North Korea's official cheer squad is making its presence felt at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The cheerleaders watched Switzerland's ice hockey team demolish a unified all-Korea team 8-0, but that didn't get in the way of their fierce, highly choreographed singing and waving.

These are not like cheerleaders in any other kind of sport. Their songs and chants are bizarre, compared to anything else you'll hear from a crowd at a sports event. And they'll go to prison if they put a foot wrong.

It has to be seen and heard to be believed. Scroll on! ↓

READ MORE: The history of North Korea's cheer squad

The cheer squad arrived on February 7 wearing these stylish red and black outfits, with coordinated luggage.

They got a lot of attention for their relentless clapping at the hockey game.

They even cheered the zamboni.

Imagine stepping into the night and seeing beams of light that shoot from the earth straight into the atmosphere. You might suspect alien spaceships, but light pillars are of this world.

When a blast of cold weather comes down from the Arctic, flat ice crystals form in the air and hang there like pixie dust. Any source of light reflects off the crystals, creating a dazzling display of brightly colored rods of light known as light pillars.

The appearance of these pillars south of polar regions is so rare that people havereportedthem as UFO sightings in the past — as some did with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch in December.

Photographer Ray Majoran captured the otherworldly display outside his home in Ontario, Canada. He shared some photos with us. Follow him on Instagram for more.

SEE ALSO: Lake Erie can get extremely violent and these are the photos to prove it

On a late night in January, Ray Majoran was sitting on his couch when he got a text from his friend with a photo of the sky. "My phone does not come close to doing it justice," he said.

Majoran didn't hesitate. He grabbed his camera and took off down the main highway in search of light pillars. He turned his eyes to the sky and at first saw darkness. "Then it happened," Majoran said.

"The sky became littered with light pillars. There were stars above me, yet there were little crystals of ice falling like manna from heaven," he said.

• On A&E's documentary series "Undercover High," seven adults posed as students for a semester in a Kansas high school.
• Some had only graduated five years ago, and they still saw many differences in what daily life is like for high-schoolers today.
• Cell phone use is rampant — and dangerous. Teachers have less control than ever. But kids still just want someone to talk to.

High school is nothing like it used to be.

That's the message of "Undercover High," a documentary series on A&E that follows seven adults who pose as students for a whole semester at Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kansas.

The undercover students, aged 21 to 26 when the show was filmed last year, took classes, joined clubs, and saw firsthand the struggles teenagers go through in their everyday lives. Even for the participants who graduated as little as five years ago, their return to high school was completely different than their first time around.

Here are a few seven things the undercover students learned about high-schoolers that most adults don't realize:

SEE ALSO: 7 adults went undercover as high-school students and found cell phones pose a much bigger problem than adults can imagine

DON'T MISS: Teenagers are more depressed than ever — and 7 adults who went undercover as high-school students almost immediately realized why

Social media has completely changed the game

Social media has had a profound impact on the daily lives of teenagers. Students are always plugged in, introducing unrelenting pressure to maintain their social-media presences around the clock.

"The kinds of challenges that I experienced in high school along with my peers are now 24/7 issues because of technology, computers, cell phones, and social media," Shane Feldman, an undercover student who graduated from high school in 2012, told Business Insider. "There's no real escape."

Teachers have less control than ever

Social media isn't just an after-school phenomenon. The undercover students were shocked to observe that in many Highland Park classrooms, the majority of students were on their phones for most of the time.

"You're not supposed to have your phone out, but honestly, we don't care," one student said.

Beryl New, the principal of Highland Park when the show was filmed, said although social media sites are blocked on the school's network, they are helpless to stop students from accessing them on their own devices. And teachers said it was a daily struggle to get students to focus on classwork.

Bullying doesn't stop when the final bell rings

Another downside to technological advances is that bullying has turned into a 24/7 activity.

Worse yet, it's almost impossible for teachers and school staff to police cyberbullying, as incidents that start in the classroom can reverberate around the school within moments and continue snowballing at home.

"Back in the day, if a child was going to be bullied, it might be one person, one incident that happens on the playground or while you're waiting on the bus. It can be resolved and it's pretty much the end of it," New, the Highland Park principal, told Business Insider.

"Now it can be one person has an issue with one person and everybody else chimes in, and by the time it gets to the next day someone wants to fight, someone's not going to school, someone is threatening suicide. It took something singular, granular even, and it's just ballooned over night until it becomes a major issue."

If you've ever spent time in a hospital or doctor's office, you know that people in medicine seem to have their own language. 

But while doctors may throw around a lot of jargon, there's often a simple translation of what they're trying to say.

Emergency room physician Brian Goldman documented several examples of the obscure terms doctors use in his book "The Secret Language of Doctors: Cracking the Code of Hospital Slang."

Read on to find out what your doctor is really saying:

SEE ALSO: 7 words and phrases only lawyers understand

Cowboy

People who work in hospitals have playful (and sometimes not-so-playful) nicknames for each other. A cowboy is what some doctors call surgeons to suggest they operate first and think later.

Flea

Flea is the disparaging nickname some doctors give to internists — people who specialize in internal medicine, and are seen by some as the lowest on the medical totem pole.

FOOBA

Apparently some doctors don't take kindly to orthopedic surgeons, either. Goldman says doctors describe some patients as FOOBA — "found on orthopedics, barely alive," that is — to suggest that an orthopedic surgeon fixed their bones, but missed critical signs of disease elsewhere in the patient's body.

The word is a play on FUBAR, the colorful military expression meaning "f---ed up beyond all recognition," Goldman wrote.

Investors are worried about higher interest rates.

US stock futures were sharply lower on Monday, indicating last week's sell-off was set to continue. Stocks slumped Friday after the January jobs report showed average hourly earnings rose at the fastest pace since the recession. It was another sign that inflation may be accelerating.

Moreover, investors are worried about how the Federal Reserve would respond. Last Wednesday, the central bank held its benchmark rate unchanged, but took a more aggressive view on inflation, saying it expected the rate of price changes "to move up this year" and stabilize around its 2% objective "over the medium term."

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has identified stocks on the S&P 500 that could be hardest hit by a higher 10-year yield based on how the stocks have historically responded to changes in rates.

The equity strategists led by Savita Subramanian explained in a January 30 note: "Screens are based on a regression of stocks' monthly excess returns vs. monthly changes in the nominal and real 10yr yields, including only those stocks with beta (slope) that is statistically significant at the 5% level and who have at least 10 years of monthly returns. Regression data is based on the time period from 1972-12/31/17 for nominal yields and June 1990-12/31/17 for real yields."

Here are the 17 stocks that top the list. 

SEE ALSO: What a $2.8 trillion asset manager is watching for proof that the bull market in stocks is really over

Dominion Energy Inc.

Ticker:D

Sector: Utilities

Nominal interest rate beta: -4.1

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc.

Ticker: MAA

Sector: Real Estate

Nominal interest rate beta: -4.2

Southern Company

Ticker: SO

Sector: Utilities

Nominal interest rate beta: -4.2

• Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin is a favorite in alpine skiing at this year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

• She also won gold in Sochi in 2014, at the age of 18. becomingthe youngest person to win an Olympic gold medal in the slalom.

• Shiffrin's parents introduced her and her brother to the sport at a young age.

Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin's interest in skiing didn't just come out of nowhere.

Her parents — anesthesiologist Jeff and former nurse Eileen — were both avid skiers growing up, and later took up Masters racing.

And they introduced Shiffrin and her older brother Taylor to the sport at the early age. "They had us walking around the living room in these tiny, little, plastic Mickey Mouse skis that you just latched onto snow boots," Taylor told The New York Post.

Flash forward two decades, and their World Cup-winning daughter is now on the verge of potentially making history at the Pyeongchang Games. She could become the first American woman to win three skiing medals at one Olympics, The Denver Post reported.

Shiffrin herself told The New York Times that she doesn't think there's a proper way to raise an Olympic champion, in that the "crazy path" she took "could not be replicated."

Still, it's interesting to look back at the steps the Shiffrins took to instill killer skiing skills and an intense work ethic in their daughter.

SEE ALSO: How 22-year-old American Olympian Mikaela Shiffrin, called 'the next Lindsey Vonn,' became the world's best slalom skier

Writing in The New Yorker, Nick Paumgarten declared Shiffrin an "example of nurture over nature, of work over talent." From an early age, the athlete has been driven to put in the training it takes to become a dominant skier.

Source: The New Yorker, Business Insider

Having introduced both of their young children to the sport, the Shiffrins began to ski together as a family. Both Shiffrin and her brother Taylor have said they never felt pressured to ski. For them, it was often just a matter of following their parents down the slopes.

“It's not a throw into the deep end, like okay go for it, it's a gentle progression, like we're going to develop their abilities, develop their proprioceptive nerve endings and once they learn how to stand on skis and walk on skis, then we can take them out and put them on snow and progress from there," Taylor told The New York Post.

Source: The New York Post

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, made the most of her three-day trip to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

A high-ranking advisor in the North Korean government who runs the "Propaganda and Agitation Department", Kim has been under the media microscope during her trip to Pyeongchang.

From her "side-eye" of US Vice President Mike Pence to hints at Korean unification, Kim has stolen the spotlight at the Winter Olympics. While Kim Jong Un is known for his aggressive militaristic behavior, Kim acted as a foil to her brother as she cheerfully greeted foreign leaders and dined with the South Korean president.

Here's what Kim has done on her historic trip — and why many remain skeptical of the calculated propaganda of the smiling "princess."

SEE ALSO: Video shows Kim Jong Un's sister throwing a look to the camera while standing behind Mike Pence

DON'T MISS: Meet North Korea's mysterious 'princess' Kim Yo Jong — the 30-ish sister of Kim Jong Un who just shared a historic handshake with South Korea's president

Kim's visit was bound to make headlines, as it was the first time that a member of the ruling family has crossed the border to visit South Korea since the Korean War in the early 1950s.

Source: Reuters

While Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state, accompanied her, she received the vast majority of media attention. Flying in flight number 615 — a reference to June 15, 2007, the last time North and south Korean leaders met — Kim quickly showed she was ready for the scrutiny.

Source: The Washington Post

Kim stole the show at the Olympics opening ceremonies by throwing a skeptical look to the cameras — celebrated as epic side-eye by many on Twitter — as US Vice President Mike Pence cheered.

Source: Business Insider

Don't move to New York City if you value balance in your life.

At least that's a takeaway from a list by Magnify Money which evaluated cities across the United States on the lifestyle residents live. New York, New York, with an expensive cost of living and only slightly more than one-third of people in good health, ranked dead last. (Methodology here.)

The list looked to seven indicators of balance to put together it's list: income spent on housing, hours worked compared to earnings, income inequality, average commute times, the health of residents, average sleep, and the price of goods and services.

Read on below to see the 11 cities where people are the least healthy, have the worst commute times, and don't sleep enough.

SEE ALSO: 9 'facts' you learned in school that are no longer true

11. Las Vegas, Nevada

• Average commute time: 24.6 minutes

• People getting fewer than 7 hours sleep: 38.9%

• Goods and services prices compared to national average: .5% lower

10. Chicago, Illinois

• Average commute time: 31.5 minutes

• People getting fewer than 7 hours sleep: 37.4%

• Goods and services prices compared to national average: 2% higher

9. Memphis, Tennessee

• Average commute time: 24.3 minutes

• People getting fewer than 7 hours sleep: 39.8%

• Goods and services prices compared to national average: 4.4% lower

• The White House communications director, Hope Hicks, is one of the most powerful people in American politics.
• Hicks made headlines this week when Rob Porter, a White House staff secretary in a relationship with Hicks, resigned after allegations of domestic abuse.
• Hicks' fashion evolution over the past year reveals her ability to evolve to maintain Trump's support in a White House plagued by controversy, as she moves from echoing Ivanka Trump's style to imitating Melania Trump.

Hope Hicks has become one of the most powerful figures in American politics — and, reportedly, treated as a member of President Donald Trump's family in the White House.

Hicks made headlines this week when White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned after two of his ex-wives publicly accused him of physical and emotional abuse. Hicks' rumored relationship with Porter reportedly did not prevent her from helping craft an official statement supporting the staffer.

Unlike many in the often bombastic Trump administration, Hicks rarely speaks to the media on the record. That extends to the controversy surrounding Porter. While many in the Trump administration have chimed in on the topic, Hicks has remained silent.

However, as a former model with experience in fashion PR, Hicks knows how to make a statement with her appearance without saying a word.

Here's a look at how Hicks' public presentation has changed — and how it could reveal how the communications director has made herself invaluable to the White House.

SEE ALSO: Hope Hicks emerges unscathed as the White House battles fallout from the domestic abuse controversy

DON'T MISS: The Trump White House has been plagued by rumors of illicit romances — and now Hope Hicks is at the center

Hope Hicks began working for Ivanka Trump's fashion brand in 2014, four years after she graduated from Southern Methodist University.

"Hicks grew close to Ivanka and began dressing like the heiress, who seemed worthy of the emulation," GQ reported. "Ivanka was that rare female corporate leader who is also kind to other women, and she affected an air of competence that seemed to temper the boorishness of the Trump brand."

Source: GQ

When Hicks began working on Donald Trump's presidential campaign, she mimicked Ivanka's accessible style — lots of business-casual dresses in pale shades or florals, with heels and long, straight hair.

• Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, is the author of the Trump-Russia dossier.
• Recently published Republican memos attempt to discredit Steele's credibility and the dossier that he produced.
• Republicans say the dossier played a central role in justifying surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser during and after the 2016 election.

The public knew little about Christopher Steele before the 2016 US election. Most people had no idea who he was.

But now the former British intelligence officer is perhaps the biggest — and most divisive — name in Washington.

Steele is the author of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, also known as the Steele dossier, a collection of memos he compiled before the 2016 presidential election that contains information alleging Russia has compromising information on President Donald Trump, among other allegations.

As far as we know, the US intelligence community has not verified or corroborated any of the dossier's allegations.

But the FBI has attested to Steele's reliability based on his previous reporting of foreign intelligence to the US government as a former investigator, according to a declassified version of a letter Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and committee member Lindsey Graham, both Republicans, wrote in January.

That letter, along with the controversial memo that President Donald Trump cleared for release on February 2, is at the heart of a heated back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans over Steele's credibility and his role in fueling the early stages of the FBI's Russia investigation.

Rep. Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, spearheaded the memo. Democrats are trying to release a rebuttal memo pointing out inaccuracies and mischaracterizations they say the Nunes memo contains, but Trump denied its declassification on Friday.

Here's what lawmakers are saying about Steele:

SEE ALSO: Congress just declassified a letter that offers critical clues about the Steele dossier and the Nunes memo

DON'T MISS: MEMO WAR WAGES ON: Top Intel Committee Democrat says Trump's hypocrisy on the memos 'reaches out and grabs you by the throat'

The Nunes memo

The central claim in the Nunes memo is that investigators from the DOJ and FBI improperly obtained a surveillance warrant for Carter Page, who served as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.

To obtain a surveillance warrant, the FBI and the DOJ had to submit an application explaining why a so-called FISA warrant was justified. The Steele dossier, according to the memo, was "an essential part" of that application.

The memo also claims:

• Officials at the FBI and the DOJ failed to disclose details about how the Steele dossier was compiled at the behest of Fusion GPS, a research firm hired by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. This omission taints the legitimacy of the FISA application, the memo suggests.
• The two organizations paid Steele over $160,000 "to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump's ties to Russia."
• The FBI and the DOJ improperly used a Yahoo News article from September 2016 as corroborating material in their FISA application. The Yahoo article focused on how the FBI was looking into Carter Page's trip to Moscow in July of that year. But the FISA application failed to note that Steele was used as a source for that information.
• Steele met with several other news outlets at the direction of Fusion GPS, thus violating his agreement with the FBI to keep information about his investigation confidential. Steele also lied to the FBI about his media contacts, and was subsequently terminated as a FBI source in October 2016.
• Steele told a DOJ official that he was "desperate that Donald Trump not get elected president."

The Grassley-Graham letter

The Grassley-Graham letter elaborated on most of the claims made in the Nunes memo, providing a more detailed and thorough explanation of alleged abuses by the FBI and the DOJ when they applied for a FISA warrant.

The letter claims:

• The FISA application did not entirely withhold information about the origins of the Steele dossier, but its language was vague and still left out the fact that the Clinton campaign was behind the dossier's funding.
• "In footnote 8 the FBI stated that the dossier information was compiled pursuant to the direction of a law firm who had hired an 'identified U.S. person' — now known as Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS — [redacted]," the letter said. The law firm referenced is Perkins Coie, which is connected to 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
• Steele confirmed to to a British court that he met with reporters from Yahoo News, The Washington Post, CNN, and The New Yorker in September 2016 to discuss some of his findings, but he did not tell the FBI about these media contacts.
• By going public with his findings, Steele made it more likely that malicious actors could manipulate his investigation by feeding him false information to include in the dossier.
• The Steele dossier contained information sourced from Clinton allies and questionable Russian intelligence officials.
• "Mr. Steele's apparent deception [about his encounters with the press] seems to have posed significant, material consequences on the FBI's investigative decisions and representations to the court." The FBI vouched for Steele's credibility multiple times.
• Because of this deception, Grassley and Graham "are referring Christopher Steele to the Department of Justice for investigation of potential violation(s) of 18 U.S.C. § 1001," which could lead to a criminal indictment.

The Democrats' memo

Democrats dispute the way Republicans characterize Steele and the FBI's actions in both the Nunes memo and the Grassley-Graham letter.

Led by ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have drafted a memo of their own countering Republicans' claims of corruption at the FBI and the DOJ.

Trump denied its release on Friday, and Schiff is working on making redactions to the memo.

You walk into your local Starbucks shop and are automatically hit with a tantalizing whiff of roasted coffee beans and baked desserts. What’s not to love?

What many café-frequenting folks don’t know is that a plethora of menu items you wake up to may actually be responsible for the increasing number on your scale. Rethink your breakfast sandwich and afternoon cup of caffeine by familiarizing yourself with the worst offenders at the'‘bucks below, and then treat yourself to more waistline-friendly choices with the help of our exclusive report, The 28 Starbucks Items that Diet Experts Love.

1. White Chocolate Mocha

PER GRANDE WITH 2% MILK AND WHIPPED CREAM: 430 calories, 18 g fat (12 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 250 mg sodium, 55 g carbs (0 g fiber, 53 g sugar), 14 g protein

You wouldn’t start your day with a 16-ounce can of Cola, so why wake up to a White Chocolate Mocha? This sugary beverage packs in a gram more of the sweet stuff and 240 more calories than the red-labeled bottle contains.

2. Pumpkin Spice Latte

PER GRANDE WITH 2% MILK AND WHIPPED CREAM: 380 calories, 14 g fat (8 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 240 mg sodium, 52 g carbs (0 g fiber, 50 g sugar), 14 g protein

This signature seasonal favorite may fare well on your Instagram page, but its absurd sugar content is equivalent to that of more than two Hershey’s milk chocolate bars. To make matters worse, the ‘Bux sneaks potassium sorbate, a genotoxic preservative, into its recipe.

4. Spicy Chorizo, Monterey Jack & Egg Breakfast Sandwich

500 calories, 30 g fat (9 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 860 mg sodium, 35 g carbs (3 g fiber, 3 g sugar), 26 g protein

We’re all for a breakfast packed with protein and fiber, but this calorie bomb’s fat and sodium content lands it a spot on the list of sandwiches you shouldn’t satiate your hunger with.

Rio Carnival is known for debauchery, alcohol, fancy dress, dancing, and kissing.  It involves very early starts, long days, and a lot of stamina.

But while most outside media coverage focuses on the glitzy Sambadrome where the samba schools parade in frisky feathered outfits, there's a lot more to it than that.

I did my first carnival in 2010, and have been back for more since. 

If you're planning to travel to Rio de Janeiro to join in the celebrations, it's worth knowing a thing or two about the Carioca — a Rio native — culture beforehand, as it's actually very particular.

Scroll down for 33 things I wished I'd known before doing my first Rio Carnival.

SEE ALSO: 15 things a 30-year-old Londoner learned when he moved to San Francisco and started working in Silicon Valley

Although Rio Carnival officially kicked off on Friday February 9, the warm-up began back in January and people have been partying for weeks.

I did my first carnival in 2010 and have been back for more since. If you're doing carnival for the first time, be prepared for the early starts. Some of the best "blocos"— or street parties — start at 7 a.m. and everyone is ready to go, drink in hand.

The blocos look like this, complete with huge shuddering sound systems.

On Monday, President Trump will reveal his long-awaited, $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan— a key campaign promise that's now part of his domestic agenda.

One of the plan's goals is to repair and rebuild America's bridges, which received a C+ grade in the American Society of Civil Engineers' most recent Infrastructure Report Card. (Overall, US infrastructure scored a D+, and the ASCE estimates the country needs to spend $4.5 trillion by 2025 to improve its roads, bridges, dams, airports, and more.)

Every state has at least one structurally deficient bridge, which the US Department of Transportation (DOT) defines as when one or more key bridge components (e.g. the deck, superstructure, or substructure) is in "poor" condition. There are 185 million daily crossings on nearly 56,000 structurally deficient US bridges, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.

Using 2016 data from the US Federal Highway Administration, Auto Insurance Centerfound the most structurally deficient bridge — based on the highest number of components in poor or worse condition — in each state and Washington, DC. 

Check them out below.

SEE ALSO: Trump may raise the gas tax to help fix America's crumbling roads

Alabama — I-65 over US-11 Railroad in Jefferson County

Alaska — South Tongass Highway over Hoadley Creek in Ketchikan Gateway County

Arizona — I-17 over 19th Avenue in Maricopa County

"The Bachelor Winter Games" is the newest addition to Bachelor Nation. 26 Bachelors and Bachelorettes — 14 international contestants and 12 American contestants — will compete in Wintery athletic challenges and with any luck, find love.

The show premieres Tuesday, but for now, meet the cast looking for love from all around the world:

Ben Higgins, 29

Candidate from Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of "The Bachelorette" (Season 11)

Season 20 Bachelor on "The Bachelor"

Ben Higgins was the second runner-up on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of "The Bachelorette," and tried for love a second time as the Season 20 Bachelor. He is a business analyst/software salesman originally from Warsaw, Indiana. He has a podcast with Winter Games co-competitor Ashley Ianconetti, and also recently launched a really cool coffee company— Generous Coffee Co..

Dean Unglert, 26

Candidate from Rachel Lindsay’s season of "The Bachelorette" (Season 13)

Candidate from Season 4 of "Bachelor in Paradise"

Dean Unglert was a fan-favorite on Rachel Lindsay’s season of "The Bachelorette." He is a startup recruiter from Venice, California who has a reputation for being a bit of a player. 

Eric Bigger, 29

Candidate from Rachel Lindsay’s season of "The Bachelorette" (Season 13)

Eric Bigger was the second runner-up on Rachel Lindsay’s season of "The Bachelorette," and was one bachelor that a lot of people were rooting for. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Eric is a personal trainer, motivational speaker, and author.

• Booking airline tickets can be straightforward, but there might be an even better way to get what you're looking for.
• You might be making some mistakes when booking tickets that cause more stressful travel.
• Think carefully about trip insurance, and consider alternate airlines and airports.

Although buying an airline ticket seems pretty straightforward, if you're only taking a few minutes to do so, you're probably missing out on some killer deals.

Airfare is an expense, no matter how much the ticket actually costs, so you don't want to make any unnecessary mistakes when booking your ticket.

These mistakes are ones that anyone could make, so knowing what you might be doing without realizing it can be just what you need to ensure you have the least stressful trip — and the best ticket —  that you can.

SEE ALSO: Stunning photos that show how people celebrate Chinese New Years in 20 countries around the world

1. Not considering trip insurance.

Travel insurance can seem like an unnecessary expense, but it might not be as silly as you might initially think. While sometimes you don’t need it and likely won’t get anything out of it, in other cases, it can save you a lot of time, money, and heartache.

Travel and risk experts at Aon Affinity Travel told INSIDER that the purpose of travel insurance is to protect you in case your plans change or something unpredictable happens. Looking into the fee associated with the insurance, what it will and won’t cover, how long you have between when you book and when you’ll travel, and other details will help you better determine whether or not you might benefit from purchasing travel insurance.

2. Thinking you can just add trip insurance anytime.

Experts also noted that though some people assume that you can add travel insurance at any time, but that’s not always the case. Some travel insurance programs only allow you to book or add insurance within a certain time frame after booking your ticket and if you decide you need insurance, you won’t want to miss out.

3. Booking too early or too late.

If you usually try to book your flights as early as you possibly can, thinking that it’ll save you money, you might not actually be doing yourself as much of a favor as you think. In a post on LinkedIn, Peter Greenberg, the travel editor at CBS News, wrote that if you’re not planning to travel over a holiday or other high-traffic days, 45 days ahead of time is when you’ll likely find the best prices on domestic airfare, with international destinations requiring a little more advanced notice. Booking way too early might mean that you’re paying more than you need to and that the prices will go down when the date gets a bit closer.

Same goes for booking too late, though. If you’re hoping that booking last minute will mean that you’ll be able to take advantage of any deals the airline is offering in an effort to fill the flight, you’ll likely be disappointed.

”Travelers are always looking for the best deal, but most discount airfares usually require a 21-day advance purchase,” Stan Sandberg, travel expert, travel insurance expert, and co-founder of TravelInsurance.com, told INSIDER. “Even if you're feeling lucky, it's unlikely you'll be able to score a last-minute deal. You'll end up having to pay a lot more, and that increases the cost of other things, like travel insurance.”

• Eating vegan is a trend that has been growing rapidly around the world. 
• Vegan fast-food chain By Chloe has rapidly grown from a single New York City location to a worldwide chain, with its first London location opening on February 6. It's drawn comparisons to McDonald's because of its popularity and expansion plans. 
• To see what the hype is all about, I went to a By Chloe restaurant to try some of the vegan fast food they offer.

Eating vegan is becoming more and more popular. A recent Nielsen report found that 40% of American consumers are actively trying to incorporate more vegan foods into their diets.

And By Chloe is trying to make the most of the trend. While it may not be "fast food" in the traditional sense, By Chloe serves inexpensive vegan food in a casual setup with a walk-up counter and strict no-reservation policy. Started in 2015 by Samantha Wasser and Chloe Coscarelli (who was later ousted from the company), By Chloe has transformed from a local vegan eatery in New York City to a worldwide fast food chain, with no plans of slowing down soon.

The chain now has 10 stores, including a new location in London, where another is on the way.

"We are actively looking for additional international locations but are taking it one store at a time ... we are very careful and intentional with each new location we select, and that will always be the case no matter how large we grow," Wasser told Business Insider.

The company takes an eco-friendly approach to fast food by using locally sourced ingredients that are 100% free of all animal products and served in recyclable packaging. The menu has a variety of burgers, pasta, french fries, salads, and sweets, and instead of soda, it offers pressed juices, teas, and coffee. A "Grab & Go" shelf has convenient salads and juices that are pre-packaged and and ready to eat. 

The London menu is nearly identical to the US menu, with the addition of local favorites like fish n' chips, shepherd's pie, and sticky toffee pudding. 

I went to the chain's flagship location in New York's West Village to see what the vegan fast-food chain was like. Here's what I found: 

SEE ALSO: 13 popular fast-food menu items that are surprisingly perfect for vegans

The restaurant had a decent amount of people in it when I visited, about 30 minutes after opening. Many were sitting at a large table in the middle, or at one of the surrounding tables for two. There was a crowd of people waiting for food, and food delivery drivers running in and out.

Here's another view of what the inside looked like.

In place of where a traditional fast-food restaurant would have a soda machine, By Chloe had a selection of pressed juices and coconut water next to the to-go salads and dips.

What do you get the person who has everything? On Valentine’s Day, the stakes surrounding this question are even higher. Maybe she’s not impressed by flowers or maybe he absolutely hates the cheesy, romantic holiday, but either way, you want to do something special for someone special.

As always, the people of Reddit are here to provide you with some much-needed Valentine’s Day gift-giving inspiration. Even those of us who are single or proudly celebrating Galentine’s Day can appreciate these thoughtful, romantic ideas.

A surprise trip to Greece.

"Surprise trip to Santorini. (She had no idea; thought we were just out to dinner near the airport. I had our passports in my jacket.) Stayed at a little villa with a view of the caldera. After that we went to Delphi and the oracle told us we were meant to be together."- Redditor Goodson123

100 reasons to be loved.

"Here's some cheesiness for you all: Last year my boyfriend did not have a job during V-day - I was essentially supporting him, and it was NBD for me, I didn't expect/want anything. I don't like holidays, I'm sort of a cynical jerk.

"But he managed to melt my heart anyway. He cut 100 hearts out of brightly-colored paper by hand, and wrote a different 'reason' that he loved me on each one. Now I keep them all in a little mini treasure chest on my desk, and if I'm having a bad day, I can pull one out and it makes everything better." - Redditor Vividaether

Unlimited date night ideas.

"I gave it to him early - I put clothespins (about 30) in a glass jar with a different date night on each one :)

"We're going to pick one every week for date night.

"This week is popcorn and rom-com night.

"For every clothespin he picks, he puts another one back in that he writes and we save them all.

"God, I love him."- Redditor Whereisbreakfast

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:

• If wider, perkier, luscious lashes are what you seek, then it’s time to add an eyelash curler to your makeup bag. With its sleek design, flat surface, and no-pinch curling, the Surratt Beauty Relevée Lash Curler is the absolute best of the bunch.

Applying mascara without first curling your lashes is kind of like cooking pasta without first salting the water. Sure, you’ll get edible pasta. You’ll still get your desired result, but you won’t be able to shake the feeling that you’re missing something. Even if you’re using a curling mascara, you’ll never get the results you get with the help of the tool created specifically for the task.

All that said, lash curlers can seem scary to a lot of beauty newbies. Let’s be honest — they look like mini medieval torture devices. The idea of placing something metal that close to your eyes is enough to make your skin crawl. What if it pinches? What if you poke yourself in the eye?

The trick is to know how, exactly, to use a lash curler, which is not as difficult as you may think. All you’ve got to do is gently lay the rounded side of the curler flush against your lid so that the top lip is right above your lashes. Then, gently and slowly pulse the lever two to three times to curl your lashes. If you go slowly, you’ll be able to catch yourself before you pinch your eyelid, which is probably what scares people the most about this whole process.

You can curl your lashes both before and after you apply mascara. It’s always a good idea to give your set a curl ahead of application. But once your mascara dries, one easy curl can add some serious drama to your lash look. And who doesn’t love that?

But just because all lash curlers tend to look the same, they aren’t all actually the same. They’re shaped differently, they’re sized differently, and they all curl your lashes in different ways. So which are the best of the bunch? We’ve put together the top lash curlers on the market. Your perfect eye makeup look is only one curl away.

Read on in the slides below to learn why the Surratt Beauty Relevée Lash Curler is our top pick and why you should also consider the Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, the Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler, the Shiseido The Makeup Eyelash Curler, and the Sonia Kashuk Dramatic Dramatically Defined Lash Curler.

SEE ALSO: The best mascara you can buy for perfect lashes

The best eyelash curler overall

Why you'll love it: Surratt Beauty’s Lash Curler has a flat, ergonomic design and gentle silicone pad that lifts and flares your lashes, offering the very best curl you can get.

Eyelash curlers have been around for ages, so it’s difficult to imagine that a new release would truly change your life. But when Surratt Beauty’s Relevée Lash Curler hit the market, that’s exactly what it did. This jet-black, lightweight curler quickly became a favorite among editors and makeup artists for a multitude of reasons, and it remains a top-seller to this day.

The biggest thing going for this curler is the design. Instead of the typical “U” shape that so many eyelash curlers have, Surratt Beauty’s curler has a wider, flatter shape that sits against your lids much more comfortably. That shape also ensures your lids aren’t getting snagged in the metal, which is very important when considering the user experience of a makeup tool.

Surratt Beauty’s lash curler also boasts finger slots with two loops instead of the typical one. The extra metal ensures that you don’t have to apply as much pressure as is necessary with other lash curlers. To use the curler correctly, the folks at Surratt Beauty suggest pumping this beauty three times along your lashes: once at the very base, once in the center of the lashes, and once at the very top.

This technique seems to be a winner. Surratt Beauty’s Relevée Lash Curler has a near-perfect rating across Sephora, Influenster, and Amazon. “So it doesn’t matter if you’re using the best mascara in the world,” one commenter wrote. “If you aren’t using this lash curler, you are missing out on a world of gorgeous lashes.” The pros agree — This little black tool is regularly spotted in the kits of top makeup artists at Fashion Week and on photo shoots.

Surratt Beauty’s Relevée Lash Curler isn’t the cheapest curler on the market. But it will save you money in the long run because it lasts for ages. And as one editor at Refinery29 wrote, proper use of this curler may make you reconsider even using mascara in the first place.

Pros: Doesn’t pinch your lashes, and is amazing for basically any eye shape.

Cons: Not the most budget-friendly curler on the market.  

Buy Surratt Beauty Relevée Lash Curler on Amazon for $54.39

Buy the Surratt beauty Relevée Lash Curler from Sephora for $30 (out of stock)

The best pro-approved eyelash curler

Why you'll love it: Shu Uemura’s lash curler has a serious cult following with its unique shape and patented hinge, and it's a top pick among professionals.

There is a scene in the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" where Gisele Büdchen, playing a snobby fashion editor, berates the main character for not knowing what the Shu Uemura eyelash curler is. That’s some pretty incredible praise for a beauty tool that plenty of folks don’t have in their makeup kits. But Shu’s gorgeous silver curler more than deserves the cult-following — and the mention in a Meryl Streep movie.

Shu’s lash curler is a winner for a bunch of reasons. The first is its shape. Instead of a typical “u” curve, this lash curler has a more mushroom curve to it. That means you get a closer hug against your lids than other curlers might provide, which lessens the chances of pinching and pulling — especially for those with smaller, rounder eyes. Shu’s mushroom shape also holds your lashes in place as you curl, ensuring no wayward lashes accidentally get snagged in the metal. (Ouch!)

But the best part about Shu’s curler is something you might not even notice because it’s more technical than aesthetic. This curler has a patented hinge that actually works to ensure you can’t press too hard mid-pulse. It’s like a mini failsafe. No matter how hard you press, that hinge is going to make sure the pressure is evenly distributed, which cuts down on your chances of pinching.

Because of all of this, Shu’s curler regularly winds up in the kits of makeup artists, beauty editors, and cosmetics pros across the country. One editor from InStyle has been using this guy for years, claiming that “one or two pumps followed by a coat of mascara kept the curl in place until I washed my face at the end of the day.” Buyers agree, too, with one Amazon reviewer raving that “the reviews are NOT wrong. This little gem is amazing.”

One little snag, though — Shu Uemura has discontinued refills on the silicone pad. And even though this curler’s pad is a bit more resilient than others, it does need to be replaced every six months or so, which means you might need to buy a completely new curler. But since the price is right on this tool, that won’t hurt all that much.

Pros: Patented hinge that distributes pressure, meaning you get gorgeously fanned-out lashes every time.

Cons: No refills available on the silicone pads

Buy the Shu Uemura W+Eyelash Curler from Shu Uemura for $21

Buy the Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler on Amazon for $16.91

Buy Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler from Walmart for $21

The most versatile eyelash curler

Why you'll love it: Not every curler is right for every eye shape, but when it comes to versatility, Kevyn Aucoin’s curler is a top pick.

One of the hardest parts about shopping for an eyelash curler is figuring out which one is right for you. There are many different eye shapes in the world, which means that not every lash curler is going to work for every shape. But curlers aren’t like shoes — you can’t just try them on at the beauty counter and hope to find the perfect one that won’t snag your eye. So when you’re in that situation, what can you do?

The answer: Reach for Kevyn Aucoin’s lash curler. You’ll know it from its distinctive red silicone pad. What makes this curler so clutch for newbies is its flatter-than-usual shape. Instead of being curved, a shape which immediately disqualifies a whole host of eye shapes from using it, Kevyn Aucoin’s flat curler can accommodate larger, wider eyes without missing a single lash. That cuts out a lot of the guesswork for people who aren’t all that intimately acquainted with the shapes of their eyes.

But beyond the shape, Kevyn Aucoin’s eyelash curler also wins for a bunch of other reasons. It’s slimmer and less bulky than other curlers, which means there is less metal to snag your sensitive skin on. According to makeup artist Rommy Najor, “it doesn’t require a strong pinch to the lash in order to curl the lashes.” That means you’re keeping things gentle around the eyes, which is always a good idea.

This lash curler has crazy good reviews across websites from Amazon to Nordstrom. “I noticed that the pad seems to be firmer than the others, and that makes all the difference in the world,” one reviewer said. Others can’t stop raving about how long the curl in their lashes lasts. So if you’re just starting out and are looking for a curler you can trust without trying it first, Kevyn Aucoin’s is an amazing place to start.

Pros: Works on many different eye shapes.  

Cons: Since it’s got a flat shape, some customers have complained that the lashes don’t get as even a curl as happens with other curlers.

Buy Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler from Sephora for $21

• Sometimes you're just not ready to be in a relationship, and that's okay.
• Signs that you should just be single include not being happy with yourself, and not wanting to commit.
• It's important to remember that being in a relationship before you're ready or know what you want can be unhealthy.

A good relationship can be hard to find. It's not all matchmakers, blind dates, and love at first sight. In fact, love at first sight probably doesn't actually exist.

The truth is, despite societal pressures, you might not necessarily be ready to find "the one," fall in love, or even go on a date.

Keep scrolling for eight signs that a relationship just isn't right for you at the moment.

SEE ALSO: A relationship expert reveals 4 signs that you're a perfect match

You simply don't want to be in a relationship.

Sounds like a no-brainer, but sometimes we ignore our instincts.

If you know yourself and know that you're not ready or not willing to be in a relationship then why be in one? Yes, maybe you like a person a lot, but if you can't give the relationship 100% or you don't feel as though a relationship is possible right now, then you owe it to yourself — and others — to not get involved.

You're not alone if you want to be single. According to a 2014 Pew Research report, a record number of Americans have never been married.

Your reasons for not wanting to be in a relationship — no matter what they are — are valid, so you can honor them by listening to your gut and skipping the dating game for now.

You want to focus on other aspects of your life.

Work might be getting hectic or school could be taking up all of your extra time. Whatever the reason, you might not be feeling the need — or you might not have the energy — to focus on dating.

Sometimes we ignore these needs and enter into a relationship anyway. But if other aspects of your life are constantly taking priority over your significant other, your relationship will suffer. In fact, studies show that even the simple use of a smartphone could be ruining a relationship.

If you can't give enough attention and validation to make another person feel as though the relationship is reciprocal, you might want wait until you have enough time and energy to devote to a partner.

You're not happy with yourself.

We all have things we'd like to change about ourselves and insecurities to work on, but to quote RuPaul, "if you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?"

Your self-esteem (or lack thereof) can take a major toll on your relationship. In fact, according to Everyday Health, partners with low self-esteem were "more likely to view their relationship in black-and-white terms: as all good or all bad," which led to some deep issues in communication and perception.

Nobody's perfect. If you want to work on yourself, then it's probably best to focus on solely that for how ever long you think you need to.

Millennials are expected to become the most powerful generation in America in the not-so-distant future, as the group begins to exert an outsize influence on politics, culture, and the economy.

But first, they will have to decide where they want to live.

New data from the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program reveals the 10 US metropolitan areas whose populations of millennials — defined as people born between 1981 and 1997 — have increased the most from 2010 to 2015. For the 10 cities on the list, we've calculated the approximate number of millennials living there using millennial population percentages provided by Brookings, as well as US Census data on the population of each metro area from 2015.

There are clear winners, with Texas and Florida each being represented by three of the cities in the top 10. But neither of those states claimed the number one spot on the list.

Read on to find out where millennials are moving in the greatest numbers:

SEE ALSO: This map shows where Americans have the best chances of going from poor to rich

DON'T MISS: The most dangerous intersection in every state

10. Seattle

Metro population: 3,733,580

Approximate number of millennial residents: 937,129

Increase in millennial population from 2010 to 2015: 10.8%

9. Sarasota, Florida

Metro population: 768,013

Approximate number of millennial residents: 122,114

Increase in millennial population from 2010 to 2015: 11.1%

T-7. Houston

Metro population: 6,656,947

Approximate number of millennial residents: 1,650,923

Increase in millennial population from 2010 to 2015: 11.7%