When you think about Houston, Texas, you probably picture massive oil refineries, oppressive humidity, and a sub-par baseball team — a far cry from one of the nation's most up-and-coming cities. 

But you shouldn't dismiss Houston so easily; the Bayou City is an economic juggernaut.

It's by far the country's No. 1 job creator and home to 26 Fortune 500 companies. A paycheck goes farther here than anywhere else in the country, and it has a medical center larger than downtown Dallas. 

Add a thriving restaurant and cultural scene, and you've got a winning case for Houston as the best city in America. Here are 18 reasons you may want to pack your bags and head south. 

It's got the jobs. Houston is the No. 1 city for job creation in the U.S. By a lot.

Houston is home to more Fortune 500 company headquarters than anywhere in America except for New York.

There are 26 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Houston, fewer than New York's 72 but well ahead of Dallas's 19 and Washington D.C.'s 20. Many are in the city's "energy corridor," the home of the oil and gas industry. 

They include Conoco Phillips, Marathon Oil, Sysco, Apache, Halliburton, and many more. 

It hosts the world's largest concentration of healthcare organizations, with scientists working hard to beat cancer.

The Texas Medical Center is the largest single employer in Houston, and the largest medical center in the world, with 21 hospitals, eight academic and research institutions, and 50 total related organizations, all not-for-profit.

The complex is larger than downtown Dallas. 

Institutions include the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the world's premier cancer treatment and research hospitals, which is spending billions in an aggressive push to cure five types of cancer. 

The San Francisco real estate market is on fire right now, as rent and home prices have risen so astronomically as to become unaffordable for many. 

Buying a home in San Francisco is incredibly competitive, too. According to data from national real estate brokerage Redfin, a whopping 69.1% of homes in San Francisco sold above their asking price in May of 2014. The average San Francisco home spent less than two weeks on the market.

For comparison, only 24.5% of homes nationally sell for more than their asking price, and they take over a month to sell. 

Plus, according to Redfin, the median home sale price for San Francisco this past May was $910,000. Nationally, the median sale price was $298,033.

Whether or not you believe the influx of tech workers is leading to gentrification in San Francisco, the numbers show that real estate there is getting harder and harder to get.

We've rounded up some of the craziest home sales to go down in the last six months. 

This Presidio Heights home sold for 20.5% above its asking price after just 8 days on the market. According to the listing, the home's six bedrooms include a suite that's perfect for an au pair.

List Price: $4.25 million

Sale Price: $5.125 million

Sale-to-list difference: $875,000

Days on market: 8

This 2,956-square-foot home in the Marina also sold after only 8 days on the market. Its final price was $3.7 million, $905,000 above its listing price.

List Price: $2.795 million

Sale Price: $3.7 million

Sale-to-list difference: $905,000

Days on market: 8

At the beginning of May, this 2-unit building in Pacific Heights sold for 38% above its asking price.

List Price: $2.495 million

Sale Price: $3.45 million

Sale-to-list difference: $955,000

Days on market: 11

Lionel Messi signed a new contract last week that will make him the highest-paid soccer player in the world at $27 million per year.

Going into the 2014 World Cup at age 26, Messi is already considered one of the best players ever and is already making more than $40 million with endorsements.

Despite that wealth and advertising exposure, he's is one of the most private people in the sport.

He drives a $200,000 car and lives in a nice house, but there may not be a more unknowable athlete in the world than Messi.

He made $41.3 million last year, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo among active players.

Source: Forbes

He'll pass Ronaldo next year. He just signed a new deal that will pay him $27 million per year.

Source: Reuters

He makes just as much off the field, earning $21.5 million in endorsements.

Source: Forbes

It can be easy to see the world's most powerful and influential people as occupying a sphere far removed from the rest us. 

But many of the one-percent started off with conventional first jobs.

Goldman Sachs' CEO Lloyd Blankfein, for example, grew up in the projects and made extra money at a concession stand in Yankee Stadium. Warren Buffett built his savings as a kid by delivering newspapers. And before she found her calling in media, Oprah Winfrey worked at a corner store.

We'll take a look at 15 highly successful people who made the most of, but weren't defined by, a modest first job.

Lloyd Blankfein sold snacks at Yankee Stadium.

As the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Blankfein is one of the most influential people on Wall Street.

But he worked his way up from the bottom. He grew up in Brooklyn housing projects and worked his first job as a concession vendor at Yankee Stadium.

Richard Branson was an amateur bird breeder and arborist.

Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, has worked for himself from day one. Although he's a bit more careful about his business decisions today.

At the age of 11, Branson says in a LinkedIn post, he and his best friend Nik Powell started breeding parakeets to sell as pets to their classmates. The birds started multiplying faster than they could sell them, so they then tried their hand in a different market. As Christmas approached, they bought small fir trees and hoped to make a profit off them once they grew big — but rabbits destroyed the trees before they could grow.

Beth Comstock worked in a Rubbermaid factory.

Comstock is the CMO of General Electric and oversaw the creation of the Hulu streaming service.

But before she entered the professional world, she learned the value of hard work at a Rubbermaid factory that produced kitchenware. In a LinkedIn post, she explains that she took the summer job after her freshman year of college as a break from academic work but found herself completely overwhelmed. She's still proud of learning how to work as a team to overcome the difficult months of labor.

Wimbledon is one of the classiest sporting events of our time.

It takes place in England, known for its long history of royalty, it's played on grass courts, and the tennis stars are only allowed to wear white while playing.

The only-white-gear rule is a strict one, and according to The Guardian, it's gotten even stricter this year. 

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash had to pull out of the veterans' competition because his shoes weren't completely white. Cash also told The Guardian that he heard some female players had to change their sports bras because they were not white and stuck out from under their clothing. Players were also allegedly told to not wear dark underwear as it could be seen when they began to sweat.

But a lot of women tennis players get creative with their white attire. Tennis outfits are a way for the players to express themselves, so when color isn't an option, it's time to get funky with white. From full bodysuits, to see-through tops, to super short shorts, we've seen it all at Wimbledon.

Anna White went unconventional with this full bodysuit in 1985.

Venus Williams' get-up in 2000 had an open back that cut around showing off some stomach.

In 2007, Venus Williams wore some very short and tight white shorts.

HBO's "Game of Thrones" is known for the surprising deaths of some of its most major characters. Some deaths are pretty gruesome, while others can be quite beautiful.

That's why HBO collaborated with the digital marketing agency 360i and artist Robert Ball to put together the "Beautiful Death" series, which chronicles the show's major deaths by turning them into works of art.

We spoke with Ball and asked him about the series and how he puts it together.

WARNING: "GAME OF THRONES" SPOILERS AHEAD.

For his first piece, Ball took blood and turned it into a map of Westeros. "I decided early on that there should be more to them than straight illustration," Ball told us. According to him, doing this gave it "more intrigue and depth."

The depth and intrigue of the series has helped it stand out. For example, turning the beheading of season one's protagonist, Ned Stark, into birds flying into the heavens created a beautiful image out of one of the most unexpected deaths on the show.

Ball says the images only take a couple of days to put together. The image for season three's bloody and shocking Red Wedding didn't take that long to create.

One of Ball's favorite pieces was of Arya's first kill in season two. "I wanted to show that the little girl that was Arya is no more," He said. "To me it's direct, simple and powerful - the most emotional of the pieces."

According to Ball, all of the work is digital. However, some do contain hand drawn elements. This is how Ball responded to King Joffrey's poisoning in season four.

When the fourth season came around, Ball didn't have any idea of the upcoming deaths so he created images as they occurred like the trial by combat piece below. "I was responding to each episode 'live' and worked on each piece week by week."

Ball says not knowing shocking events like Tyrion murdering his father Tywin in the season four finale have been enjoyable. "It made season four even more exciting to watch," he said.  

To check out the entire "Beautiful Death" series, head over to HBO's website for the project.

And to check out more of Robert Ball's work, head over to his website.

SEE ALSO: Read The Awesome Fan Letter 'Game of Thrones' Author George R.R. Martin Sent Marvel When He Was 15

SEE ALSO: A 'Game Of Thrones' Actress May Be Giving Away Huge Spoilers On Her Instagram

Join the conversation about this story »

Macau is home to the biggest, most lavish casinos in the world.

Among the crazier facts about Macau recently: growth has averaged around 19% for a decade; in 2006 Macau’s casino revenues  surpassed those of Las Vegas; and the Sands Macau, opened in 2004, recouped its $265 million construction costs in one year

Today, Macau is in a bit of a crisis. This April, a shareholder in the Kimren Group, one of Macau's top high-roller promoters, took $1.3 billion worth of the company's money and vanished, causing a tidal wave of fear to wash over the Chinese province. Publicly traded junkets, which bankroll gambling rooms, have fallen as much as 11% since the Kimren incident.

That may sound dire. But the story of Macau's boom remains one of the most remarkable economic stories in history.

In the summer of 1980, Leroy W. Demery, Jr., an expert in Asian transportation, visited the country (then still a Portuguese protectorate) and documented his journey. 

He posted his copyrighted photo collection to flickr, and with his kind permission we have reproduced the snapshots here.

Click Here To See The Photos >

Here is his introduction to the collection:

I traveled by overnight ferry from Hong Kong to Macao, spent the day (1980 July 16) in Macao, then returned to Hong Kong by overnight ferry.

"Overnight ferry" for a 60 km distance?

Yes, one boarded the vessel about 10 p.m. The fare included a bunk in an air-conditioned dormitory - "Spartan" but very comfortable. The vessel sailed after midnight and certainly arrived within 3-4 hours. Passengers were awakened at about 6 a.m., as I remember.

Yes, catamarans and jetfoils were much faster, but fares were higher, and the overnight ferry permitted one to save the cost of overnight accommodation.

Macao, in 1980, was quiet. Very quiet. It had a distinct "small town" atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the Central District of nearby Hong Kong. Much has changed since then. Remarkably, the land area has nearly doubled, from about 16 square km to nearly 29 square km. Many of the images in this set are certainly "vanished scenes."

I regret that do not have a 1980 street map of Macao, and so am not able to locate some of these images.

Anyway, read on to take the journey to Old Macau.

Just to get you started, here's what Macau looks like today.

And here's what it looked like back in the day. This is Leal Senado, legislative seat during Portuguese rule, now home to the Institute of Civic and Municipal Affairs.

This section of the harbor is now reclaimed land, Demery says.

Investment banker Terence Kawaja, founder and CEO of LUMA Partners, has a new, epic presentation on the future of the television industry. 

He built this presentation after talking to people in the digital media business as well as people in the traditional "linear" television industry.

Kawaja's investment banking work focuses on digital media, with expertise is in the ad tech industry. (To get a sense of how connected he is in the ad world, check out his industry executive studded video from the Cannes ad festival.)

Unlike most digital people, though, Kawaja doesn't think traditional TV is dying, or about to be killed by digital media.

In the presentation, he says, "TV spend shows no sign of slowing down. Linear television, the one everyone says is going to die, is a growth industry. In fact, television is growing more in absolute dollars than the size of the entire digital video industry. "

However, he also says that if you were to slice off the last 7% of TV ad spending, which is arguably the least efficient, you would have enough money to support the entire digital video ecosystem.

He believes that digital and linear are on a crash course to converge. And, (naturally, as a banker) he believes there will be a lot of mergers and acquisitions that will bring the two together.

The presentation has Kawaja's captions/explanations under the slides. So, you can see what he thinks is going to happen.

The fashion industry is filled with designers, celebrities, journalists, stylists, and executives vying for influence. 

We've selected the best of the best and created a list of who determines what's cool in the U.S. 

Some of the people who made the list are controversial public figures who move fashion trends based on what they wear. Others are executives who run multibillion-dollar companies. 

Everyone on the list is a magnate in their own right.

Angela Ahrendts, Senior vice president of retail at Apple

Ahrendts solidified Burberry's position as one of the most aspirational brands in the world. Apple created the position just for her; she's responsible for all the merchandise in the company's 400 stores and website. She's expected to wield influence as Apple explores the wearable-gadgets market. Source: Getty / Ian Gavan

Sophia Amoruso, CEO of Nasty Gal

Business at Amoruso's trendy e-commerce site has been booming, partly thanks to Amoruso's impeccable style. Through her new book, #GIRLBOSS, Amoruso has become an inspiration to edgy women everywhere. Source: Youtube/Pandodaily

Derek Blasberg, editor-at-large of Harper's Bazaar and fashion writer

Blasberg is a Renaissance man for the modern age. His website MrBlasberg.com features fashion and social commentary, best-dressed lists, and documents his extensive world travels. His social circle includes actress Emma Watson and model Karlie Kloss.

(Blasberg, right)Source: David X Prutting and Keith Tiner, BFA

China was one of the first countries in the world to label "Internet addiction" as a clinical disorder posing a major threat to its teenagers. 

According to Reuters, the Chinese government has taken an aggressive approach to the problem, building as many as 250 boot camps to eradicate internet addiction. 

Parents can elect to send their children to these camps, where they undergo psychological examinations and military-style physical training to cure their addiction. Many of the teens sent to these Chinese boot camps spend the majority of their waking hours on the Internet, whether it be on networking sites or online games. 

China was one of the first countries to label "internet addiction" as a clinical disorder deserving psychological treatment. Here, a man plays a game at a Beijing Internet cafe.

Scientists at Beijing's Daxing Internet Addiction Treatment Center scan an Internet addict's brain for research purposes. Some psychologists say that the competitive pressures of life in a 1.3 billion-person country could be a reason many Chinese teens retreat to the Internet.

A female instructor and a former soldier escort a young girl to Qide Education Center, an Internet addiction treatment facility in Beijing. There are as many as 250 secretive military-style camps like Qide in China.

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."
—Plato

When we speak, we have about 60 seconds to capture our audience's attention, establish credibility, orient them to our topic, and motivate them to listen, says Darlene Price, president of Well Said, Inc., and author of "Well Said! Presentations and Conversations That Get Results."

If you waste those precious opening seconds with a joke, an agenda, an apology, housekeeping details, a string of thank-yous, or a rambling pointless paragraph littered with "ums" and "uhs," your audience's minds are likely to drift, and you may not get them back. "You, your message, and your audience deserve much more," Price says. "You need to put the art in the start, the most important part of the work."

That's a tall order for any speaker — and it requires us to develop and rehearse a well-crafted attention-getting opener. Price offers seven options.

1. Tell a captivating story.

"Of all the starters in your toolkit, storytelling is among the most powerful and consistently successful," Price says. "As humans, we're hard-wired to enjoy and learn from stories. From bedtime stories and campfires, to Broadway theaters and boardrooms — heroes, villains, conflict, plots, dialogue, and lessons learned draw us in, remind us of our own lives, and hold our attention." 

The story can be about you personally, which tells the audience first-hand why you're invested in and passionate about the topic. Or you can tell a story about another person who the audience can learn from. "Another option: tell a fable, wisdom tale, historic event, or anecdote," Price says. "The idea is, start with a brief 60- to 90-second narrative that launches your speech and captivates your listeners, and make sure the story encapsulates the key point of your message."

She suggests you consider these questions as you craft your version of "Once upon a time": What challenges have you (or another) faced in relation to your topic? How did you (or another) overcome them? Who or what helped you or harmed you? What lessons were learned? What do you want your audience to gain, feel, or do as a result of the story? 

2. Ask a rhetorical thought-provoking question.

As Shakespeare wrote in "The Merchant of Venice," "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

"As a speaker, you ask rhetorical questions for persuasive effect; you don't expect the audience to answer aloud, rather silently to themselves," Price explains. When crafted and delivered well, rhetorical questions influence an audience to believe in the position of the speaker. "Clearly, Shakespeare's character Shylock is leading his listeners to think 'yes' four times in order to justify revenge against Antonio. What do you want your audience to say 'yes' or 'no' to?" 

In addition to yes or no questions, you can also arouse curiosity and motivate your audience to think about the answer, she says.

3. State a shocking statistic or headline.

Price says the vice president of sales for America's leading healthcare IT company successfully sells software solutions to hospitals by starting her presentations with the following:

"According to a new study in the Journal of Patient Safety, medical errors leading to patient death are much higher than previously thought. Preventable adverse events, known as PAEs, cause up to 400,000 deaths per year for patients who seek care at a hospital. That means medical errors are the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. Our vision is to create a world free of medical errors, and we need your help."

"The statistic, bold claim, or headline needs to be directly related to the main purpose of your presentation," Price explains. "Its impact ideally persuades the audience to listen and respond positively to your recommendation and next steps." 

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."
—Plato

When we speak, we have about 60 seconds to capture our audience's attention, establish credibility, orient them to our topic, and motivate them to listen, says Darlene Price, president of Well Said, Inc., and author of "Well Said! Presentations and Conversations That Get Results."

If you waste those precious opening seconds with a joke, an agenda, an apology, housekeeping details, a string of thank-yous, or a rambling pointless paragraph littered with "ums" and "uhs," your audience's minds are likely to drift, and you may not get them back. "You, your message, and your audience deserve much more," Price says. "You need to put the art in the start, the most important part of the work."

That's a tall order for any speaker — and it requires us to develop and rehearse a well-crafted attention-getting opener. Price offers seven options.

1. Tell a captivating story.

"Of all the starters in your toolkit, storytelling is among the most powerful and consistently successful," Price says. "As humans, we're hard-wired to enjoy and learn from stories. From bedtime stories and campfires, to Broadway theaters and boardrooms — heroes, villains, conflict, plots, dialogue, and lessons learned draw us in, remind us of our own lives, and hold our attention." 

The story can be about you personally, which tells the audience first-hand why you're invested in and passionate about the topic. Or you can tell a story about another person who the audience can learn from. "Another option: tell a fable, wisdom tale, historic event, or anecdote," Price says. "The idea is, start with a brief 60- to 90-second narrative that launches your speech and captivates your listeners, and make sure the story encapsulates the key point of your message."

She suggests you consider these questions as you craft your version of "Once upon a time": What challenges have you (or another) faced in relation to your topic? How did you (or another) overcome them? Who or what helped you or harmed you? What lessons were learned? What do you want your audience to gain, feel, or do as a result of the story? 

2. Ask a rhetorical thought-provoking question.

As Shakespeare wrote in "The Merchant of Venice," "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

"As a speaker, you ask rhetorical questions for persuasive effect; you don't expect the audience to answer aloud, rather silently to themselves," Price explains. When crafted and delivered well, rhetorical questions influence an audience to believe in the position of the speaker. "Clearly, Shakespeare's character Shylock is leading his listeners to think 'yes' four times in order to justify revenge against Antonio. What do you want your audience to say 'yes' or 'no' to?" 

In addition to yes or no questions, you can also arouse curiosity and motivate your audience to think about the answer, she says.

3. State a shocking statistic or headline.

Price says the vice president of sales for America's leading healthcare IT company successfully sells software solutions to hospitals by starting her presentations with the following:

"According to a new study in the Journal of Patient Safety, medical errors leading to patient death are much higher than previously thought. Preventable adverse events, known as PAEs, cause up to 400,000 deaths per year for patients who seek care at a hospital. That means medical errors are the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. Our vision is to create a world free of medical errors, and we need your help."

"The statistic, bold claim, or headline needs to be directly related to the main purpose of your presentation," Price explains. "Its impact ideally persuades the audience to listen and respond positively to your recommendation and next steps." 

Click here to find out why >>

Join the conversation about this story »

Consider this: You can polish your mind with knowledge until it is a blinding shine, but if you don't externalize it, no one will recognize it.

Success is all about being noticed. You get noticed by showing the goods.

By adopting the following habits, you'll televise your qualities to the world (discreetly, of course).

Just watch how people react to you.

Brag Discreetly

I cannot emphasize the word discreetly enough.

If you trumpet all your achievements and pricey possessions, you will lose everyone's respect. You want people to know that you're making it without coming off as a boaster; slip things into conversation casually. State your accomplishments as matter-of-factly as possible without the detailed trimmings, or slip them into stories.

For instance, say: "I went to New Zealand on vacation. I had some extra money from the bonus I got for increasing our sales one year." This presentation allows you to stick to the facts and incorporate an achievement into a pertinent story.

But don't make it all about you. Give credit where credit is due. By recognizing success in your peers, you invite praise to be reciprocated in the future.

More from AskMen: 20 Signs You're A Boss In The Making

Be A Good Communicator

Do you ever wonder why companies today spend so much money on PR?

The reason is that effective communication has never been so important. You need to have the right words to communicate the right meaning, and remove any room for misinterpretation by people that are hungry to point out flaws.

The trick?

Choose your words carefully. Be specific and pay attention to context. Words can be warped beyond recognition if used carelessly. Relating only the bare essentials helps in this matter. And if you don't have anything nice to say about people, don't bother saying anything at all.

Listen to others. Really listen. Don't just nod while you wait for them to finish talking. You never know what valuable information could be couched in simple banter. Listen everywhere, even to conversations around the office. Sometimes, there's gold to be found in gossip.

Exit Graciously

Sometimes, you just need to cut a conversation short or leave important company on a dime.

You could just stand there listening politely, but you have better things to do. A successful person knows how to steer conversation with class, and can end one just as gracefully. Don't make excuses for your departure, because you don't have to.

Besides, excuses sound dishonest. Instead, thank the other party for their time and bid them farewell. That's it. It's all about taking command of situations with style.

More from AskMen: 50 "Unhealthy" Foods That Have Insane Health Benefits

Apple will reportedly release an "iWatch" this year. 

The smartwatch will be Apple's first major new product in a new product category since it released the iPad in 2010.

Prior to releasing the iPad, computer companies had tried repeatedly to make tablets. None of them really worked. Apple's design and operating system clicked, and Apple has now sold over 200 million iPads.

Similarly, many computer companies have taken a crack at smartwatches and none of them have yet to get it right. 

Will Apple be the first to get it right? We're not sure, but here are some clues about what Apple is planning. We've gathered all the details on the iWatch here...

What will it be called? Everyone is saying "iWatch" which sounds likely. Apple has trademarked "iWatch" in 5 countries.

See here.

We expect it to run on a modified version of iOS, Apple's mobile operating system.

It will have a 2.5-inch rectangular screen. Or maybe it will be round...

So far, there is no definitive answer about what the iWatch's screen will look like. 

Reuters reported, "Apple will introduce a smartwatch with a display that likely measures 2.5 inches diagonally and is slightly rectangular."

But Brian Blair of Rosenblatt Securities was in Asia and said it will have a round face.

Who to believe? In general we would side with Reuters, which has a track record of being right. But a 2.5-inch screen would be big and bulky. A round face makes sense since Apple has started making more round icons in iOS, its mobile operating system. 

For now, this is a toss up! We lean rectangle since it makes more sense. 

By now, we've all heard the talk about the big tech bubble. Almost any startup can secure funding from some investor somewhere. And there are new tech companies popping up every day.

Some may be pessimistic about the current state of investing and valuations, but one VC, Mark Suster is sure that we're only at the beginning of tech investing.

Suster, a partner at Upfront Ventures, recently shared a presentation on Slideshare that discusses the current state of the industry and the implications for investors.

It's been five years since the beginning of the financial crisis forever changed the trajectory of American banking — and American history.

The plot lines of the financial crisis arewell-documented, but it should still give any market watcher pause to stop and think again about the events as they unfolded.

From Lehman's collapse to AIG's bailout, September and October of 2008 were, simply put, absolutely nuts.

To celebrate the 5-year-anniversary, we take a walk down memory lane with a cast of familiar faces.

FEB 8, 2007: HSBC says that its bad debt provisions for 2006 will be 20% higher than expected thanks to a slump in the U.S. housing market. Normal people begin to learn what subprime is.

Source: BBC

APRIL 2, 2007: New Century files for bankruptcy. It was the largest subprime lender in the United States.

Source: SEC Filing

JUN 21, 2007: Merril Lynch sells off assets in two Bear Stearns hedge funds as the funds hemorrhage billions of dollars on bad subprime bets.

Source: Reuters

Mathematics is an increasingly central part of our world and an immensely fascinating realm of thought.

But long before the development of the math that gave us computers, quantum mechanics, and GPS satellites, generations of brilliant minds — spanning from the ancient Greeks through the eighteenth century — built up the basic mathematical ideas and tools that sit at the foundation of our understanding of math and its relationship to the world.

Here are 12 of the most brilliant of those minds and some of their contributions to the great chain of mathematics.

The Pythagoreans (5th Century BC)

Some of the earliest mathematicians were Pythagoras and his followers. Mixing religious mysticism with philosophy, the Pythagoreans' contemplative nature led them to explorations of geometry and numbers.

The most famous result attributed to Pythagoras is the Pythagorean theorem: for a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two shorter legs that join to form the right angle is equal to the square of the long side opposite that angle. This is one of the fundamental results in plane geometry, and it continues to fascinate mathematicians and math enthusiasts to this day.

One apocryphal story of the Pythagoreans illustrates the danger of combining religion and math. The Pythagoreans idealized the whole numbers, and viewed them as a cornerstone of the universe. Their studies of geometry and music centered on relating quantities as ratios of whole numbers.

As the story goes, a follower of Pythagoras was investigating the ratio of the length of the long side of an isosceles right triangle to the length of one of the two shorter sides, which have the same length as each other. He then discovered that there was no way to express this as the ratio of two whole numbers. In modern terminology, this follower had figured out that the square root of 2 is an irrational number.

According to the legend, when the follower who discovered this fact revealed it to his peers, the idea that there could be irrational numbers — numbers that can't be expressed as a ratio of two whole numbers — was so shocking to the Pythagoreans that he was taken out on a boat and murdered by drowning.

Euclid (c. 300 BC)

Euclid was one of the first great Greek mathematicians. In his classic "Elements," Euclid laid the framework for our formal understanding of geometry. While earlier Greek philosophers like the Pythagoreans investigated a number of mathematical problems, Euclid introduced the idea of rigorous proof: Starting with a handful of assumed axioms about the basic nature of points, lines, circles, and angles, Euclid builds up ever more complicated ideas in geometry by using pure deductive logic to combine insights from previous results to understand new ideas. This process of using rigorous proof to build new results out of existing results introduced in the "Elements" has remained perhaps the most central guiding principle of mathematics for over two millennia.

Archimedes (c. 287-212 BC)

Archimedes was possibly the greatest mathematician of all time. He's best known for his contributions to our early understanding of physics by figuring out how levers work and in the famous legend of his discovery of how water is displaced by a submerged object: While taking a bath, Archimedes watched the water sloshing up to the top of his tub, and in the excitement of his discovery, he ran through the streets naked and shouting "Eureka!"

As a mathematician, however, Archimedes was able to outdo even his own accomplishments in physics. He was able to estimate the value of pi to a remarkably precise value and to calculate the area underneath a parabolic curve.

What is truly amazing about these accomplishments is that he made these calculations using techniques surprisingly close to those used by Newton, Leibniz, and their heirs in the development of calculus about 1,800 years later. He found these values by approximating them with measurements of polygons, adding more and more refined shapes, so that he would get closer and closer to the desired value. This is strongly reminiscent of the modern idea of an infinite limit. As far as his mathematical sophistication was concerned, Archimedes was nearly two millennia ahead of his time.

The Avengers have come to New York City for an extended stay.

Marvel's Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. recently opened in Discovery Times Square inviting visitors to become agents of Marvel's spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D.

The exhibition worked with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and The Science and Entertainment Exchange to explain the science behind the Avengers characters.

According to the New York Daily News, the 10,000 square foot exhibit cost approximately $7.5 million to construct.

Though S.T.A.T.I.O.N. officially opened to the public at the end of May, the exhibit wasn't fully functional until last month.

We attended the exhibit a few times before and after it was open to the public in order to see S.T.A.T.I.O.N. in full force.

Read more on the exhibit here.

Welcome to the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.!

Before heading inside to the "restricted area," you're asked to make your own Agent identification card.

You'll need the card once inside to access a bunch of interactive games and features.

The Dow crossed 17,000 for the first time on Thursday after a monster U.S. jobs report.

"Six months into the year it’s become clear to us that 2014 is likely to be remembered in market history books as a year of big surprises," writes Oppenheimer's John Stoltzfus.

"From our vantage point on the market radar screen it confirms that indeed the economy is getting better, that stocks continue to gather a following among investors after many years of being ignored, untrusted and unloved by more than a few."

Stoltzfus believes that investors and traders will be watching the upcoming earnings season closely.

"Market participants will be looking for further improvements in revenues and earnings growth that along with financial engineering in the form of share buybacks have helped move the market higher through the recovery since 2009," he said. "Guidance as to what corporate leadership sees ahead will likely carry increasing weight."

As the Federal Reserve continues to let up on its easy monetary policy, Stoltzfus warns that the market could experience a ramp up in volatility.

Stoltzfus just published a 35-page presentation putting every corner of the financial markets into perspective.

Thanks to Oppenheimer & Co. for giving us permission to feature this presentation.

Interest rates are slowly climbing to more normal levels.

Utilities have been beating consumer discretionary stocks.

Everything's up a healthy amount from their lows of the year.