Workplace saboteurs can have an insidious impact on the office.

A recent University at Buffalo School of Management study found that those who feel undermined at work are more likely to sabotage their coworkers, according to Phys.org.

That's bad news. Professional undermining is like a toxic gas: Its presence will render any workplace uninhabitable.

Still, even if you feel like a colleague is out to get you, it's important not to let your suspicions make you paranoid.

Before you can take steps toward mitigating the situation, you need to know for sure that you're being targeted.

Here are 16 signs that a colleague is undermining you at work:

SEE ALSO: 7 signs that you can't trust your coworkers

They're more than just competitive

According to an article from Fast Company, competitiveness and outright sabotage are often difficult to tell apart, but the latter is comparatively rare.

Before you label someone as an underminer, make sure they're not just hypercompetitive. If your coworker is overly competitive, then they will want to beat out everyone. If they are actively undermining you, then they want to see you fail in particular.

The two aren't mutually exclusive, but it's still an important distinction.

They put you on the defensive

You never argue with this particular colleague, but he or she always manages to put you on the defensive.

If someone's making you feel like you're on trial, then that's not a good sign. They might be baiting you and waiting for you to slip up.

You're not alone

Underminers typically don't stick to just one victim. If you hear that your colleague has burned others in the past, then it's probably best to hold them at arm's length.

Don't kid yourself thinking that they'll make an exception for you.

President Trump has yet to nominate anyone for 74% of key executive branch positions. Out of the 558 positions which require Senate confirmation, 415 have no nominee as of Sunday.

Seven people have been announced as nominees but not formally nominated.

But the Trump administration's lag in selecting nominees may not be the only thing to blame for the White House's hiring crisis. Of the 94 formal nominees, the Senate has confirmed only 42 so far.

A number of factors besides the lack of nominees have also contributed to the delay, including: Democrats' opposition to Trump's nominees, some Republicans' unwillingness to work for an administration rocked by controversy, and Trump's reported treatment of administration officials.

Here's a guide to the reasons:

SEE ALSO: The Russia controversy may be scaring political appointees from joining the Trump administration

DON'T MISS: WHO'S RUNNING THE GOVERNMENT? Trump has yet to fill 74% of key executive branch positions

Trump's nominees have had to wait far longer than Obama's, Bush's, and Clinton's.

According to The Washington Post, Trump's Cabinet nominees had to wait 25 days between being officially nominated and being voted on by the Senate. On the other hand, President Barack Obama's nominees had a median wait time of two days, President George W. Bush's waited zero days, and President Bill Clinton's waited one day.

A number of Trump's nominees faced a steep uphill climb during their confirmation hearings. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions faced particularly sharp questioning from congressional Democrats for their past conduct, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' nomination nearly failed after two Republican senators voted against her, leading to a 50-50 stalemate. In the end, Vice President Mike Pence had to cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm DeVos.

Sources: The Washington Post, Business Insider

Some Republicans are wary of joining the Trump administration amid the brewing Russia controversy.

Recent news stories suggesting that the congressional and FBI investigations may now reach some top White House officials may deter potential nominees from joining the administration, Politico reported in May.

The Trump-Russia story has gained even more steam since then, following Trump's abrupt decision to fire FBI director James Comey, a slew of media reports that raised questions about the president's and his associates' ties to Russia, and Comey's bombshell testimony before the Senate earlier this month.

A number of potential nominees are having second thoughts as the continuing investigations threaten to derail Trump's agenda, four people close to prospective nominees told Politico. Others echoed similar sentiments to The Washington Post in a story published Saturday.

An attorney who represents potential executive branch nominees also told Politico that three clients said they were not interested in working for Trump after former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed as a special prosecutor to spearhead the FBI's Russia probe.

"There's no doubt in my mind that people are being very cautious, to put it mildly," the attorney said. If people continue to drop out from consideration, "you're going to have a situation where they're going to have trouble getting A-list of even B-list people to sign up," the lawyer added.

Sources: Business Insider, Politico, The Washington Post

Trump's treatment of current administration officials may be deterring potential appointees.

The Post reported that some potential nominees are aware of Trump's reported mood swings and frequent irritation toward senior staff and Cabinet members. 

"Trump is becoming radioactive, and it's accelerating," Bill Valdez, a former senior Energy Department official, told the Post. "He just threw Jeff Sessions under the bus."

Valdez was likely referring to reports that Trump is angry with Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia probe. Sessions reportedly offered to resign over the tiff.

Trump has also frequently made statements that directly contradicted those his communications staff and spokespeople have made. This was perhaps most prominent in the immediate aftermath of Comey's firing.

The White House and Trump's spokespeople initially said that Trump's decision to remove the FBI director was based entirely on the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and had nothing to do with the escalating Russia controversy.

Shortly after, however, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that he had already made the decision to fire Comey and was going to do it regardless of Rosenstein's recommendation. He also added that "this Russia thing" was a factor in his decision.

"If you're working with a boss who doesn't have your back," Valdez told the Post, "you have no confidence in working with that individual."

Sources: The Washington Post, Business Insider

Young wannabe investment bankers are descending upon Wall Street for their summer internships.

Many are entering with one main goal: secure an analyst position at the firm where they are interning.

Scott Rostan is the founder and CEO of Training the Street, a company that teaches aspiring Wall Streeters financial skills. The former Merrill Lynch banker has been teaching finance training courses to interns and analysts at some of Wall Street's top banks, including Blackstone Group and UBS.

So he knows what it takes to get ahead on the Street and how summer interns can position themselves for future success in the hypercompetitive financial-services industry.

Rostan shared with Business Insider five tips for a Wall Street wannabe to get the most out of his or her investment-banking internship.

SEE ALSO: Lloyd Blankfein was given 2 bits of advice when he became a partner at Goldman Sachs, and they sum up the company culture

SEE ALSO: Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein describes the kind of people he wants to hire

1. Keep in mind that attitude is more important than aptitude

"Some of my clients' best bankers are not necessarily Ivy League or elite MBA program graduates. Much of their early success can be attributed to an exceptional attitude: being a team player, finding ways to positively contribute, good old fashioned work ethic, and completing tasks on time while exceeding expectations. Maintaining a 'can do' attitude and not getting discouraged are key for your internship success."

2. Learn from every experience

"Don't just complete each assignment, or listen at each meeting; instead, try to actively learn. An internship provides you with many opportunities to learn, and you should pursue each one that you can. Managers, peers, and even those dreaded 'lunch-n-learns' are all great opportunities to learn best practices, including how to be more efficient and productive. Remember to learn not only from successes but also from your mistakes, including your own and those around you. And therefore you won’t make the same mistake twice."

3. Be a good listener

"You will be surrounded by bright, experienced people. Listen to their instructions, listen to their advice, and listen (and learn) from their prior knowledge and experiences. Think about what they are saying with an open mind, but also professionally and respectfully challenge assumptions and analyses that you disagree with and have a unique perspective on."

This week, Uber temporarily lost its CEO, saw a board member leave after making a sexist comment, and was sued by a rape victim who alleges the company improperly gained access to her medical records.

This isn't the ride-hailing giant's first tangle with controversy.

It's been under a cloud since February, when former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published allegations about the company's culture of harassment on her blog. Fowler's bombshell mentions a supervisor who propositioned her for sex, an HR department reluctant to look into her complaints, and a workplace that appeared hostile to women.

This prompted several investigations at Uber, including one headed by former Attorney General Eric Holder, which led to the recent firing of more than 20 employees.

The company pledged to make changes as a result of the investigation's findings. These steps include revamping its institutional values, prioritizing measures that promote diversity and inclusion, and cleaning up its hard-partying reputation, as Business Insider's Biz Carson reported. Now Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has taken a leave of absence from the company.

With headlines like these, it can seem like the workplace has gone to the bros.

In a New York Times piece, Dan Lyons portrays an average bro as a hustling, amoral young man who places "winning" above all else in business. "Bro culture" is what ensues when those typically inexperienced men take over the C-suite and allow their obnoxiousness to seep into the rest of the company.

The resulting "bro culture" tends to prioritize young men over all other employees, creating an environment that's ripe for toxic behaviors like excessive partying and systemic harassment of colleagues.

Many are blaming Uber's woes on the rise of bro culture. But is there a cure for this toxicity? And can it be prevented?

SEE ALSO: 'Training doesn't stop harassment': After a stunning string of blows, experts weigh in on how Uber can recover

DON'T MISS: The 24 tech companies losing top talent at an astonishing rate

'Do not use the stairwells to smoke, drink, eat, or have sex'

While it presently dominates headlines, Uber is hardly the only company that's been accused of fostering such a bro-centric culture.

HR-software startup Zenefits attracted criticism over its "rambunctious, frat-like office culture,"Business Insider's Eugene Kim reported.

After one raucous bash, employees received an email warning them not to ditch cigarettes, alcohol, or used condoms in the office's stairwell: "Yes, you read that right. Do not use the stairwells to smoke, drink, eat, or have sex," the email said, as The Wall Street Journal reported.

New York Magazine reported on alleged harassment at Thinx, an underwear and feminine-hygiene startup. A former employee filed a complaint with the City of New York Commission on Human Rights, as Business Insider reported. The employee alleged that CEO Miki Agrawal groped an employee, frequently changed clothes in the office, and conducted video conferences while naked, according to New York Magazine.

While bro culture is typically defined as being led and dominated by men, in the case of Thinx, the complaint alleged that the "only two employees who negotiated higher salaries at Thinx were men," according to The New York Times.

And it's not as if bro-ish behaviors are new to the business world. As Newsweek reported, energy and commodities company Enron threw parties with strippers and pricey champagne. Employees often celebrated with "cocktails poured over a block of ice straight into their mouths."

While it might be tempting to declare that the issue of bro culture is getting worse, this isn't a new problem. What's more, as with anything, the disasters tend to attract more ink than the companies that play by the rules. That said, when it comes to bro culture, we don't have a lot of data to look at. Most of the data on workplace harassment tends to look at harassment in general, instead of harassment that occurs within companies that could be considered bastions of "bro culture."

"Let's be honest. Stories about healthy and inclusive cultures are boring," Raleigh, North Carolina-based human-resources consultant Laurie Ruettimann tells Business Insider. "I think bro cultures are still rare. Most people go to work and suffer from working with people who are too nice for their own good and never say anything controversial or meaningful. Or they work in passive-aggressive cultures where people are nice to their faces but stab them in the back on anonymous employee-engagement surveys."

'Building the right culture means paying attention to it from day one'

So how does a company become infected with bro culture, and why does it seem to plague startups the most?

Part of it boils down to representation. The lack of women in leadership roles in certain male-dominated fields is a "chicken or the egg" problem. A lack of female leadership in some fields leads to fewer female mentors and fewer companies where women have a position at the upper echelons of the organization, which it turn results in fewer women entering that industry and becoming leaders themselves.

It's a vicious cycle. Only 6% of investing partners at venture-capital companies were women as of 2014. This marks a drop from 10% in 1999, according to the Diana Project at Babson College. Meanwhile, as CNBC reported, only 9% of senior IT employees are women, according to the 2017 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO survey.

In a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment, successful startups can scale rapidly. If concrete measures to encourage values such as inclusion and fairness aren't planted in the beginning, they tend to get lost in the growth.

"Now the reality is if that bro culture isn't acknowledged and intentionally corrected, you end up in a situation where you've created something that's incredibly valuable that all of a sudden has extreme risk surrounding it, because of that culture," Ken Ziegler, CEO of cloud-computing company LogicWorks, tells Business Insider.

"If leadership doesn't have an intense focus on both building and sustaining the right culture for your business and the people you want to attract, it's very easy for a toxic one to take over," CEO of HR tech platform YouEarnedIt Autumn Manning tells Business Insider. "Building the right culture means paying attention to it from day one."

'I kind of felt like I had been looking into a crystal ball'

As Fowler described in her blog post, the consequences of bro culture can be incredibly damaging. Former Uber engineer Keala Lusk also shared her experience in a Medium post, alleging a persistent, toxic culture at the ride-hailing company.

"In my time there, I saw malicious fights for power, interns repeatedly putting in over 100 hours a week but only getting paid for 40, discrimination against women, and prejudice against the transgender community," she wrote.

Plenty of other Uber employees, including Aimee Lucido and employees who responded to a Quora thread on the matter, have responded that they never saw such behavior.

But in institutions lacking the structure for dealing with issues like harassment, smaller instances of problematic behavior can bloom into something far worse.

Harry Campbell, a part-time Uber and Lyft driver who blogs as The Rideshare Guy, says that he wasn't shocked when Fowler's allegations came out.

"I kind of felt like I had been looking into a crystal ball," he tells Business Insider.

Uber drivers are not employees of the company; they are legally independent contractors. But Campbell says that drivers share some of the concerns that Uber employees have — namely, a culture that is more focused on results than on people.

For drivers, Campbell says this manifests itself in a feeling of expandability and a lack of structural recourse when dealing with dishonest reviews or comments from passengers, while employees like Fowler alleged that Uber's HR bungled her harassment claims.

"When we started to see some of these issues pop up on the employee side, I think, for a lot of drivers, this wasn't necessarily news," says Campbell.

"If the company culture shows lower levels of respect toward independent contractors there's really no reason that the culture's going to be any different toward employees over the long run and that's sort of what we saw with Uber. The human element is the thing that gets lost."

Barbara Corcoran has turned the founders of her favorite "Shark Tank" investments into a family of entrepreneurs.

For the past four years, Corcoran has assembled a group of her most profitable entrepreneurs, along with the most promising founders from the most recent season of the show, for a three-day retreat at one of her homes. The group changes each year.

During this time, they all share best practices, give updates on successes and failures of the past year, and get to know each other better.

This June, she brought the founders of five companies to New York City, ending the retreat at a New York Yankees game. The founders, with custom "Barbara's All-Stars" Yankees shirts, got to enjoy the game from a box suite overlooking home plate.

We met up with them to discuss the best business lessons they've learned from Corcoran.

SEE ALSO: The 'small business owners of the year' share their best advice for entrepreneurs

Daisy Cakes founder Kim Nelson learned that there's no time to feel sorry for yourself when things go wrong.

Kim Nelson is the veteran of Corcoran's all-stars, having made a deal with her in Season 2, back in 2010. Corcoran invested $50,000 for 25% equity in Daisy Cakes, and the South Carolina-based online cake company grew rapidly. Last year it brought in $5.2 million in revenue, at a profit.

Nelson said that Corcoran taught her the importance of knowing when to keep her emotions from impacting her decisions and, in turn, hurting the business.

In 2013, Corcoran secured an update segment for Daisy Cakes on an episode of "Shark Tank"— the investors compete for the update spots because each appearance drives sales. After the Daisy Cakes update aired, one of Nelson's employees was unavailable to take orders, and it had a significant negative impact on the segment's potential success. It was also just one of many mistakes this employee had been making.

Corcoran was furious and told Nelson she needed to fire this employee immediately. Nelson began crying, because even though this employee had failed her, she considered her a friend.

"It's OK to cry," Corcoran told Nelson. "You've got five minutes. Step outside, get your cry, get it over with, and get back inside and get your ass back to work."

Nelson said she's carried the lesson with her: "If something doesn't go right or how you wanted it to, get back up, dust yourself off, and go back after something else. Don't sit around having a pity party, feeling sorry for yourself."

Grace and Lace founders Rick and Melissa Hinnant learned how to expand their team.

The husband-and-wife team of Rick and Melissa Hinnant gave 10% of Grace and Lace to Corcoran in exchange for a $175,000 investment in Season 5, in late 2013. The women's apparel company has made $25 million in total sales since its appearance on "Shark Tank," and the Hinnants expect sales to be over $10 million this year, at a profit.

Melissa is the visionary behind Grace and Lace, and during the summer of 2015 she was overwhelmed with the growth of business, to the point of "almost having a breakdown." Corcoran told her and Rick that the problem was that the company was too big for Melissa to be individually designing every product, micromanaging operations.

Melissa said that she had been unwilling to share some of her responsibilities sooner because she believed it would be handing over her business, which would inevitably transform the company for the worse.

Corcoran reframed the idea of hiring a team to share some of Melissa's burden as "empowering" and helping to grow her vision rather than "handing it over."

Rick added that Corcoran told them that when they went to build this design team, they needed to focus less on résumés and more on who Melissa connected with. "Just get good people around Melissa and it'll take care of itself," Rick said Corcoran told them. "And it's totally done that."

Pipsnacks founders Jeff and Jen Martin learned the importance of timing.

Sibling entrepreneurs Jeff and Jen Martin made a $200,000 deal with Corcoran in Season 6, in 2014, for 10% of their New York-based Pipsnacks. Since then, they've landed a deal with Whole Foods that got their line of gourmet popcorn into every Whole Foods location in the US, and they're expecting sales this year to be around $5 million, at a profit.

Jen said that Corcoran taught them the importance on staying focused on where they excel, and told them to "figure out how you can dig deeper in that" rather than expanding beyond their strengths. Jeff added that Corcoran has stressed that there's a right time for everything, and that they need to be disciplined about how they grow the company.

For example, the Martins said, they added three new flavors of Pipcorn this year because they felt they had sufficiently used their core offering to build brand awareness, and Whole Foods was ready to increase the product's presence in its stores. Jen and Jeff said they have plenty of ideas always ready to implement, but that releasing a product at the wrong time could be a disaster.

Jeff said Corcoran helped them realize that growth is "cyclical," and that when they finally feel comfortable with the scope of the business, it's time to readjust, that, "it's always coming back to square one where you can see what's happening everywhere and adjust, and then find out when you should grow again."

At the end of 2014, after more than 13 years of combat operations, 9,800 US troops were to remain in Afghanistan.

That number would be reduced by half at the end of 2015 and reduced again at the end of 2016 to a small military contingent attached to the US embassy.

But the Taliban's success on the battlefield and Afghan security forces' poor performance led to a continued US deployment in the country.

At the end of 2016 the US had a force of nearly 10,000 in Afghanistan, though President Barack Obama intended to reduce that force to 5,500 in 2017, the Taliban threat caused a change of plans, and 8,400 troops are to remain in Afghanistan during 2017.

Now the Trump administration is considering sending up to 5,000 more troops to support Afghan military and police units fighting the Taliban, as well as deploying special-operations forces to counter ISIS and Al Qaeda elements along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Those deliberations come as the US is failing in its nearly 16-year-long fight — longer than any other US foreign war and most other military operations — in the war-torn country, according to Defense Secretary James Mattis.

"We are not winning in Afghanistan right now. And we will correct this as soon as possible,"Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Mattis is not alone in that assessment.

Earlier this year, Army Gen. John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan and the 12th person to hold that job, called the situation there a stalemate.

Nicholson has also cautioned Congress that more US forces may be needed to counter growing outside influence in Afghanistan — from Russia in particular.

In 16 years of operations in and around Afghanistan, the US has lost some 2,200 troops.

Since 2001, the US has spent about $110 billion on Afghanistan's reconstruction, more than the cost of the Marshall Plan that reconstruct Europe after World War II. Washington has allocated more than $60 billion since 2002 to train and equip Afghan troops.

The US money spent in Afghanistan has yielded few lasting results, however. Security in the country remains precarious, and the Taliban is believed to control more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since 2001.

Below, you can see photos documenting the last 16 years the US's "generational" war in Afghanistan.

SEE ALSO: Trump is assembling all the pieces he needs to go after Iran

Osama bin Laden is seen at an undisclosed location in this television image broadcast Sunday, October 7, 2001. Bin Laden praised God for the September 11 terrorist attacks and swore America "will never dream of security" until "the infidel's armies leave the land of Muhammad," in a videotaped statement aired after the strike launched Sunday by the US and Britain in Afghanistan.

The US and Britain on October 7, 2001, launched a first wave of air strikes against Afghanistan and then US President George W. Bush said the action heralded a "sustained, comprehensive and relentless" campaign against terrorism.

Eyewitnesses said they saw flashes and heard explosions over the Afghan capital of Kabul in the first phase of what the US has said will be a protracted and wide-ranging war against terrorism and the states that support it. The attack had been prepared since the September 11 suicide attacks on the US. 

Mohammed Anwar, left, and an unidentified boy in Kabul, Afghanistan, display pieces of shrapnel from bombs dropped Monday morning, October 8, 2001.

The US and Britain hit Afghanistan and key installations of the Taliban regime with cruise missiles Sunday night for harboring suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. Many residents of Afghanistan seem unfazed by the bombing after living in war like conditions for more than 20 years.

If you feel a twinge of jealousy each time you read about another successful person who wakes up at 4 a.m. to meditate, jog, read a novel, and eat two grapefruits, take heart.

You don't need to add that much time or energy to your current morning routine to be happy or productive.

In fact, plenty of the habits that can help you start your day take five minutes or less.

We found a bunch of those habits on the Quora threads, "What can I do in 5 minutes in the morning to make my whole day better?" and "How can I improve my morning routine?"

Below, check out some of the simplest routines to start your day feeling refreshed and ready to tackle whatever challenges come your way.

SEE ALSO: 7 things not to do when you first wake up

Take 3 deep breaths

That's a tip from Jusice Setlodi. Sleep doctor Michael Breus gave us the same advice— breathing deeply as soon as you wake up jumpstarts your respiratory system.

Make your bed

Raviteja Chirala says he loves coming home to a neatly made bed.

Meanwhile, journalist Charles Duhigg writes in his book "The Power of Habit" that making your bed can help increase your productivity for the rest of the day. That's because it's a "keystone habit" that can "spark chain reactions that help other good habits take hold."

Meditate

Science suggests meditation has myriad benefits, from helping you deal with stress and negative emotions, to boosting your memory, to strengthening your immune system.

But meditation doesn't necessarily mean sitting in silence for hours on end. As Ariel Banayanpoints out, "sitting for five minutes to detach from the thoughts of your mind will have a profound impact on your day."

If you're unsure how to get started, the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center offers some free guided meditations, some of them five minutes or shorter.

If you open your closet and any of the 25 articles of clothing on this list are inside it, the reality is that you need to start throwing things in the garbage.

Perhaps also consider building a dumpster fire.

Each item on this list has no place in an adult male's wardrobe. Some of these pieces have simply outstayed their welcome; others have been and always will be fashion abominations. You probably just didn't know it when you purchased them.

We're not asking for much here. We're not asking you to go out and buy the newest trend or throw money down on a pair of designer shoes.

We're just saying that in these cases, less is most definitely more.

"Going out" shirts

This is the male equivalent of a girl's "going out" top. It's the shirt in your wardrobe that you think makes you look as if you're ready to party.

Maybe it has some pinstripes. Maybe you think the color is awesome. Maybe it's just black —don't wear that anymore.

Whatever it is, it's probably too much. Your regular shirts should be fine enough to "go out" in. Don't try so hard.

Embroidered jeans

Unless you bedazzled your jeans yourself and want to show off your handiwork, there's really no reason to wear jeans with any kind of detail on the seat.

Plastic flip-flops

If you do own a pair of plastic flip-flops, you should be putting them on when your feet hit the sand at the beach, and then promptly taking them off once you leave. 

That's because they are for children.

The human population is growing at an alarming rate. By 2050, there will be almost 10 billion people on the planet.

We've been hearing this for years, but where is all this growth happening?

Today, Tokyo is the most populous city in the world, with about 38 million residents.

New York City is still in the top 10 ranking, with its nearly 8.5 million people. But in the next three decades, that's going to change.

While population growth in the US and Europe stagnates, the number of people living in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa is going to skyrocket.

By 2030, these will be the new 10 biggest cities in the world, according to the United Nations' World Urbanization Prospects:

SEE ALSO: These will be the world's 10 biggest cities in 2050 — and you probably haven't heard of some of them

DON'T MISS: These are the 10 smartest countries in the world when it comes to science

10. Mexico City, Mexico: 23.9 million people

9. Lagos, Nigeria: 24.2 million people

8. Cairo, Egypt: 24.5 million people

Olympic medalist Andrew Steele knows that our current knowledge about genetics isn't enough to give complete predictions about health.

Nevertheless the company where he is Head of Product, DNAFit, is one of a number of organizations drawing on genetic data to give customers advice about their diet and exercise regimen. For £249 for the complete package, it uses a customer's DNA sample to create a personalized profile which provides diet and training advice that it believes best suits them, according to some limited genetic studies.

"There’s no scientific proof that this can be a prediction — it’s just learning more about you so you can better reach your goal," Steele told Business Insider.

Speaking on the concept of DNA testing, Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition and public health at New York University, told Business Insider reporter Kevin Loria, "The tests are fun but their usefulness has yet to be shown," adding, "I'd rather spend the money on good dinners."

A position paper from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics offered the same sentiment, stating: "The use of nutrigenetic testing to provide dietary advice is not ready for routine dietetics practice."

Nevertheless, DNAFit has worked with several high-profile clients such as Greg Rutherford and the Egyptian National Football team. It's also used by trainers at some David Lloyd gyms, and the company is an official wellness provider for employees of LinkedIn.

Still, Steele said the core of its business is now "ordinary consumers who take the DNA swab test at home."

With that in mind, we tried it out. Scroll down to see how the process went.

SEE ALSO: 11 fitness myths that are doing more harm than good

DON'T MISS: Coconut oil's health benefits are a myth — here's what you should use instead

I'm Ali, Business Insider UK's Lifestyle Editor. I'm pretty interested in everything health and fitness, so when DNAFit, the company that uses DNA samples to produce personalized exercise and nutrition reports based on a person's genetic makeup, offered me a free trial of its services, I happily obliged.

After making a profile on the DNAFIt website, I was sent a kit that looked like this.

It contained a swab pack with clear instructions, along with some information on the company, privacy, and code of practice.

This year, the United Nations proclaimed 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development — aiming to help promote hotels and resorts that are both environmentaly friendly and socially conscious.

For its current, June and July issue, National Geographic Traveler magazine is celebrating the best of the best eco-friendly resorts across the world.

Below, ten of our favorites from their "21 Places to stay if you care about the planet" round-up. Captions by National Geographic Traveler.      

SEE ALSO: Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and supermodel Miranda Kerr are honeymooning on a luxurious island in Fiji

The Brando: Located in French Polynesia, is late actor Marlon Brando's eco-dream brought to life, the private island is run on 100% renewable energy sources, including solar power and coconut oil. Guests can join naturalist guides to explore Tetiaroa atoll, once the sacred retreat of Tahitian royalty, with giant coconut crabs and temples. The Obama's and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, along with his wife Miranda Kerr have all recently been spotted there.

The Brando

Coral Caye: Director Francis Ford Coppola opened Coral Caye last year in Belize, surrounded by a rainbow of sea life.

Coral Caye

Jetwing Vil Uyana: Nature reigns at Jetwing Vil Uyana in Sri Lanka’s famed Cultural Triangle, home to the gray slender loris, among the world's tiniest primates.

Jetwing Vil Uyana

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

The Insider Pick:

• A good air conditioner can help make those hot summers much more bearable. The LG LW6017R Air Conditioner is the best window AC you can buy, with its three cooling speeds and built-in dehumidifier.

We’re heading into summer, which means that things are going to start getting real hot, real soon – if they haven’t already. As such, it might be time to start looking for a new window-mounted air conditioner to keep your home nice and cool, so that you don’t roast over the summer months.

Of course, there are a ton of window air conditioners to choose from, and they’re not all worth buying. Some are simply lower quality and won’t last as long as others that are better-built and more energy-efficient.

There are a number of things to consider when you’re buying a window air conditioner, and you’ll want to think about them before you buy to ensure that you get the best quality. For starters, you’ll want to consider the air conditioner’s BTU – or “British Thermal Unit.” The higher the number here, the better the unit will be able to remove heat from the room. But a higher BTU also means it will likely consume a little more energy.

How big of a BTU rating do you need for your room?

Check out the list below to figure out the BTU rating you’ll need depending on how large your room is. Figures are courtesy of Lowes.

• 150 to 350 sq ft: 5,000 to 8,000 BTU
• 350 to 550 sq ft: 8,000 to 12,000 BTU
• 550 to 1,050 sq ft: 12,000 to 18,500 BTU
• 1,050 to 1,600 sq ft: 18,500 to 25,000 BTU

You’ll also want to think about the air conditioner’s energy efficiency rating, and how large it is. After all, if it’s too big, it may not fit in the space you have designated for it. These are the best window air conditioners you can buy, no matter your needs.

To outfit your home with the best of everything, check out our guides for the best area rugs, the best clothes hangers, the best cordless vacuum cleaners, the best laundry baskets and hampers, the best sheets, the best mattresses, the best duvet covers, thebest pillows, and more onInsider Picks.

Although the LG LW6017R Air Conditioner is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the GE AED08LV Air Conditioner, the Haier ESAQ406T Air Conditioner, the LG LW1516ER Air Conditioner, and the Frigidaire FFRA0511R1 Air Conditioner.

The best window air conditioner overall

Why you'll love it: The LG LW6017R Window Air Conditioner features three cooling speeds and a dehumidifier to help get rid of the moisture in the room.

There are plenty of window air conditioners out there, but our best pick is the LG LW6017R, and for good reason. The air conditioner isn’t just effective – it’s also pretty well-designed, too, so it won’t look too out of place in a stylish room.

The LG LW6017R comes in at 6,000 BTU, and as such, LG says the air conditioner will be best-suited to rooms up to 260 sq. ft. That’s still a pretty large room, so the average Joe will find the device pretty useful.

One of the worst feelings during the summer is when it’s hot and humid, but this air conditioner can fix both issues. It’ll dehumidify a room by up to 1.8 pints per hour, so you won’t have to worry about that moisture in the air making it too sticky. Next up is the fact that the air conditioner offers three cooling speeds and three fan speeds, so you can avoid it getting too cold too quickly. Last but not least, it offers an energy-saving function to cut back on its energy use.

As mentioned, the air conditioner is 6,000 BTU, so it’s probably not the best choice for large rooms, and it’s a little pricey, so if you’re on a budget, some of the others on this list might be more appropriate.

Pros: Features a dehumidifier, three cooling speeds, energy-saving function, nice design

Cons: Best for small rooms

Buy the LG LW6017R Air Conditioner on Amazon for $174.70 (originally $199.99)

The best energy efficient window air conditioner

Why you'll love it: The GE AED09LV Air Conditioner is great at cooling rooms of up to 230 cubic feet, dehumidifying up to 1.9 pints per hour, and it’s energy efficient.

Looking to shave money off your monthly energy bill? Perhaps the best choice for you is the GE AED08LV. It has the Energy Star label, so you know it'll cut down on energy costs.

The air conditioner, which sits in at 8,200 BTU, is able to cool as much as 230 cubic feet per minute, which is also a pretty good rating. And, it can dehumidify a room by up to 1.9 pints per hour, which is a little more than the LG unit. However, the GE does come at a higher price.

While a great unit, the GE AED09LV is missing some features. For example, it doesn’t have a sleep mode, so it could be even more energy efficient than it already is. Still, it does have a timer, so you can set the unit to switch off when you so choose. 

Another thing to consider is the price. The unit comes in at $349.99, which is a little pricey compared to some of the other units on this list. If you’re looking for a more budget-conscious choice, you may want to keep looking – although you’ll want to factor in the savings on your electricity bill, too.

Pros: Very energy efficient, dehumidifier

Cons: Expensive, no sleep mode

Buy the GE AED08LV Air Conditioner on Amazon for $349.99 

The best quiet window air conditioner

Why you'll love it: The Haier ESAQ406T Air Conditioner looks great and offers plenty of technical features, but the real selling point is arguably how quiet it is.

Looking for something to put in the bedroom? If so, you’ll probably want a slightly quieter air conditioner, like the Haier ESAQ406T. According to Haier, this air conditioner has a noise level of 43dB, which is much less than any other air conditioner you’ll find on this list. That quietness is likely thanks to the company’s so-called “compressor blanket.”

Being quiet isn’t the only feature on offer. The Haier ESAQ406T sits in at 6,000 BTU, and Haier argues that it can cool a room up to 250 sq ft, which isn’t bad at all. It’s also Energy Star rated, so while it may not be as energy efficient as the GE, it will still be easier on the wallet than most other air conditioners.

The unit also has some pretty helpful technical features, like a Sleep Mode, four different cooling modes including a fan, and a dehumidifier, though Haier doesn’t note exactly how effective that humidifier is. 

All these features don’t come cheap. While the unit is arguably technically better than the LG LW6017R, which is our top pick, it does not have the same value-for-money, coming in at $312.55, which is pretty expensive. Still, that’s the price you pay if you want to keep the A/C on during the night.

Pros: Quiet, energy efficient, four cooling modes, dehumidifier

Cons: Expensive

Buy the Haier ESAQ406T Air Conditioner on Overstock for $312.55 

Buy the Haier ESAQ406T Air Conditioner on Overstock for $329.99

It's no surprise that the big gameplay reveal for "Star Wars Battlefront 2" has been watched nearly 10 million times in just over a week. 

Nothing quite gets people going like the whoosh-whoosh of a lightsaber — except for maybe wielding that lightsaber themselves, of course. 

And that's exactly what you'll get to do in the upcoming game, scheduled to launched on November 17 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Here's everything we know about the game so far!

SEE ALSO: A brand new 'Star Wars' game was just announced — here's everything we know

"Battlefront 2" takes place in the aftermath of "Return of the Jedi" (the final film in the original "Star Wars" trilogy). The second Death Star has just exploded, and you're an Imperial soldier with revenge on the brain.

Rather than a saber-wielding Jedi, you're a trooper. And that means guns instead of future-swords. This is a first-person shooter, first and foremost.

Through her journey of revenge, Iden will visit a variety of stunning locals.

Tech research firm Gartner has ranked the top tech vendors worldwide based on their revenues.

The list is designed to help business leaders understand how much various tech companies sell as relatively new tech firms like Google and Facebook go head-to-head with more established companies like Microsoft, HP, and IBM.

The list, which includes 100 companies in total, includes big names such as Apple and Amazon, as well as lesser-known tech companies who sell their hardware and software directly to businesses.

Gartner said business leaders can use the list to understand how and where companies are spending their IT budgets.

John-David Lovelock, a vice president at Gartner, said in a statement that "the needs of IT buyers are shifting" and "the impact of digital business is giving rise to new categories."

Here are the 26 biggest tech companies by revenue:

26. Canon ($26.8 billion)

25. Facebook ($27.6 billion)

24. Fujitsu Vendor Group ($28.7 billion)

As the investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia gains traction, special counsel Robert Mueller has begun quietly assembling a formidable team of top lawyers and investigators.

Mueller has so far hired 12 people and intends to bring on more, his spokesman Peter Carr told The New York Times.

Only a handful have been named publicly so far, but legal experts and fellow lawyers who have spoken to media in recent days lauded the new hires as a powerhouse team of experienced professionals with sterling credentials who rank among the best in their field.

"That is a great, great team of complete professionals," Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, told ABC News.

The members of Mueller's team who've been named have a cumulative 37 years of experience at the FBI and 85 years at the Department of Justice, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Yet despite the lawyers' resumes and reputations, several members of the team have come under fire for their previous donations to Democrats, prompting some critics to cry foul on the investigation and urge Trump to fire Mueller.

Trump himself has even weighed in:

"You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history — led by some very bad and conflicted people!" Trump said Thursday on Twitter.

Here are some of Mueller's new hires:

SEE ALSO: There's a theme emerging in Mueller's Russia probe that could prove damning for Trump

Michael Dreeben

Dreeben, the deputy solicitor general overseeing the Department of Justice's criminal docket, is widely regarded as one of the top criminal law experts in the federal government. He will work for Mueller on the investigation part-time as he juggles the DOJ's criminal appellate cases.

Dreeben is best known for having argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court — a feat that fewer than 10 other attorneys have accomplished in the court's history. Peers say his hiring reveals how seriously Mueller is taking the investigation, and how wide-ranging it ultimately could be.

"That Mueller has sought his assistance attests both to the seriousness of his effort and the depth of the intellectual bench he is building," Paul Rosenzweig, a former Homeland Security official and Whitewater investigator, wrote on the Lawfare blog.

Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York who was recently fired by Trump, called Dreeben one of the DOJ's top legal and appellate minds in modern times:

Beyond possessing an "encyclopedic" knowledge of criminal law, lawyers who have worked with Dreeben say he also has a gift for anticipating questions his arguments will likely prompt, allowing him to prepare answers accordingly.

"He answers [questions] directly. He answers them completely. And he answers them exquisitely attuned to the concerns that motivated them," Kannon Shanmugam, a partner at the law firm Williams & Connolly who worked with Dreeben at the solicitor general's office, told the Law360 last year.

Andrew Weissmann

Weissmann joined Mueller's team after taking a leave of absence from his current job leading the DOJ's criminal fraud unit. He formerly served as general counsel to the FBI under Mueller's leadership.

Weissman also headed up the Enron Task Force between 2002 and 2005, for which he oversaw the prosecutions of 34 people connected to the collapsed energy company, including chairman Kenneth Lay and CEO Jeffrey Skilling.

He spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor in the eastern district of New York, where he specialized in prosecuting mafia members and bosses from the Colombo, Gambino, and Genovese families.

"As a fraud and foreign bribery expert, he knows how to follow the money. Who knows what they will find, but if there is something to be found, he will find it," Emily Pierce, a former DOJ spokeswoman under the Obama administration, told Politico.

Weissman is one of several attorneys in Mueller's team that has donated to Democrats, although he does not appear to have donated in the 2016 election. He gave $2,300 to President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, and $2,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 2006, according to CNN's review of FEC records.

Jeannie Rhee

Rhee is one of several attorneys to resign from the WilmerHale law firm to join Mueller's investigation.

She also has two years of DOJ experience, serving as deputy assistant attorney general under former Attorney General Eric Holder. She advised Holder and Obama administration officials on criminal law issues, as well as criminal procedure and executive issues, according to her biography on WilmerHale's website.

As many critics of Mueller's investigation have pointed out, Rhee represented Hillary Clinton in a 2015 lawsuit that sought access to her private emails. She also represented the Clinton Foundation in a 2015 racketeering lawsuit.

Rhee is also one of the members of Mueller's team under scrutiny for her political donations, and has doled out more than $16,000 to Democrats since 2008, CNN reported. She maxed out her donations both in 2015 and 2016 to Clinton's presidential campaign, giving a total of $5,400.

For a long time, Bernal Heights was the best kept secret in San Francisco real estate.

Short commutes into downtown, relatively affordable homes, and 360-degree views from atop its hills made it a desirable place for artists, musicians, and tech workers to settle down.

But the residential enclave located south of the city's pricey Mission District and Noe Valley has seen a surge in popularity in recent years, driving the median sale price of a single-family home to $1.36 million, up 75% from five years ago. In 2014, real estate site Redfin named the north slope of Bernal Heights, an area that's densely packed with million-dollar homes, the hottest neighborhood in America based on increases in search traffic to local listings.

I recently spent the afternoon in Bernal Height's northern end to see what the buzz is about.

SEE ALSO: Tour the little-known California 'micro-hood' that's suddenly the hottest housing market in America

Bernal Heights has a small town feel while still being in a centrally-located part of San Francisco.

It sits south of the city's downtown and is bisected by Cortland Avenue, a main shopping strip populated by small markets, cafes, restaurants, and hair and nail salons.

I start my day north of Cortland at Café St. Jorge, a Portuguese-inspired coffee shop and restaurant where I find young people catching up with friends and working on laptops.

If you're an avid fan of HGTV's "Fixer Upper," a trip to Waco, Texas, should be on your radar.

Joanna and Chip Gaines have been fixing up dilapidated homes in Waco on their TV show since November 2015. The success of the show has transformed the town into a full-fledged tourist destination.

The couple has since opened a massive town center where visitors can shop for home goods inspired by the show. There's also a bakery and a handful of trendy food trucks. 

But possibly the number one reason to visit Waco is that you can stay in one of the home that Joanna and Chip have renovated. Some are available for short-term rentals on sites like Airbnb and VRBO.

This attraction might not last forever. A spokesperson for the Gaineses told local newspaper Waco Tribune-Herald that they have changed their contract terms to prevent homeowners from turning their renovated homes into rentals immediately. 

“We want to honor our national viewing audience. We want to do remodels for clients’ homes. That’s the true intent of our show, and we want to ensure that does not get lost in this new vacation rental trend," the spokesperson said.

The new terms apply to homes appearing in the new fifth season of the show.  

Here are some "Fixer Upper" homes that are available for rent:

SEE ALSO: I traveled to Waco, Texas, to see the town that has been transformed by HGTV's hit show 'Fixer Upper' — here's what it's like

Gorman House was featured on the first episode of Fixer Upper. It was uninhabitable when the Gaines' started work on it. Now, it's a five bedroom house with a wrap-around porch.

Source: Magnolia Market

The house is currently listed on Airbnb for $375 a night for a minimum of two nights. One-night stays cost $475. These prices exclude tax and service charge fees.

See the listing here on Airbnb.

The house has the Gaines' signature open-plan kitchen and breakfast bar combo.

The US Army celebrates its birthday as June 14, 1775, but it didn't have the special operators with their distinctive green beret until much later.

Army Special Forces got its start on June 19, 1952 — 65 years ago Monday — and since then its soldiers have been at the forefront of fights in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan and are now advising US-backed forces inside Syria.

They call themselves the quiet professionals, and they are one of the most elite fighting groups in the world.

Their mission is unconventional warfare — taking small teams to train and lead guerrilla forces.

Special Forces soldiers usually work together in a 12-man A-Team, with each man holding a specific job: The ranking officer is the team leader, the weapons sergeant knows just about every weapon in the world, the communications sergeant tees up ordnance or extract, and the medics can take lives as quickly as saving them.

It may seem crazy to send only 12 guys into a hostile country, but it's not crazy when they are Special Forces.

The US Army Special Forces are known for their exceptional skill and professionalism in modern war.

Alongside the CIA, they were the first Americans on the ground in Afghanistan only one month after 9/11.

There they linked up with the Northern Alliance and brought Hamid Karzai into Kabul.

People really like Star Wars. More than Super Mario, and FIFA, and even Call of Duty.

The gameplay trailer for the latest Star Wars game, "Star Wars Battlefront 2," racked up nearly 10 million views in just over a week!

More importantly, "Battlefront 2" got more play on YouTube than "Super Mario Odyssey,""Call of Duty: WWII," and the latest game in the long-running FIFA game series during E3 2017 — the annual video game trade show in Los Angeles. 

All four games shared space with the likes of "Assassin's Creed Origins" and a reboot to the "God of War" series in YouTube's top 10 list. We've compiled all 10 games below, alongside the latest trailer for each!

SEE ALSO: I played Nintendo's insane new 'Super Mario' game for the Switch — here's what it was like in person

10. "Dragon Ball Z FighterZ"

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Release date: "Early 2018"

Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

9. "Need for Speed Payback"

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Release date: November 10, 2017

Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

8. "Anthem"

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Release date: "2018"

Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

Early this month, Bill Cosby went on trial on sexual-assault charges involving Andrea Constand, alleged to have happened more than a decade ago.

After five days of deliberation, the jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision and the judge declared a mistrial.

Constand, a former Temple University employee, told police that the now 79-year-old comedian drugged and violated her at his home near Philadelphia in 2004.

It's the first criminal case against Cosby over his conduct with women. Over the past few years, over 60 women have accused him of sexual assault. 

Here are the major developments during the trial, and what could happen next after the mistrial:

SEE ALSO: Bill Cosby accuser gives emotional testimony: 'I had a secret about the biggest celebrity'

The juror selection process took days.

Ultimately, seven men and five women were selected. According to Philly.com, more than a third of the 100 potential jurors said that they had already decided whether Cosby was innocent or guilty. 

Day 1: One of Cosby's many accusers took the stand.

She worked as Cosby's former agent's assistant. She described in detail how Cosby had allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted her at a Los Angeles hotel 20 years ago.

Besides Constand, she was the only accuser out of more than 60 women who was permitted to testify at the trial.

Source: Philly.com

Day 2: Andrea Constand took the stand and spoke about her alleged assault for the first time in public.

Her testimony took three hours. Constand went to police about a year after she says Cosby assaulted her, but at the time a prosecutor said her case was too weak for any charges. 

Source: Philly.com