Welcome to Williamsburg.

The Brooklyn neighborhood has long been known as the epicenter of world cool and shows no signs of slowing down. Property values have been skyrocketing and new stores, both local and global, are opening every day. 

This past weekend, we sent local photographer Maggie Shannon to capture some of the highlights.

We'd love to tell you to start your trip to Williamsburg by taking the L train and getting off on Bedford Avenue, the heart of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, L Train service is suspended on the weekends until May 18th. If you're coming on a Saturday or Sunday, you'll have to find another way to get here.

For many, that means a trip over the Williamsburg Bridge, via car, subway, or over its pedestrian walkway. The bridge, which opened in 1903, is one of the four toll-free bridges that connects Manhattan to Long Island.

Near the bridge is the uber-popular Marlow & Sons, owned by the same people that run Diner, an equally popular restaurant next door, Marlow & Daughters, a fantastic meat shop down the street, and many other chic establishments around the surrounding area.

With another NCAA Tournament win in the books, it's an exciting time to be at Duke University.

But basketball isn't the only area where Duke students excel. From fighting against discrimination to sending time capsules into space to finding a quicker way to detect cancer, Duke students go above and beyond in all they do.

We tracked down 18 outstanding undergrads with help from the school's communications office and through recommendations from current students.

Arun Karottu and Shelly Li found a safer way to recycle electronic equipment.

Class of 2015

Arun Karottu and Shelly Li started an electronic waste recycling company called Smart Metals Recycling after seeing how many electronics were thrown out at Duke at the end of each year. These electronics end up in landfills and harm the environment.

Smart Metals recycles old electronics by recovering reusable metals and plastics from devices and putting them back into the production cycle. The company handles over 100,000 pounds of electronic waste a day, and generates over $6 million in annual revenue.

Previously, Karottu, the vice president of sales, also founded a medical device company that helps health care professionals perform certain tasks — like checking charts and accessing files — hands-free. Li, the president, is also a published sci-fi author.

When they graduate, the two seniors plan to build a refurbishing side to their operations and work on larger-scale projects, like decommissioning a power plant to find valuable parts to reuse and recycle.

Brittany Wenger invented a more accurate test to diagnose breast cancer.

Class of 2017

Brittany Wenger developed cloud4cancer, a cloud-based artificial neural network that diagnoses breast cancer. Cloud4cancer uses a computer program that analyzes breast cancer diagnostic data to detect and recognize patterns in malignant tissue. The program is 99.1% sensitive to malignancy.

Wenger is now taking this invention, which won the grand prize at the 2012 Google Science Fair, to the next level. This past fall she founded the Cloud For Cancer Foundation to further the use of the cloud in cancer research.

Wenger, who was named one of TIME magazine’s 30 under 30, has presented her research to the Royal Society of Medicine and Clinton Global Initiative University.

While only a sophomore, Wenger plans on pursuing an MD/PhD when she graduates with the ultimate goal of becoming a pediatric oncologist.

Charlotte Lee taught sex ed in public schools in Kenya.

Class of 2015

Charlotte Lee worked in rural Kenya training local research assistants and teaching sex education in public schools. One in three people in Muhuru Bay, Kenya, are HIV positive, and Lee taught a curriculum that included hard facts, contraceptive methods, and helping students envision their futures without unplanned pregnancies or STDs.

Lee is a public health advocate in multiple spheres: She also served as a research associate in the Peruvian Amazon studying the health effects of mercury related to artisanal gold mining, and coordinated the first-ever New York City Hepatitis B Awareness Week with New York City Council. 

After graduation, Lee will spend the next year as a Luce Scholar with the Henry Luce Foundation doing global health work, most likely in Thailand, looking at diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B, which affect maternal and child health. She eventually plans to become an OB/GYN.

Children who grow up with one or both parents in the military and spend time on or around bases — otherwise known as military brats — get used to things that seem weird to everyone else.

Since I was born at William Beaumont Army Hospital on Fort Bliss, Texas, with years spent there and subsequent deployments to Kaiserslautern, Germany and Osan, South Korea, I've become very familiar with this lifestyle.

In honor of Month of the Military Child, here are some tell-tale signs you were a member of a military family:

1. Your pantry was always stocked with rations.

The self-contained, individual ration called Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a typical military family household commodity. MREs contain a main course, side dish, bread, dessert, and a flameless ration heater. These instant dishes, like "beef ravioli in meat sauce" and "pork chop formed in Jamaican style sauce with noodles," are designed to give service members in the field well-balanced meals. Sometimes a packed lunch was an MRE shoved into your backpack.

2. You learned the phonetic alphabet along with your ABCs

The phonetic alphabet is a list of specified words used to identify letters in a message transmitted by phone or radio.

For example, the word "Army" would be "Alpha Romeo Mike Yankee" when spelled using the phonetic alphabet.

Just like the military, you also refer to countless things with acronyms. Military slang and acronyms are tossed around in conversations with ease and as a child you learn to pick them up quickly. For instance, no one ever explained the meaning of "Hooah" (pronounced WhoAh) to you but you knew that it was short for "Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged."

3. Along with a school ID, you had a military ID.

Military ID cards are golden tickets and misplacing one meant perpetually waiting with a sponsor in a small ID card office. The khaki-colored "identification and privilege card" is the key to a military base and all of its goodies — gym, commissary (grocery store), swimming pool, etc. 

4. Your church had an American flag inside it.

No different from an American flag hanging inside of a school classroom, America's Stars and Stripes are also recognized inside military installation chapels. 

These chapels are designed to be convertible in order to accommodate various religious beliefs of service members. For example, the chapel may offer a Catholic Mass at 8 a.m. and then a Protestant service at 11 a.m. 

Service ended with singing "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful." Also, the priest was referred to as chaplain.

5. Calling everyone by last names seems normal.

It is almost as if this behavior is innate, because remarkably, military brats quickly begin to refer to anyone by their last name. That is because troops refer to each other by their last name, a practice originating from their training in boot camp. 

Calling an adult "ma'am" or "sir" is another natural mannerism.

6. At “colors” you drop everything and look for an American flag.

The flag is raised briskly and lowered slowly on American military bases every morning and evening while a patriotic song is played through a loudspeaker, usually "To the Color" or the National Anthem, depending on the base. 

This time is referred to as "Colors." Military personnel are required to stop, face the direction of the base flagpole, stand at attention, and render a salute until the music stops.

Moreover, you're used to singing the national anthem everywhere, even in movie theaters after the previews finish.

7. You are a bit of a perfectionist, especially in your appearance.

Appearance represents a form of self-discipline, and in the armed forces, it is a requirement that a soldier is neat and well-groomed when in uniform.

Leaders ensure that personnel under their command present a conservative military image.

Similarly, this practice was echoed into your childhood and that meant you didn't get to sport a trendy haircut, loud fingernail polish, or an untucked shirt. 

8. People ask you where you grew up and it takes you five minutes to answer.

Not having one permanent home for more than five years can make for a lengthy response to the question, "Where are you from?" Living in different states and sometimes foreign countries makes, "I'm from all over" the simplest answer. 

That is because military families don't have much of a say as to where they go. Some families luck out and get amazing placements to installations like the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, with sailing and surfing classes at the on-base marina and ample views of paradise.

9. Your doctor wears combat boots.

Service members and their families largely use the hospitals and clinics on base as their primary care providers, and those clinics are staffed with military doctors and medics.

A far cry though from the white lab coat with the cold stethoscope, many of these health care providers have seen the worst of the worst. 

10. You had holiday dinners in a chow hall.

Instead of heading over to grandma's house, military families often go to a dining facility for a cafeteria-style Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. 

This is either because travel is too difficult or expensive, or because the family lives on an installation in a foreign country. 

11. Your chores were mandatory.

Mom never had to come in and make your bed because every morning before school it was your responsibility. Failing a parent-conducted room inspection resulted in more chores or pushups. So you learned how to do things the "right way" quickly.

12. If you aren't 15 minutes early, you're late.

Being "tardy" doesn't exist in the military world. You were early to school, doctor's appointments, ceremonies, and parties — no exceptions. 

13. You have immediate respect for anyone in uniform.

Respect for individuals serving in the armed forces is strongly encouraged in military family upbringings. Possibly because you catch a glimpse of your personal experiences as a military brat, and that kind of relation isn't possible with civilians.

I always look twice when a young troop is in an airport terminal — not because of the enormous rucksack, but to figure out if they're heading home, to an overseas deployment, or to a combat zone.

SEE ALSO: 31 Phrases That Only People In The Military Will Understand

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We went inside a secret basement under Grand Central that was one of the biggest World War II targets

Mercury is the smallest and fastest planet in the solar system, racing through space at 105,000 miles per hour, circling the sun every 88 days.

But besides small size and swift speed, little was known about this mysterious planet until NASA's MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft became the first man-made instrument to orbit Mercury in 2011.

On Thursday April 30, NASA will crash land the spacecraft into the planet, leaving a 50-foot-wide crater. But before meeting its violent end, the spacecraft and its seven scientific instruments have uncovered many of the alluring planet's secrets —some, however, continue to defy understanding.

Here's a collection of some of the most incredible photos the spacecraft took that helped scientists better understand this small world. Some of these images have false coloring to highlight different minerals and features on the surface.

Mercury has a thin atmosphere that does little to protect it from asteroid impacts, which slam into its surface on a regular basis. Some craters on Mercury are billions of years old, but you can spot the more recent impact sites in light blue and white in this false-color image.

Here's a remarkable close-up of Mena crater. The white rays tracing across the surface are debris that an asteroid kicked up when it hit. Notice how the rays overlay some of the older impact sites. That's how scientists know that this 15.5-mile-wide crater was made relatively recently.

On the other side of Mercury is one of its most famous features: the giant Caloris basin, outlined here in tan in the upper right. The basin is 960 miles wide and relatively smooth. In fact, the tan regions in this false-color image mark some of the smoothest places on the planet where past lava flows have glossed the surface.

Over the past several days, the streets of Baltimore have erupted into chaos. Riots were sparked by anger over the recent death of Freddie Gray, who suffered a fatal spine injury while in police custody, but the seeds of that anger were sown long ago.

As Baltimore City Councilman Nick Mosby told Fox News on Tuesday, the protests are about the "social economics of poor, urban America."

Mosby described those protesting in the community as "showing decades old of anger, frustration for a system that's failed them."

AP photographer Patrick Semansky captured the poverty-stricken state of the Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods in a photo essay in 2013. It seems especially relevant today.

Baltimore has lost nearly a third of its population since its peak of about 950,000 residents in the 1950s. Here, two young men walk through a neighborhood of vacant row houses.

More than 30,000 people in Baltimore experience homeless in a given year. Some choose shelters; other become squatters on abandoned properties. In the picture below, two homeless men eat ice cream cones across the street from a block of vacant row houses.

Source: Health Care For The Homeless

A homeless man displays a pin that holds his jaw together; he said he received it after being beaten and robbed while sleeping in the vacant row house seen behind him.

For many people, buying a private island hideaway is the ultimate dream.

Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, and Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson are just a few of the billionaires who have added private islands to their extensive real estate portfolios.

But you don't necessarily have to be a billionaire to buy an island. Nearly a thousand islands come onto the market each year, and they vary greatly in terms of size and price. 

With the help of island marketplace Private Islands Inc., we've found a few that you can buy right now.

Jewel Caye, a two-acre island in Belize, is on the market for $3.15 million. It comes with two houses (one at each end of the island), a duplex for guests, and a wide pier set up with a dining room and bar.

See the listing »

Over in the South Pacific, uninhabited Macuata Island will set you back $2.85 million. It's being sold on a freehold basis, which mean that the whole thing can be yours outright.

See the listing »

For only $400,000 you can buy the quarter-acre Isla Paloma on the northern side of Panama. It comes with a two-bedroom house, and, according to the listing, "no snakes or spiders."

See the listing »

Moms do so much for us. They feed us, encourage us, and shower us with love.

It's only fair to return the favor, but you don't have to break the bank to show mom you care.

We found 13 gifts under $50 that will make you the favorite child this Mother's Day.

One-up the framed photo this year.

Price: $39.95

Put mom's favorite pictures on a custom iPhone case this year. Casetify has a number of attractive layouts and designs to choose from, and you can even import photos from Facebook or Instagram.

Get it here »

Charm her with this stunning charm bracelet.

Price: Starts at $16

What do moms never tire of doing? Talking about their kids. This stainless steel charm bracelet can be personalized with the names and birthstones of each of her kids. It's also a great gift for grandmothers, who can add charms for all her children's children.

Get it here »

Give her the gift of a green thumb.

Price: $44.95

No window box? No problem. Mom can grow her own herbs in the ZeroSoil mini indoor garden — an attractive and mess-less way to display (and eat) fresh, delicious herbs at any meal. It uses a plant nutrient base instead of potting soil, and bonus: It waters itself!

Get it here »

Almost every major brand uses Twitter to share news and build up a dialog with their customers. But, surprisingly, very few of the people behind those brands — the marketing teams, agency executives and creators of the tech that power digital advertising — use Twitter in the same way for themselves.

Go straight to the list >

The Twitter accounts of most top marketers and agency CEOs are rubbish. They aren't even updated regularly.

That's why we pulled together this list of the best people in advertising and marketing to follow on Twitter.

These are the execs that provide the best value to the industry with their tweets full of information, insight into the companies they work for, opinions on marketing, or humor and entertainment. Not all of them work at agencies or have "advertising" or "marketing" in their job titles, but we feel these people all bring value to the advertising community.

We've weighted our rankings using a (not entirely mathematical) scale of how often the user tweets plus whether the majority of those tweets tend to be useful/opinionated/funny/or simply brighten up people's Twitter feeds day-to-day.

30. @ClaudineCollins - Managing director of MediaCom UK

Claudine Collins’ Twitter account showcases the fabulous life of the media agency director, as well as thoughts on TV, popular culture and advertising.

29. @aripap - CEO at an ad tech start-up, currently in "stealth mode"

Ari Paparo is an adtech veteran, formerly at Bazaarvoice, AppNexus and Google. He offers his opinions on the big news in the the adtech industry, insights into start-up life and funny family updates. 

28. @Jan Gooding - Aviva group brand director

Jan Gooding is group brand director at the British multinational insurance company Aviva. In her spare time she is also a fellow of the UK Marketing Society and chair of gay equality organization Stonewall UK. Her Twitter account covers it all, and nearly always with an accompanying photo.

Water may seem like the least harmful substance, but drinking too much of it can kill.

So can too much of other things that most of us take for granted — from caffeine to the stuff you use to clean your bathroom.

To calculate how much of each of these items would be dangerous enough to kill, we've used a standard measure of toxicity known as LD50, the individual dose it would take to kill half the animals it was tested on.

This amount can vary pretty significantly depending on someone's health, gender, and medical history. The potentially deadly dosages in the slides that follow were calculated for the average 196-pound American male.

120 cups of coffee

Coffee's great for making you feel more alert and boosting your attention span, and, at low doses, it's perfectly safe.

But at high concentrations, caffeine can cause insomnia, dizziness, vomiting, headaches, and heart problems, and too much in one sitting can be deadly.

The risk of overdoing it is highest for pure powdered caffeine. A single tablespoon of this stuff — the equivalent of about 120 cups of coffee — can kill. During the summer of 2014, two young men died in separate incidents after each drank mixtures of pure powdered caffeine and water.

Six liters of water

Water regulates the shape of the cells inside our bodies — too much of it, and they puff up like balloons. Too little, and they shrink. 

An excess of water in and around our cells is called water intoxication, or hyponatremia. Drinking too much water, something athletes can do accidentally while training, can cause it. A 2005 study of 2002 Boston Marathon runners, for example, found that about one-sixth of the runners they studied had a mild form of the condition, with symptoms ranging from nausea to vomiting.

But an extreme case of water intoxication takes its worst toll on the brain, where our tightly packed neurons have little room to accommodate the extra water. A variety of neurological problems can result, from headaches to confusion, seizures, and, in rare untreated cases, death.

A well-known case of water intoxication happened in 2007, when 28-year-old Californian Jennifer Strange downed six liters of water in less than three hours as part of a radio-station contest. She died a few hours later.

48 teaspoons of salt

Just as you can overdo it with water, you can also overdo it with its antidote: salt.

The delicate balance of water and salt (or sodium) in and around our cells is what keeps them happy. When there's too little sodium (too much water), the cells swell up. When there's too much sodium (too little water), on the other hand, they shrink.

This condition is known as hypernatremia. Its milder symptoms include fatigue and weakness, but if the condition worsens it can lead to seizures, a coma and, in rare cases, death.

Morning routines are important — but bedtime rituals can have an even greater impact on your success.  

That’s because the very last thing you do before bed affects your mood and energy level the following day, since it often determines how well and how much you sleep.

Knowing that, we decided to find out how the most successful people spend their nights before surrendering to sleep.

Vivian Giang contributed to an earlier version of this article. 

President Barack Obama is a 'night owl' and likes to work late.

Unlike Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, who prefers to rise in the early hours, the current president stays up late, reports Carrie Budoff Brown at Politco. He is said to hold conference calls with senior staff as late as 11 p.m. and reads or writes before heading to bed.

In a 2011 interview with Newsweek, Obama called himself a "night owl" and described his typical evening:

"Have dinner with the family, hang out with the kids, and put them to bed about 8:30 p.m. And then I'll probably read briefing papers or do paperwork or write stuff until about 11:30 p.m., and then I usually have about a half hour to read before I go to bed ... about midnight, 12:30 a.m. — sometimes a little later."

Obama has also said that if he's home late at night, he'll try to catch "The Daily Show.""I think Jon Stewart's brilliant," Obama tells Rolling Stone.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg turns off her phone at night.

Sandberg might work for a tech company, but she knows when to unplug.

Sandberg tells Jefferson Graham at USA Today that it's "painful," but she turns her phone off at night so that she "won't get woken up."

"I check my e-mail the first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night," says Sandberg.

Inventor Benjamin Franklin asked himself the same self-improvement question every night.

In his autobiography, Franklin outlined a schedule that would lead him to "moral perfection." In this ideal schedule, Franklin asked himself the same self-improvement question every night: "What good have I done today?"

He described his other rituals before bed as, "put things in their places, supper, music or diversion or conversation, and examination of the day."

Franklin tracked his progress on self-improvement daily.

While some tech executives are quick to splurge on yachts and mega-mansions, others aren't so flashy with their riches.

Biz Stone, for example, says he's too embarrassed to drive anything more flashy than a dented Volkswagen Golf, while Sergey Brin likes to buy things in bulk at Costco.

We've rounded up 11 tech executives who have made millions or even billions with their companies yet have chosen lives of frugality and charity.

David Cheriton, Stanford professor

Net worth: $2.9 billion

Cheriton, a professor at Stanford and cofounder of Arista Networks, became one of the first investors in Google after Larry Page and Sergey Brin did a demo of their project on his front porch in 1998. That initial $100,000 check has obviously paid off, but Cheriton dislikes the thought of being a billionaire.

"I'm actually quite offended by that sort of thing," he told the Edmonton Journal in a 2006 interview. "These people who build houses with 13 bathrooms and so on, there's something wrong with them."

He drives a 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon, has lived in the same Palo Alto home for the past 30 years, cuts his own hair, and even claims to reuse his tea bags. He did, however, splurge on a Honda Odyssey for his kids back in 2012.

Charlie Ergen, founder and CEO of Dish Network

Net worth: $17.8 billion

Ergen is notorious for being a frugal leader and micromanager — up until about 10 years ago, he insisted on signing every check that came out of Dish. 

He packs a lunch of a sandwich and Gatorade before work every day, and until recently, he shared hotel rooms with colleagues during travel.

"My mom grew up in the Depression," he told the Financial Times. "I don’t have a mahogany desk."

Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba

Net worth: $22.8 billion

Ma is one of the wealthiest men in China, but he's made few splurge purchases and prefers to keep his personal life out of the spotlight. Ma grew up poor in communist China, failed his college entrance exam twice, and was rejected from dozens of jobs.

Even though he has become a bit of a celebrity in China, he still enjoys quiet meditation in the mountains and playing poker with friends.

"Ma Yun's lifestyle is very simple and modest. His hobbies are still tai chi and kung fu novels," Chen, his friend and assistant, said to USA Today."I don't think he has changed much, he is still that old style."

On the eve of the 2015 NFL Draft, the experts have weighed in with their final mock drafts.

We surveyed 15 experts to get a consensus prediction for the most likely selections for all 32 first-round picks.

The experts: ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, NFL Network's Mike Mayock and Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com's Charley Casserly, Bucky Brooks, Charles Davis, Brian Baldinger, and Lance Zierlein, SI.com's Don Banks, CBSSports.com's Rob Rang, Fox Sports.com's Pete Schrager, Rotoworld's Josh Norris, WalterFootball.com, and The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Jameis Winston, QB

2. Tennessee Titans — Marcus Mariota, QB

3. Jacksonville Jaguars — Leonard Williams, DL

Staggering in its scope and scale, Ramstein Air Base in Germany is one of America's most important and fascinating military facilities.

Located in southwestern Germany, it serves not only as the headquarters of the US Air Force in Europe and a major NATO installation but also as a gateway to American military operations around the globe.

The base is part of a conglomeration of 12 Army and Air Force installations that make up the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC).

This community, also known as K-Town, hosts almost 54,000 Americans across 300 neighboring German towns and cities, turning the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany into a tiny slice of America. The area has the largest concentration of Americans outside of the US, though it's also notably multicultural and includes personnel from many countries.

Over two days in September of 2014, Business Insider was given an extensive tour of the base and its operations. 

Ramstein Air Base is a central hub of international US military operations ranging from West Africa and Europe to Afghanistan, with almost 33,000 aircraft passing through the base in 2013 alone. After spending some days on base, we were blown away by how much happens there.

Ramstein is run by the 86th Airlift Wing, which is composed of six groups and 27 squadrons. The 37th Blue Tail Flies Airlift Squadron, which is part of the 86th, is a dedicated airlift unit that's been used to move everything from hurricane evacuees to firetrucks to pieces of artillery.

The 37th flies the C-130J "Super" Hercules transport plane. The 86th has 14 of these enormous aircraft.

In America, Cinco de Mayo has become an excuse to eat Mexican food and drink margaritas. 

But in Mexico, it's celebrated a bit differently. 

The holiday actually commemorates a military victory, when Mexico defeated the French in 1862. And instead of being celebrated across the country, the only place that really celebrates the holiday is Puebla, where the battle actually took place.

From historical reenactments and parades to mouthwatering meals, here’s what you’ll see happening in Mexico on May 5th.

The largest Cinco de Mayo celebrations take place in the city of Puebla, the site where the original battle took place. Not only is the city a UNESCO World Heritage Centre thanks to its preserved 16th and 17th century cathedrals, it’s also considered Mexico’s gastronomic capital.

There's a massive parade in Puebla, where thousands of locals gather and dress as French and Mexican soldiers to reenact the war. After the Mexican troops win, celebrations begin with music, dancing, and food.

There are dozens of brightly-colored floats in the parade.

With only a week to go before Britain goes to the polls to vote for their next government, we're looking back at the most iconic moments and images of previous elections.

Each one helps to tell the story of the individual campaigns and some represent key turning points in which elections were won or lost.

From Winston Churchill's shock defeat in 1945 to the triggering of "Cleggmania" in 2010, there have been many priceless moments that have played pivotal roles in securing the fates of political parties over the years.

In 1945, in the first election to be called in Britain in 10 years, Labour's Clement Attlee convinced voters with election posters like this that his party was best-placed to rebuild the nation after the war. Labour won a 146-seat majority to remove incumbent Winston Churchill.

But Churchill remained as resilient as ever. In 1951, and at the age of 77, he lead the Conservatives to victory into the 1951 General Election campaign promising a "strong and free" Britain. Here he is giving his victory speech after the vote.

After 13 straight years of Conservative government, the party's fortunes had turned by the 1964 election — not least after the resignation of John Profumo, the Minister for War, over lying about his relationship with a call girl. Labour's Harold Wilson went up against the Tories' aristocratic leader Sir Alec Douglas-Home and took 317 seats to 304. Here's the 1964 swingometer showing the percentage change in votes.

There's just a week to go until the UK's general election, and the outcome has rarely been less clear so close to polling day. 

The only thing that seems likely at this point is that no single party will get enough seats to govern. Until recently, Britain's electoral system had usually returned clear majority governments, but those days seem to be over.

With questions about the economy at the centre of each party's campaign, what are the major things you need to know about how the UK is performing?

GDP growth has been much more consistently decent since the middle of 2013, as this UBS chart shows — though the most recent data showed an expansion of just 0.3%.

After two years of stagnation under the Coalition, employment rates began to surge in 2012, hitting record highs, as this Oxford Economics chart shows.

But this chart from Citi shows why lots of people may not be feeling the upswing — the jobs created are overwhelmingly in sectors which are generally paid much less.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made a tradition of dramatic New Year's resolutions. This year, he decided that he'd read a book every two weeks, focusing on tomes "about different cultures, beliefs, histories, and technologies."

"Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today,"Zuckerberg wrote on his personal Facebook page. "I'm looking forward to shifting more of my media diet towards reading books."

To that aim, he started a book club called "A Year of Books," in which he discusses the books he's reading with members of the Facebook community.

We've put together a list of his picks and why he thinks everyone should read them.

'The End of Power' by Moisés Naím

Zuckerberg launched his book club with this lofty title from Naím, former executive director of the World Bank and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

It's a historical investigation of the shift of power from authoritative governments, militaries, and major corporations to individuals. This is clearly seen in what's now become a Silicon Valley cliché, the disruptive startup.

"The trend towards giving people more power is one I believe in deeply,"Zuckerberg writes.

Buy it here >>

'Creativity, Inc.' by Ed Catmull

"Creativity, Inc." is the story of Pixar, written by one of the computer animation giant's founders, Ed Catmull.

Catmull intersperses his narrative with valuable wisdom on management and entrepreneurialism, and argues that any company should consciously avoid hampering their employees' natural creativity.

"I love reading first-hand accounts about how people build great companies like Pixar and nurture innovation and creativity,"Zuckerberg writes.

Buy it here >>

'The Better Angels of Our Nature' by Steven Pinker

Zuckerberg admits that this 800-page, data-rich book from a Harvard psychologist can seem intimidating.

But the writing is actually easy to get through, and he thinks that Pinker's study of how violence has decreased over time despite being magnified by a 24-hour news cycle and social media is something that can offer a life-changing perspective.

It should be noted that Bill Gates also considers this one of the most important books he's ever read.

If you'd like to save some time, check out our summary of the book.

Buy it here >>

Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Vietnam has been a country rich with heritage, before, during, and after the war. Today, we look back at a bit of that history.

Photographer Khánh Hmoong blends past and present by superimposing historic photographs from Vietnam over the exact location where they were taken from in present day.

While some of the elements of the landscapes have changed to reflect modernization in the country, some architectural features remain unchanged.

Hmoong has given us permission to feature photographs from his project "Vietnam: Looking Into the Past," giving us a unique look of his country's history and present at the same time.

Street life in Nha Trang, 1966-1968

Street life in Nha Trang, 1966

Nha Trang, 1968 (Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt)

Visiting New York City can be overwhelming.

There are thousands of things to do in this massive city — whether it's your first or 15th time visiting.

To help narrow down the long to-do list for every trip, we asked locals for insider tips on the truly best things to do in the city.

Spend an afternoon searching for treasures at the Brooklyn Flea. Locals love shopping for one-of-a-kind vintage finds from the 100-plus vendors who gather at the market, which takes place in a few neighborhoods around Brooklyn.

For more information, click here. 

Sip a cocktail at Raines Law Room, one of New York's most infamous speakeasies, in the Flatiron. The bar is hidden behind an unmarked stairwell and you must ring a bell to be let in.

See more of the best speakeasy bars in New York City here. 

Picnic in Sheep Meadow in Central Park.

Learn more about Sheep Meadow »

Clients of equities trading firm BTIG received some unexpected calls this Tuesday, April 28, as celebrities like Alex Rodriguez and Padma Lakshmi worked to "make a call, make a trade, and make a difference."

There for the firm's 13th annual Charity Day, 50-plus A-listers helped raise over $5 million for philanthropic causes around the world.

Among the "celebrity guest traders" was model Hannah Davis, New York Giant Eli Manning, "Sex and the City" star Kristin Davis, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, chef Geoffrey Zakarian, and, towering above them all, retired NBA-star Shaquille O'Neal, who has been working the event since its inception in 2003.

Alex Rodriguez's commission went to Boys and Girls Club of America.

Hamptonite Beth Stern's commission went to the North Shore Animal League.

Food Network star Geoffrey Zakarian's commission went to New York's City Harvest.