,000 on Indeed: 0.98% 

The American multinational finance company was founded in 1869 and employs more than 34,000 people.

12. HSBC

Job openings (for positions paying more than $100,000 a year): more than 150

Percent of jobs paying more than $100,000 on Indeed: 1.08%

With more than 266,000 employees, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organizations.

The World Economic Forum has released its 2017 "Inclusive Growth and Development Report"— a major look into how nations around the world can best ensure that their businesses and institutions function as efficiently as possible.

As the WEF's report puts it:

"Sound legal and competition institutions support efficient resource allocation and equal opportunity by preventing corruption, unduly high barriers to entry, and concentration of rents due to regulatory capture.

"Investment climate rules, incentives, and institutional capacity are important for enabling investors to capitalize on the level playing field created by robust legal and competition frameworks."

A big part of that is ensuring that corruption is kept to a minimum within businesses. To that end, one of the things the WEF ranks is how well corruption is fought and the ethics of political and business environments.

You can see the countries doing the best below (scores are given out of seven, with seven being the highest):

T8. Denmark: 5.27 — In 2015, Denmark was voted the most transparent country in the world by Transparency International, and it scores highly in the WEF's analysis. It is the lowest ranked of four Scandinavian countries on this list.

T8. Singapore: 5.27 — The city-state of Singapore is one of the most highly developed nations in Asia, and has made huge efforts to fight corruption, spearheaded by its Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

7. Switzerland: 5.32 — In Switzerland, companies can be criminally prosecuted and ordered to pay a fine of up to CHF 5 million for acts of corruption committed by individuals working on its behalf.

HSBC annual expat explorer report looks at one its like to be a foreigner living and working in countries around the world.

The bank asked YouGov to survey nearly 27,000 expats from 190 countries and territories for the report, asking them about how easy it was for them to live, work, and raise a family where they were.

For each category, HSBC calculated a score out of 1 and then used the average of those numbers to work out a ranking. 

Below are the results of its survey of expats' experience of different countries, taking into account questions on lifestyle, how easy it is to integrate with the local population, and how easy it is to set up a new life there.

Check it out:

21. Italy: 0.48

Overall: 0.48.

Lifestyle: 0.61.

People: 0.56.

Setting up: 0.29.

20. Mexico: 0.49

Overall: 0.49.

Lifestyle: 0.54.

People: 0.55.

Setting up: 0.36.

T=17. United Arab Emirates: 0.50

Overall: 0.50.

Lifestyle: 0.49.

People: 0.58.

Setting up: 0.42.

LONDON — He visited all 196 countries by the age of 24, covering most countries within five years. Last year, he received a Guinesss World Record for becoming the youngest person in the world to travel to all sovereign countries.

However, for James Asquith, now 28 and working at Deutsche Bank in London, that was never the plan.

"It was never the purpose to race around and hop into every country to tick it off," he told Business Insider. Instead, he got the idea after he began travelling with his father, a pilot for BMI.

"I thought, 'I want to see more,' and eventually decided I wanted to go everywhere," he said.

From an early age, Asquith, who was born in Sussex but has spent most of his life in London, has been saving his money, starting with "hoarding cash and doing little jobs where I could" such as washing neighbourhood cars at age 12 to asking for money instead of presents at birthdays and Christmas.

With "a decent amount of cash saved up" at the age of 18, he took a gap year before starting university to travel to Southeast Asia with friends.

What started as a three month trip sparked an around-the-world tour that lasted five years, leading Asquith to visit Afghanistan during a war and travel by jeep into Somalia.

From getting lucky on the stock market to working in bars and hostels in South America, scroll down to see how Asquith became the youngest person in the world to visit every country.

Meet James Asquith, the 28-year-old London banker who became the youngest person to travel to all 196 countries at the age of 24.

His Instagram account, which he started just over three months ago, already has over 84,000 followers.

Having saved "a decent amount of cash" by the age of 18, Asquith took a gap year to travel with friends before starting university, spurring him to continue travelling around the world.

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"When it started, I remember going to get our backpacks and the guy in the shop saying, 'Get this one, you'll catch the travel bug and it will be durable.' I thought, 'No, it's just going to be a three-month trip.' Two days after I came back I booked my first solo trip and went to Egypt."

Asquith's Dad was also a pilot working for BMI (British Midland International), meaning he got to tag along to destinations he otherwise may not have visited.

"They went direct to Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kazakhstan – places that were pretty expensive to get to and that I'd normally never have gone to," he said. 

"I started going away with my Dad when I could, or even without him, on these weird route networks. I thought, 'I want to see more,' and eventually thought, 'Now I want to go everywhere.'"

Ten days ago, I traveled to Tokyo to help Business Insider launch its latest international edition in Japan.

After many days of hard work and preparation by our Japanese team, Business Insider Japan went live officially on Monday at noon local time.

Over the last several years, Business Insider has launched local editions in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, and, of course, the United Kingdom, among others.

To celebrate the launch, Mediagene, our Japanese partner company, arranged a packed day of press conferences and parties.

Here's what happened.

A press conference was scheduled for 1 pm local time at The National Art Center in Roppongi, a posh neighborhood in Tokyo known for its nightclub scene. NACT features dozens of art exhibitions each year.

I arrived early with members of the Business Insider Japan team, including tech editor Ryosuke Nakanishi and director of development Bunzo Ono.

A lot of people were expected to attend the press conference. Business Insider Japan's launch has been hotly anticipated in the business and technology sectors.

Chinese brands are becoming increasingly popular overseas, with western consumers increasingly looking to the country's companies for the newest product innovations.

While many huge Chinese brands are unknown outside of China, several are now competitive on the world's stage. 

On Tuesday, the first "BrandZ Top 30 Chinese Global Brand Builders" report was released by advertising holding company WPP, its research firm Kantar Millward Brown, and Google, ranking the most powerful Chinese export brands. 

The ranking was based on each company's "BrandZ" measure of consumers' predisposition to choose a particular brand — taking into account how meaningful, different, and salient each brand is — plus research conducted in September 2016 using Google Surveys. The median Brand Power score of the 167 brands analyzed was 85.

Scroll down to see the 10 Chinese brands that have most successfully established themselves overseas.

SEE ALSO: Why Chinese firms keep paying big bucks for ad-tech companies

10. Hisense. Brand Power Score: 482. A Chinese multinational brand that makes white goods and electronics like TVs and tablets. It exports to 130 countries and around 30% of the company's revenue comes from overseas.

9. Cheetah Mobile. Brand Power Score: 498. This 7-year-old company is best-known for its free mobile security software, including Battery Doctor, Clean Master, and CM Security. It has more than 634 million monthly active users worldwide and derives most of its revenue from advertising.

8. Anker. Brand Power Score: 501. This Changsha-based company manufactures electronic accessories like headphones, USB cables, and portable chargers. It sells its products in more than 30 countries.

Somewhere between stepping into a full-body scanner that measures the elasticity of my veins and watching a cup used for urine samples disappear into the bathroom wall, I realize Forward is not your average doctor's office. It's like an Apple Store meets "Westworld."

Staring down a massive touchscreen monitor in the exam room, I tell Adrian Aoun, founder and CEO of Forward, that I feel like I'm inside HBO's sci-fi thriller.

"Yeah, but the good, not-creepy version, I hope," Aoun says.

Forward emerged from stealth mode on January 17 to announce the opening of its first doctor's office in San Francisco. The company offers a futuristic take on the popular concierge medical practice model, complete with state-of-the-art diagnostics tools, an AI system that listens and takes notes for physicians, and a pricey $149 monthly membership.

I recently toured Forward's flagship location before opening to see what it was like.

SEE ALSO: After trying One Medical, I could never use a regular doctor again

This is what you get when several dozen former employees of Google, Facebook, Uber, and Palantir put their heads together to reinvent the doctor's office.

About a year ago, Aoun was riding his bike to Google's offices in Menlo Park, where he worked on artificial intelligence and ran the Special Projects division at Alphabet, when he got a call.

"Don't freak out, but, I'm having a heart attack. I'm in an ambulance on my way to the hospital. So what do I do?" said his thirty-something relative over the sounds of sirens blaring.

After months of doctor's appointments, phone calls with billing offices and insurance, and countless hours on Google trying to figure out what all the jargon meant, Aoun grew frustrated by how difficult the healthcare system was to navigate.

"Doctors are kind of awesome. They're incredibly smart, they're crazy well-educated. They mean well. ... But the problem is, they're totally set up for failure," Aoun tells Business Insider.

"It's kind of not their fault as much as, I would actually argue, it's my fault. [If I'm] representing the engineering community, we totally dropped the ball," he says.

His relative's near-death experience was an eye-opener, Aoun says. He set out to bring more predictability, consistency, and convenience across the healthcare system.

He assembled a team of some of the most brilliant minds in Silicon Valley, including one of his cofounders, Ilya Abyzov, an early Uber employee who helped launch UberX.

Founded in 2016, Forward makes over every touchpoint in healthcare. The company's engineers built everything from diagnostics tools to a mobile app that patients use to book appointments. The technology creates a better user experience for members and their doctors, according to Aaliya Yaqub, a Forward physician and a Facebook Health Center alum.

Forward's vision has made an impression on venture capitalists. Its investors include Khosla Ventures, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Eric Schmidt, and Marc Benioff.

Forward's flagship location, which opened January 17, mimics the look and feel of an Apple Store. When members arrive, they sign in on an iPad at the reception desk.

LONDON — Tuesay January 17 is the International Day of Italian Pizza— a celebration of the 10th International Day of Italian Cuisines (IDIC).

It celebrates the Italian-born Margherita Pizza, made with tomato, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil, as well as the Signature Pizza, where the dough is made in accordance with Italian standards while the chef chooses the toppings.

"Pizza is the Trojan horse that opens all the doors to the Italian chefs, to the restaurants and to the culinary Italy, in the world,” said Mario Caramella, president of the Forum GVCI (Virtual Group of Italian Chefs).

"It’s also the most counterfeited dish," he added.

In honour of the day, we've rounded up the best places to grab a slice in London, according to Tripadvisor. We have and ranked them by the price of their Margherita Pizza, from cheapest to most expensive. Scroll on to get some inspiration for your next meal.

22. Pizza Union, Spitalfields & King's Cross — £3.95.

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21. Franco Manca, Brixton and Tottenham Court Road — £6.40.

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20. L'oro di Napoli, South Ealing — £6.50.

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You have better things to do than linger in front of your closet deciding which shirt to wear, or race around your house looking for your sunglasses.

And we know it.

So we consulted productivity experts and scoured the internet for the best ways to cut out the silly stuff and save time in your morning routine.

Read on for practical and creative strategies you can use to get out the door faster — starting tonight.

SEE ALSO: 11 things you can do today to get up earlier tomorrow

The night before

Place your alarm clock across the room

This simple strategy comes from Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of books including, most recently, "Better Than Before." That way, you'll have to get up and turn it off, decreasing the temptation to go back to sleep.

Leave your keys, wallet, sunglasses, and cell phone in the same place

Here's another tip from Rubin. You don't want to waste time scrambling to find all your essentials.

Check the next day's forecast

It'll help when you plan your outfit (see below). Plus you'll know about any potential delays — if there's going to be a snowstorm the next morning, you should get out the door sooner than usual.

Decide on your outfit while you brush your teeth before bed

That way, Rubin said, "you don't have to take the time for inner debate in the morning."

If you're traveling, decide exactly how you'll spend your time in the morning

Chris Bailey, author of "The Productivity Project," pinpoints this tip as his favorite strategy for saving time in the morning.

Because he travels a lot, he says, "I unfortunately don't have the ability to carve out a consistent daily routine for myself — but I find that laying out a few intentions for how I'll spend my time the next day helps me accomplish what I want to quicker."

Coordinate schedules with your partner

When he's home, Bailey says, "my girlfriend and I also make sure to tie our morning routines together — so we eat breakfast together, take alternating showers, and hit the gym by a certain time, to start the day off on a more productive note."

Alternatively, you and your partner could stagger your morning routines so you don't end up fighting to get into the closet or use the toaster.

Pack lunch

Prepping lunch for you and/or your family saves time and money — going out for lunch every day costs you about $1,000 each year.

Chug a glass of water before bed

Multiple Quora users recommend drinking water before going to sleep so you have to relieve yourself in the morning.

"After some trial and error, I realized that drinking 300 mL of water before going to bed would wake me up exactly at 7 a.m," one anonymous user writes.

You can do your own experimentation to figure out how much water you need to drink to wake up at the desired time. You'll get the added bonus of hydrating your body, which is important because, according to psychologist and sleep specialist Michael Breus, your body gets dehydrated overnight.

Keep the blinds open while you sleep

It's hard to stay asleep with sunlight streaming across your face, writes Mike Fishbein on Quora. "The sun also reminds our mind and body that it's daytime and that we should be awake and energized."

In the morning

Lay off the 'snooze' button

It's tempting to doze for just a few more minutes, we know.

But as sleep expert Timothy Morgenthaler told Business Insider's Jessica Orwig, "Most sleep specialists think that snooze alarms are not a good idea."

That's partly because, if you fall back into a deep sleep after you hit the snooze button, you're entering a sleep cycle you definitely won't be able to finish. So you'll likely wake up groggy instead of refreshed.

Take a cold shower

Once you're up and out of bed (congrats!), hop into a cool —but not freezing — shower. According to Breus, cool showers are invigorating because they lower your body temperature.

Save the hot showers for the evening, when you'll want to relax your body into sleep.

Don't burn your breakfast

Quora user Christoph Krenn has a creative technique for speeding up his morning routine:

"First thing in the morning, I put some rolls in the oven to heat up right before I head over to the bathroom. When I'm not ready after 10 minutes or so I will burn my breakfast.

"This really motivates me to finish my shower and get dressed quickly. Afterwards I enjoy my rolls with a quick coffee and get ready to leave the house."

Krenn helpfully notes that you'll only want to use foods that don't catch fire quickly.

Have a nutritious breakfast readily available

If you're not into the burnt-rolls thing, keep some healthful breakfast staples on hand. Registered dietitian Lisa DeFazio told Business Insider's Rachel Gillett that solid options include instant oatmeal (fiber!) and smoothies (protein!).

You can always take them on the go if you're running late.

In general

Buy several pairs of the same socks

"So you never have to hunt for a mate," Rubin said.

Wear the same (or almost the same) outfit every day

"Give yourself a work uniform," Rubin said, "so you have very few choices to make when dressing."

Barack Obama says he does it; so does Mark Zuckerberg. The idea is to save time as well as mental energy for the things that really matter.

"You'll see I wear only gray or blue suits," Obama told Vanity Fair in 2012. "I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make."

LONDON — Every year, on the second Monday of January, something strange happens in Japan.

Young Japanese men and women don colourful kimonos and hakama to take part in "Seijin no Hi," or "Coming of Age Day," celebrations.

The event is a rite of passage for newly-classed adults that have turned 20 in the last year. In Japan, 20 is the legal age for drinking, smoking and voting.

The get-ups are fabulous — reminiscent of Royal Ascot atire in Britain, including the iconically voluminous women's hats. 

With attendants drinking legally for the first time, Coming of Age Day is normally a pretty raucous affair — police scuffled with revellers in Okinawa this year.

Scroll down for a rare look into one of Japan's most garish festivals. 

Welcome to Seijin no Hi, or 'Coming of Age Day.' Grab your brightest kimono, longest eyelashes, and a bottle of something strong and take a look inside.

Historically, youths that took part in the Coming of Age ceremonies were of noble descent. Dating back to the eighth century, children were not officially gendered until after the rite of passage, then known as Genpuku.

When a child underwent Genpuku they were considered socially responsible, which for certain facets of society meant it was time for them to work. If a child died before this age they weren't even given funerary rights.

Source: "The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality", Bernard Faure.

It's the last day of Vine, Twitter's video-looping app, as we know it.

Twitter announced in October last year that it would close its 6-second video service down. It later clarified that it would keep Vine on as a simplified Vine Camera. This still allows people to shoot short, looping footage, but they'll only be able to post it to Twitter rather than to a standalone Vine feed. The evolution effectively downgrades Vine from an independent community to an extension of Twitter.

Twitter's encouraging Vine users to download their archives before the app becomes Vine Camera. Here's the easiest way to do it through the app.

1. First, open the Vine app and tap the user profile icon.

2. Once you're in your profile, you'll need to tap the 'Save videos'.

3. Vine will give you some options on where to save your videos — the quickest is to save them to your phone.

LONDON — Ski seasons in Europe last from October to May, but if you're willing to travel further afield, it is possible to hit the slopes year-round, especially if you're willing to go off-piste.

From backcountry adventures in Afghanistan to skiing at midnight in Sweden, there are under-the-radar resorts located all over the world.

We've listed some of the most unexpected and unusual skiing destinations around the world. It's even possible to go skiing in Scotland if your budget doesn't stretch to flying abroad.

From Aviemore to Antarctica, here are 17 places you probably didn't know you could ski, ranked from shortest to longest journey from London:

17. Aviemore, Scotland

Aviemore may not be as popular as the Alps with British tourists, but improved snow conditions in Scotland mean that it is ideal for anyone looking to spend less on travelling to their ski resort.  Snow is guaranteed from January to April.

Nearest Airport: Inverness

Route: A one hour, 50-minute flight from London to Inverness, plus a 45-minute train journey from Inverness to Aviemore. You can also take a train direct to Aviemore station from King's Cross, which will take around seven hours, 30 minutes.

Total travel time: Two hours, 35 minutes (excluding transfers).

16. Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jahorina is filled with natural beauty in the winter months, and the mountain even hosted the women's alpine skiing events in the 1984 Winter Olympics.

Nearest airport: Sarajevo

Route:Three hours, 55 minutes from London to Sarajevo (connecting flights via Cologne), followed by a 30-minute taxi journey.

Total travel time: Four hours, 25 minutes (excluding transfers).

15. Mount Etna, Sicily

While temperatures in Sicily reach freezing in Winter, it is possible to ski on top of one of the hottest places on Earth. There are two small ski resorts on the north and south sides of Mount Etna — Europe's largest active volcano. According to the Etna Ski website, the lack of tall trees on the slopes gives the landscape an "almost lunar" appearance.

Nearest airport: Catania

Route:A three hour, five-minute flight from London to Catania, followed by a one hour, 45-minute taxi journey to Etna.

Total travel time: Four hours, 50 minutes (excluding transfers).

Super Bowl 51 is set to air on Fox on February 5 and, as usual, the big game's broadcast will be stuffed to the brim with big-money ads, reportedly costing $5 million for a 30-second slot.

Unlike last year, as Marketing Land pointed out, many brands are keeping unusually quiet so far about their Super Bowl activity. But expect to see more teasers as the Super Bowl draws closer.

We'll be keeping you up to date with all the latest commercials, teasers, and other Super Bowl ads news.

Scroll down to see what we know so far about the Super Bowl ads (we've organized all the news in alphabetical order, by brand.)

84 Lumber

Construction-supply company 84 Lumber has splashed out an estimated $15 million on a 90-second ad — its debut Super Bowl spot, AdAge reported. 

It will air in the second quarter, before half-time and aims to recruit new employees. Ad agency Brunner created the ad.

Here's a recent 84 Lumber ad, celebrating its 60th year:

Audi

The automaker is returning to the Super Bowl for the ninth time, with an ad created by agency Venables Bell & Partners, according to Adweek.

Last year's spot featured David Bowie's "Starman":

Avocados from Mexico

Avocados from Mexico told Business Insider in December it was coming back to the Super Bowl in 2017. It's the third year in a row the brand has advertised in the big game.

This year's ad will be focused on promoting the fact that avocados are healthy, something the company was not explicitly permitted to do so in the past due to old FDA rules.

Here's last year's spot:

It's no secret that women are largely underrepresented in the tech industry.

In 2014, women held less than 20% of the technical positions at most major Silicon Valley companies. 

This 20% statistic is also consistent with the percentage of women that solve challenges on HackerRank, a free coding practice website that allows developers to hone their coding skills by solving challenges. 

The team at HackerRank decided to use their data on female participants of their challenges to figure out which countries are home to the best female coders. 

The United States missed the top 10, coming in at number 14 overall. Here's who made it:

SEE ALSO: Hackers are using a devilishly clever fake email attachment scam to break into people's accounts

10. United Kingdom

9. India

8. Singapore

A huge change is underway in China.

Over the next 10 years, the country plans to move 250 million people— the equivalent population of Indonesia — into the country's rapidly growing megacities.

To accommodate that enormous migration, the country has invested billions of dollars in massive infrastructure projects. Some are already complete, while others are still in the works.

From highways that span the continent and the largest wind-power base in the world to enormous airports and new cities in the desert, China is showing what it really means to do big things.

Robert Johnson and Vivian Giang contributed to an earlier version of this story.

SEE ALSO: Orlando missed out on billions of dollars of anti-terror funds sent to other cities

$110 MILLION: The Pingtang telescope was finally turned on in September 2016 and is now the world's largest radio telescope. Its dish measures 1,640 feet across.

$176 MILLION: The Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory is where many of China's major scientific projects are conducted. It's the country's most expensive research facility.

$200 MILLION: The Guangzhou Opera House is one of the three biggest theaters in China, designed by architect Zaha Hadid.

Cadillac has a bit of a crossover problem. While other luxury brands have been selling these versatile vehicles left and right, Caddy has been playing catch up, marketing its portfolio of brash, high-performance sport coupes and sedans under the "V" designation, alongside the regular versions of these cars.

But Johan de Nysschen, the executive who runs the marque, wanted crossovers, to compete with BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Lincoln, Volvo — heck, pretty much everybody in the luxury space.

True, Cadillac has the mighty Escalade, but that's a large-and-in-charge mega-SUV. It's not really designed for most suburban families. It also had the SRX, a crossover that evolved from a wagon, but it was getting long-in-the-tooth and wasn't an effective modern combatant in battles against the premium crossovers from the Germans and Japanese.

De Nysschen's goal is to shift the portfolio away from aggressive, near-exotic designs and platforms and bring Caddy into alignment with the rest of the luxury market. That means more crossovers, starting with the XT5, the SRX's replacement and the most important Cadillac in years.

We sampled the future when we received not one but two versions of the XT5, one in Florida and one in the New York-New Jersey area. Transportation Reporter Ben Zhang tried the black XT5, which came with a slightly higher-level trim package and tipped the price scales at about $64,000, while Senior Transportation Correspondent Matt DeBord investigated a $58,000 "crystal white" XT5.

Here's what we thought:

SEE ALSO: The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is one of the oddest and most memorable cars we've ever driven

The new XT5 is undeniably sharp, but it's proves that Caddy is shifting away from its at-time divisive "art and science," stealth-fighter design vocabulary toward a more globally appealing approach.

Cadillac altered its identity about two decades ago, shifting from creating large, floaty American luxury sedans to building snappy, aggressive vehicles defined by edgy angles and slablike surfaces. 

It worked — the courtly era of old-school Caddys came to and end — but overnight Cadillac went from being a recognizable luxury brand to being an exotic brand, closer to Corvette in the GM hierarchy than Buick.

Cadillac intensified the Art and Science idea for over ten years, but as the brand has become more globally important for the leaner, meaner, post-bankruptcy GM, it's been dialed back. The XT5 isn't wimpy in appearance, but it's lost some that proudly arrogant Caddy swagger.

There's a smooth sweep of lines from front to back, with an integrated spoiler completing the roof line, and a bold — but not too bold — chrome-trimmed angle on the rear windows picked up and extended by the large rear tail lights. A pair of chromed exhaust ports delivers a sporty vibe.

It's all fairly low-key and should attract a lot of buyers who've been waiting for Cadillac to offer a solid crossover to tempt them away from BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and Audi.

Notice that the XT5 isn't a chrome-a-palooza. Also notice that the Cadillac badge is tastefully scaled. By far the most hulking thing about the vehicle — from a marque that still sells that very hulking Escalade SUV — is the tail-light design. 

Everything else is calculated for broad popularity.

Ben tested a slightly higher trim level than Matt — and Ben got to enjoy the vehicle in sunny Florida. Matt made do with New Jersey.

The interior of the car is, in a word, fantastic. It's roomy. It's luxurious without being too much. It isn't an orgy of topstitching and bright chrome. The materials are all excellent, premium, supple. The leather feels really good.

You could argue that interiors are really where the action is these days with upscale crossovers. On the outside, it's questionable whether there's much to be gained by going with a crazy design idea — everybody who wants to buy one of these vehicles seems to be seeking the same thing.

People often assume that New Yorkers live in shoe-box–sized apartments.

But Manhattan's first (and only) official micro-apartment building at Caramel Place takes small to a new level. The units have less space than an average studio — but they're much better designed. The idea is that the minimalist, chic design makes ultra-tiny living possible.

Designed by nArchitects, Carmel Place recently won a prestigious 2017 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, the US' biggest architecture association. On January 13, the jury announced that "Carmel Place represents a new housing paradigm for the city's growing small household population."

Completed in early 2016, the units at Carmel Place range from 260 to 360 square feet. For comparison, the average Manhattan studio is twice that size, and a standard one-car garage is about 200 square feet.

To make the limited square footage more livable, developer Stage 3 Properties enlisted the help of the lifestyle design company Ollieand Screech Owl designer Jacqueline Schmidt. The team meticulously designed 17 of the 55 units with space-saving furniture and accessories.

Unlike most apartments in Manhattan, the ones at Carmel Place are designed from the ground-up for minimalist living, Schmidt told Business Insider. In June 2016, when Carmel Place's first residents moved in, I spent a night in a 308-square-foot furnished apartment.

Here's what happened.

SEE ALSO: The 11 best new buildings designed by American architects

Carmel Place is located in Kip's Bay, a neighborhood on the east side of Manhattan near the East River.

The nine-story building features 55 units. The first 36 tenants moved in June 1, 2016, Ollie co-founder Andrew Bledsoe told Business Insider.

About half of the building's studios are furnished by Ollie. The service also includes WiFi, cable, and subscriptions to the events club Magnises and the butler service Hello Alfred.

Every week, a Hello Alfred employee makes the bed, changes the linens, grocery shops, mails packages, replenishes household staples, and drops off laundry and dry cleaning.

Depending on whether the apartments include Ollie's amenities, monthly rents range from $2,450 to $3,000.

When I walked in, the apartment looked stunning. The majority of the furniture was white, which made the room seem a lot larger.

Wall Street's sell-side analysts publish piles of recommendations on which stocks to buy, sell, or hold every day.

In retrospect, and for the trader with a shorter time horizon, only a few of those calls were worth listening to in 2016.

TipRanks, a website that tracks and ranks analyst recommendations, compiled a list of stock pickers who had the most success last year.

After scanning hundreds of thousands of recommendations, TipRanks graded them by average return and success rate, which is the ratio of calls that generated positive returns in the following quarter relative to all ratings that were given.

Recommendations were measured for a three-month period from the open date in 2016 or until January 11, if the three months are still ongoing. 

Here are the stock pickers, ranked by average return of their calls:

10. Michael Matson, Needham

Industry: Healthcare

Success Rate: 62%

Average Return: 9%

Noteworthy recommendation: GenMark (GNMK)

Matson’s most profitable recommendation of 2016 (with a three-month profit of 72.7%) was for molecular diagnostic testing company GenMark on April 19. He has subsequently reiterated his buy rating twice — most recently on July 29 after the European clearance and launch of GNMK’s sample-to-answer ePlex system. At the end of last year, GenMark submitted ePlex to the FDA for clearance.

9. Christopher Nolan, FBR

Industry: Financial

Success Rate: 87%

Average Return: 11.5%

Noteworthy recommendation: Triumph Bancorp (TBK)

Nolan’s buy recommendation of Texas-based Triumph Bancorp on Nov. 27 was his most profitable call of the last year. From the end of Nov until Jan. 11 the shares made 39.9% profit.

According to Nolan, 3Q16 earnings were solid with EPS of $0.32 above estimates (excluding merger-related expenses from the acquisition of ColoEast Bancshares in August). However, "asset quality deteriorated in terms of higher nonperforming assets (NPA) and net charge-offs mostly related to legacy TBK credit," said Nolan.

8. Mark Palmer, BTIG

Industry: Financial

Success Rate: 78%

Average Return: 14.2%

Noteworthy recommendation: Genworth Financial (GNW)

Palmer maintained his Buy rating on the insurance company’s stock on February 5. This turned out to be a very good decision — the stock gained 78% in the three months after the call with the share price rising from $2.18 to $4.06. 

However, Palmer has recently downgraded his Genworth rating to hold following the announcement in October of its acquisition by China Oceanwide for $5.43 per share in cash.

The winners of this year's prestigious Outdoor Photographer of the Year competition have been released and they're truly awe-inspiring.

Over 17,000 entries competed for the top prize of a once-in-a-lifetime photography assignment to cover the Fjällräven Polar dogsled expedition, which covers 300km of arctic tundra.

Eight categories' winners have been released, and a final overall winner will be announced on stage at The Photography Show at the NEC, Birmingham on March 18.

From epic Norwegian lakes to wild African game reserves, scroll down to see this year's remarkable winners.

At the Water’s Edge Winner, Pete Hyde (UK) — Gavlfjorden, Holm, Langøya, Norway.

'Having driven several miles up a minor road, we came to the small harbour at Holm. After a short walk, we were presented with this wonderful view up a small side-branch of Gavlfjorden. The soft, misty light and the calmness of the water were perfect for conveying the peace and tranquillity we were privileged to enjoy.'

Young Outdoor Photographer of the Year Winne, David Rosenzweig (USA) — Timbavati Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

'The eternal bond between a mother andchild is one that transcends the animal kingdom.One early morning in the Timbavati Game Reserve,we came across this female leopard. She was clearly searching for something and continued calling untilshe reached an open road. Just as she arrived, hercub came running out of the bushes. The ensuinginteraction between the mother and cub proved thelove that the two share for each other.'

Wildlife Insight Winner, Alice van Kempen (Netherlands) — Lower Sabie, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

'In Africa, poachers slaughter an elephant every 15 minutes to supply the demand for ivory – that’s 96 beautiful creatures a day. In 2016, as of the middle of September, there had been 36 elephants killed by poachers in the Kruger National Park alone – the highest number since 1982. With this in mind, I wanted to create a photograph to reflect the situation the elephants are in. I chose to capture the sad look of one of the elephants; a dark image that lets you focus on the tusks.'