The first few minutes of your workday are critical to your productivity for the next eight hours.

If you show up late to the office or get sucked into an overflowing inbox, you could easily get thrown off and have a hard time focusing for the rest of the day.

We did some research and rounded up 10 common traps that can ensnare you within the first 10 minutes of your workday. Read on to find out how to avoid those pitfalls and set yourself up for success.

SEE ALSO: 12 highly influential people share the morning routines that set them up for success

DON'T MISS: The 27 jobs that are most damaging to your health

1. Getting in late

You could be sabotaging your workday before it even begins.

A recent study, cited on the Huffington Post, found that bosses tend to see employees who come in later as less conscientious and give them lower performance ratings — even if those employees leave later, too.

It's not fair, but it's the current reality. So try getting to the office as early as possible.

2. Not greeting your coworkers

You can set a pleasant tone for yourself and others around you by taking a few minutes to catch up with your colleagues.

If you're a leader and you don't say "hi" to your team, your seeming lack of people skills could undercut your technical competence, according to Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job."

Even if you aren't a manager, making a silent beeline for your desk could make you appear less approachable to colleagues.

3. Drinking coffee

If you're not the kind of person who downs a cup right when you wake up, you probably grab it as soon as you get into the office.

But research suggests that the best time to drink coffee is after 9:30 a.m. That's because the stress hormone cortisol, which regulates energy, generally peaks between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. When you drink coffee during that time, the body starts producing less cortisol, and depends more on caffeine.

Once your cortisol levels start declining after 9:30 a.m., you might really need that caffeine boost.

Adele's "25" has destroyed music records, and it's only been out for a week.

In its first four days, the album sold more than 2.4 million copies, becoming the highest-selling album in its debut week in the US. The previous record was held by *NSYNC's "No Strings Attached," which sold 2.4 million records during its opening week in 2000. 

Now that the full week's sales have been tallied, we know Adele's "25" sold 3.38 million copies, according to Nielsen.

There is simply no comparison to be made between Adele and other contemporary music, said David Bakula, senior vice president of industry insights at Nielsen Entertainment. 

"You run out of superlatives to describe something like this. There is no precedent for something this big," Bakula told Business Insider. "It’s not just that she's breaking the record, but we're now in a day and age where music consumption has changed so dramatically. You can’t overstate how important and incredible a feat it is that this record is getting to the level that it is."

Bakula pointed out that when *NSYNC beat the record, there were no streaming services available, so more people were buying albums. In 2000, 88 albums sold more than a million copies. This year? There are four, with a potential fifth: Taylor Swift's "1989," Drake's "If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late," Ed Sheeran's "X," Adele's "25," and possibly Sam Smith's "In the Lonely Hour." 

To put Adele's sales in perspective, we've compared them to Swift's "1989," which, up until the release of "25," was the highest-selling album of the year (though it came out last year).

SEE ALSO: The incredibly successful life of 10-time Grammy winner Adele, and how the world's best singer was discovered

"1989" sold 1.287 million copies in its debut week in 2014, becoming the first album that wasn't a Swift album to reach a million in a week since Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" in 2011. Swift's "Red" and "Speak Now" albums sold more than a million records in their debut weeks, making her the only musician to have three albums do so.

It became the 19th album to sell a million copies in a week since Nielsen's SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991.

"You looked at those numbers and thought you’d never see those numbers again. And ['25'] is going to do twice that,” Bakula said (it actually ended up doing more). 

"25" has sold 3.38 million copies in its debut week, becoming the highest-selling album in its first week ever in the US according to available chart numbers.

After one week, "1989" was the second-highest-selling album of the year behind "Frozen" in 2014. It became the best-selling record with 3.66 million copies sold by the end of the year.

Eight of the most popular teams in college football have lost or fired their head coaches in the last several months.

With the college football season drawing to a close, rumors about who will fill those positions have begun to fly.

While much of the last week has focused on Les Miles and his future at LSU, other teams have been scrambling to secure some of the biggest coaching names in college and the NFL. 

Rumors would have us believe that Alabama defensive coach Kirby Smart is going to coach half of the teams in college football next season. None of those teams have emerged as a clear favorite for the highly sought after coach. 

Other names topping the list of potential college head coaches at top-ranked programs include, Dan Mullen, Jimbo Fisher, Matt Campbell, and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. 

Some coaches have already had contact with programs that are interested in them, while others are likely to field calls after their respective bowl games have finished out their season. 

SEE ALSO: AD says Miles to stay, LSU beats Texas A&M 19-7

Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia head coach Mark Richt was reportedly fired on Sunday morning. 

He was allegedly let go after his team finished the season with a 13-7 win over rival Georgia Tech. 

Richt has been with Georgia since 2001, and has led the team to a 145-51 record over 15 seasons, winning two conference titles under his leadership. However, the last title came in 2005. 

Georgia rallied to win their last four games of the season but is currently unranked at 9-3. 

Richt is expected to coach the Bulldogs in one final bowl game.

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Alabama defensive coach Kirby Smart is the top target, SB Nation's Steven Godfrey is reporting, and Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen and Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher are also named as early potential candidates.

USC Trojans

The USC Trojans are currently being led by interim head coach Clay Helton, who has delivered a 5-2 record since taking over from Steve Sarkisian on October 11, 2015. 

Helton also serves as the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the latter role which he accepted when joining the team in 2010. 

This is actually the second time Helton has played the role of interim coach, he coached the team during their bowl game in 2010 when head coach, Ed Orgeron, quit. 

While some analysts believe Helton should remain as the team's permanent coach, it's believed Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly may be interested in the post. 

"USC still maintains interest in Chip Kelly. It seems like they will at least touch base with him after the season. He is gonna have to make a call on what his future holds after this season with the Eagles ends."NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport says.

Other USC HC rumors have included St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher and Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. Both men shot down those rumors. 

The school has faced a veritable "who's who" of not interested parties, including Ravens HC John Harbaugh, Oklahoma's Mike Gundy, and others. 

SBNation put the betting favorites on Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, Chip Kelly and Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.

Pete Carroll is on the 'short list' of coaching candidates at USC — but it's a long-shot. 

Miami Hurricanes

The University of Miami is another team being forced to make some tough decisions about the direction of their coaching staff heading into 2016.

Former head coach Al Golden was fired on October 25, and was replaced by interim coach Larry Scott. 

Under his coaching guidance, the Canes have gone 4-1 and capped off their season with a 29-24 victory over Pittsburgh. 

After the team's victory, UM athletic director Blake James said "Larry has done an incredible job when you look at the situation he inherited." 

When asked if Scott would be considered for the head coaching vacancy, James said, “I’m not going to talk about the head-coaching search.’’

Scott told the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson that he would love to be considered for the permanent position.  

Rumors are pointing to the possibility that Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong will make the move to Miami. Fox Sports reporter Bruce Feldmand said during an appearance on a local radio station that he heard rumors of a potential move from a person "who is pretty close to Charlie Strong."

Some jobs intrinsically have more health risks than others. A nurse working in a hospital is more likely to catch an infectious disease than a lawyer working in an office, for example.

To rank the most unhealthy jobs in America, we used data from the Occupational Information Network, a US Department of Labor database full of detailed information on occupations.

In order to analyze jobs by their impact on workers' health, we took O*NET measures of six health risks in each of the 974 occupations in the database: exposure to contaminants; exposure to disease and infection; exposure to hazardous conditions; exposure to radiation; risk of minor burns, cuts, bites, and stings; and time spent sitting, since studies show that frequent inactivity shortens your lifespan. O*NET scores these factors on a scale from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating an increased health risk.

Read on to find out which jobs have the most potential to damage your health.

Max Nisen contributed to an earlier version of this post.

SEE ALSO: The 25 highest-paying jobs for people who don't want to sit at a desk all day

DON'T MISS: Here's the most disproportionately high-paying job in every state

24 (tie). Radiologists

Overall unhealthiness score: 52.8

What they do: Examine and diagnose disorders and diseases using X-rays and radioactive materials.

Top three health risks:

1. Exposure to radiation: 87
2. Exposure to disease and infections: 85
3. Time spent sitting: 74

24 (tie). Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

Overall unhealthiness score: 52.8

What they do: Operate or tend furnaces to melt and refine metal before casting or to produce specified types of steel.

Top three health risks:

1. Exposure to contaminants: 100
2. Risk of minor burns, cuts, bites, and stings: 96
3. Exposure to hazardous conditions: 94

24 (tie). Embalmers

Overall unhealthiness score: 52.8

What they do: Prepare bodies for burial in conformity with legal requirements.

Top three health risks:

1. Exposure to disease and infections: 83
2. Exposure to contaminants: 83
3. Exposure to hazardous conditions: 75

Grocery delivery services are a burgeoning solution to the inconvenience of food shopping — especially in New York City.

You can even pay someone to shop for you and deliver it within an hour, using a service called Instacart!

And now, there's OurHarvest: a grocery delivery service with a focus on locally grown and harvested produce, meats, eggs, and more.

I gave the service a shot during one of the most important meals of the year: Thanksgiving. So, how'd it turn out? Join us below.

Step one is finding "your market." OurHarvest operates in the Manhattan and Brooklyn boroughs, as well as Nassau, Queens, and Suffolk counties.

For Manhattan and Brooklyn residents, OurHarvest offers delivery via a partnership with Uber.

Source: YouTube

Select a day and time for delivery (typically a couple weeks in advance), and start shopping!

Winter is coming, and with it: The holidays. Coming up with original gift ideas can be tough, but we have the solution. Assuming your giftee is a fan of HBO's "Game of Thrones," which — let's be real — is very likely, there is a plethora of merchandise out there to choose from. 

Scroll down to see our list of must-have gifts for any "Game of Thrones" lover. 

"Game of Thrones" Seasons 1-4 on Blu-ray

Any die-hard follower of the show will love their own copy of the HBO show to view at their leisure with no cable subscription needed. Behind-the-scenes extras and bonus information make this boxed-set a great splurge for any "Game of Thrones" fan. Season five has not been released yet, so anyone requiring the full set will have to wait.

Price:$88.49

"A Song of Ice and Fire" book box-set

"Game of Thrones" is based on a written series by George R.R. Martin, titled "A Song of Ice and Fire." There are five published books so far, but Martin plans on writing seven total. This beautifully packaged box-set of the existing novels is a great starter-pack for a fan who hasn't gotten around to reading the source material yet. It's also a great way to kill time between seasons! 

Price:$43.41 (paperback)

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" by George R.R. Martin

This book is a recent iteration of three novellas previously published by Martin, all centering around events taking place 100 years before the "Game of Thrones" storyline.

The perfect companion book to the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, the prequel gives more depth to Westeros' history through the adventures of two main characters: Dunk and Egg. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is a must-have for any book lover's "Game of Thrones" collection. 

Price:$18.00

At the turn of the previous century, a group of French artists were asked to imagine the year 2000 by illustrating what kinds of scientific and everyday design inventions progress might bring the world 100 years into the future.

The result is a series of charmingly retrofuturistic illustrations called En L'An 2000 (literally, In the Year 2000, though sometimes loosely translated as Life in the 21st Century).

First produced for Paris' World Exhibition in 1900, they were printed as cigar box inserts, then as postcards between 1899 and 1910.

But sadly they were never distributed, seemingly lost to the world until science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov discovered a set in the 1980s, publishing them in his 1986 work of nonfiction Futuredays: A Nineteenth Century Vision of the Year 2000.

SEE ALSO: These 15 sci-fi books actually predicted the future

Aerial firemen

In pursuit of a smuggler

The new-fangled barber

While most investors in the stock market are looking for prices to go up, many hedge fund managers are betting billions of dollars that some stock prices will go down.

Goldman Sachs just released its new quarterly "Hedge Fund Trend Monitor" report, detailing the positions of the top hedge funds.

Within the report, Goldman presented its "Very Important Short Position" list, the collection of the S&P 500 stocks with the highest dollar value of short interest outstanding at the end of the third quarter.

The list includes multiple companies in the oil, retail, and technology industries.

We've ranked the stocks from smallest dollar value of short interest to largest. Also included is the percentage of floated stock that is short interest and a comment from company executives.

19. Sysco

Ticker: SYY

Subsector: Food Distributors

Value of short interest (in billions): $2.0

Short interest of % of float: 9%

Executive comment: "However, sales growth was minimal and earnings were essentially flat due in large part to the unfavorable impact of both food cost deflation and currency translation. These two factors have somewhat restrained our performance for a good portion of the calendar year and we expect that these headwinds will persist for the next few months,"said CEO William DeLaney. 

Source: Goldman Sachs

18. Halliburton

Ticker: HAL

Subsector: Oil & Gas Equipment & Services

Value of short interest (in billions): $2.1

Short interest of % of float: 6%

Executive comment: "As expected, it was another very challenging quarter for the services industry. Activity levels and pricing took another hit across the globe, as our customers respond to the impact of reduced commodity prices, and the pressure that their own shareholders are putting on them,"said CEO Dave Lesar.

Source: Goldman Sachs

17. Wal-Mart

Ticker: WMT

Subsector: Hypermarkets & Super Centers

Value of short interest (in billions): $2.1

Short interest of % of float: 2%

Executive comment: "As we expected, operating income continued to be pressured by our decision to invest in our frontline associates. To improve the store experience for our customers and create a bridge to our future where digital capabilities will play an increasing role in our stores, we're making a $1.2 billion planned investment in our people this year that we understood what impact near-term operating income. This is by far the biggest driver of the decline in consolidated operating income,"said CEO Doug McMillon.

Source: Goldman Sachs

Hardly a day goes by where a robot doesn't beat a human at things originally thought to be impossible to automate.

This year especially, artificial intelligence (AI) has had a renaissance — Tesla pushed their self-driving autopilot out to all eligible cars, and Google and Facebook have both announced large investments in AI research.

The latest human jobs to be taken by robots include video game playing and trading stocks. In the near future, robots might even become your best friend.

Where will these technologies take us next? Well to know that we should determine what's the best of the best now. Tech Insider talked to 18 AI researchers, roboticists, and computer scientists to see what real-life AI impresses them the most.

Scroll down to see their lightly edited responses.

Subbarao Kambhapati is impressed by how quickly we've developed self-driving cars.

"I think autonomous driving is most impressive to me. Autonomous driving first started in the Nevada deserts. It's harder to drive in the urban streets than in rough, almost nonexistent roads in the Nevada desert. Again, because the hardest thing is reasoning the intentions, to some extent, of other drivers on the road.

"That has been quite impressive, that we went that far that quickly. I'm pretty much sure that some years down the line, none of us actually have to drive."

Commentary from Subbarao Kambhapati, a computer scientist at Arizona State University.

At this rate, cars will be driving themselves in no time, and Carlos Guestrin can't wait.

"It took me a long time to really understand what the implications or impact of the self driving cars would be on our society. I don't like to drive now, so this is kind of a commodity for me.

"The recent results that we're seeing with things such as self-driving cars, like an ability to significantly decrease traffic accidents— I think that's really exciting to think about.

"I think about a world with no cars would be exciting to me but think about a world with automation of vehicles and the impact it will have on society. That's really exciting."

Commentary from Carlos Guestrin, the CEO and cofounder of Dato, a company that builds artificially intelligent systems to analyze data.

A program that learned to fly a model helicopter like a world-champion blew Peter Norvig away.

"One of my favorite systems is Andrew Ng's system that learned to pilot a model helicopter from a few hours of observation, and was able to perform tricks at the level of world-champion pilots.

"This was before the introduction of super-stable quadcopters — the copter used in this experiment was extremely challenging to control."

Commentary from Peter Norvig, director of research at Google.

Keeping up with all of the updates to your favorite apps is nearly impossible, much less all of the new apps that come out every day.

That's why we've done the hard work for you. Here are all of the best new apps and significant updates to existing apps that came out in November:

Slack got even better with more integrations.

Business messaging app Slack recently announced partnerships with Lyft, Foursquare, and a couple of other services that will let you do things like request a car ride and find a place to eat after work — all without leaving Slack.

The new commands can be easily added using the "Add to Slack" button within a team's settings. And they're all accessed with the Slash Command — typing a slash followed by the name of the app or service, just like you do when you insert a GIF with the "/giphy [text]" command.

Operator is like have a personal concierge for helping you buy almost anything online.

Operator is a free iPhone app that acts as your personal shopping assistant. Ask it to help you find something online, and it will quickly connect you with a human being who will do all the legwork, show you options you may like, and process the transaction for you.

Learn more about Operator and read our interview with its co-founder here.

YouTube released its own Spotify competitor.

YouTube Music is the newest app to enter the on-demand music streaming service. To differentiate it from Spotify and Apple Music, the app lets you watch or listen to just about anything on YouTube. It can also download music so you can listen when offline and create a personalized mixtape of tracks just for you.

Our full walkthrough of the app takes a deeper dive, and if you're curious to try it, you can sign up for a free trial before having to pay a $10-per-month subscription to remove ads.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the most influential people on the planet, ranking sixth on Business Insider's list of the 50 most powerful people in the world.

Now in his second year as leader of the world's largest democracy, Modi has extensive plans to reform both business and government agencies in India, and is implementing a uniform federal government sales tax as early as next year. The 65-year-old is also a champion of technology, enthusiastically working with Western companies to help spur India's technological progress.

Modi is a controversial figure — throughout his career, many have accused him of intentionally stoking sectarian tensions between Hindus and Muslims. But his power is undeniable, as he governs a country of nearly 1.3 billion people. India also possesses the world's fifth-strongest military in the world and seventh-largest economy, with a GDP of $2.3 trillion.

Modi says there are concepts he values more than just power: "If you were to ask me to choose between democratic values and wealth, power, prosperity, and fame, I will very easily and without any doubt choose democratic values," he said in a May 2015 TIME magazine cover story.

Read on to meet the yogi, tech-lover, and politician.

SEE ALSO: The 14 most powerful world leaders

SEE ALSO: 10 unforgettable quotes from the most powerful people in the world

Modi was born into a low caste called Ghanchi — traditionally producers of vegetable oil — on September 17, 1950, three years after India won its independence from Britain. Modi has said Vadnagar, the small town where he was born in North Gujarat’s Mehsana district, was once home to 10,000 Buddhist monks.

Source: Narendramodi.in

As a student Modi was diligent and favored debating and reading, often spending hours in the library. According to Modi's website, he would read the spiritual works of Indian Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda cover to cover and dreamed of becoming a soldier in the Indian army.

Source: Narendramodi.in

From a young age, Modi expressed a desire for service. At 9 years old, he and his friends started a food stall and donated the proceeds to a relief network. At age 15, Modi began serving tea with his father to Indian soldiers at a railway station in Gujarat during the India-Pakistan war of 1965.

Source: Narendramodi.in

Each state has a ton of public high schools, but some really stand out.

Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on schools, just released its 2016 rankings of the best public high schools in the US. We took a look at which school earned the top slot in every state.

The ranking examined over 100,000 schools based on 27 million reviews from more than 300,000 students and parents.

They rated schools in areas like academics, teachers, student culture and diversity, and resources and facilities. (Read more about the methodology here.) Many are charter or magnet schools, meaning they pull in qualified students from around their districts.

SEE ALSO: The 25 best public high schools in America

DON'T MISS: The 50 smartest private high schools in America

ALABAMA: Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School

Location: Montgomery

Academics: A+

Student culture & diversity: A

Teachers: A+

Resources & facilities: B-

"Providing students with a tough and rigorous academic environment, Loveless consistently develops [students] that colleges are actively seeking," one senior said. "The school makes you appreciate the value of a good education, and instills motivating values in the students."

ALASKA: Unalaska Junior/Senior High School

Location: Unalaska

Academics: N/A

Student culture & diversity: N/A

Teachers: N/A

Resources & facilities: N/A

"Most of our teachers know the students personally," one junior reported of the small school, which earned an overall A+ grade from Niche. "All of our teachers encourage us to do our best and get help if needed. They are usually available before and after school for anyone who needs it."

ARIZONA: University High School

Location: Tucson

Academics: A+

Student culture & diversity: A

Teachers: A+

Resources & facilities: C-

"This school is challenging but definitely worth it," one sophomore said. "If you put in the work, this school will prepare you very well for college."

Another sophomore noted, "University High School is a unique school that gives students the freedom to express themselves through their academic experiences. Teachers are overall caring, and the variety of AP classes offered give a fantastic head-start for college."

I’m pretty sure I just heard a gunshot. And that means she’s dead.

Hold on, I guess I better back up and explain…

A 911 call came in. A domestic dispute turned into a hostage situation. The perpetrator has a gun on his wife and child.

ESU (Emergency Services Unit, basically, the SWAT team) arrived, as did 4 NYPD hostage negotiators. And me.

We stacked up outside the door to the apartment. But things were not going well. Shouting between the husband and wife was preventing Liz, the lead negotiator, from making much headway. She repeated her question:

“Is Erin okay?”

The perpetrator screamed back, “You’re taking her side because you’re a woman!”

Chris, one of the other negotiators hands her a post-it note: “Should we swap in a male negotiator?” Liz considered it, then replied to the perpetrator:

“But I’m talking to you, Grant, not her.”

This seemed to calm him down. Chris nodded and crumbled up the post-it note.

But then we heard the gunshot. And in half a second I went from, “Oh my god, this is so cool” to “Oh my god, someone just died.”

The negotiators needed a new plan, Grant needed a good lawyer and I needed a change of underwear.

But luckily, this was all just a simulation.

We’re on the second floor of the NYPD Police Academy in Flushing, Queens but it might as well be a Hollywood backlot.

There’s a full size fake convenience store here, complete with boxes of Oreos and snacks. The lobby of a bank. Squad cars. Even trees. Professional actors are brought in to play the parts of hostage takers and hostages.

The NYPD believes “how we practice is how we play” and they take training very seriously.

The NYPD Hostage Negotiation Team (HNT) invited me to come out for a few days and see how they do things.

New York City is the birthplace of hostage negotiation. The program was started over 40 years ago and was the first law enforcement hostage negotiation team in the world. In 2012 they responded to more than 400 incidents.

But the truth is, we’re all negotiators. Whether it’s dealing with angry family members, trying to get assistance at work or asking for a better deal on a rental car, we all negotiate every day.

So what can we learn from New York’s Finest about persuasion, influence and handling tough conversations? A lot.

Here are 4 techniques NYPD’s elite HNT uses that can help you get what you need …

SEE ALSO: A psychologist reveals the best ways to maximize your sleep — and the No. 1 mistake everyone makes

DON'T MISS: The 27 jobs that are most damaging to your health

1. Know their hooks and hot buttons

The crux of NYPD hostage negotiation is empathy. The focus isn’t bargaining. It’s building a connection with the other person so they trust you and want to work with you.

In any negotiation, who do we give the most concessions to? People we like. And research by Robert Cialdini has confirmed this.

Hooks and hot buttons can help build rapport quickly because rather than turning the conversation into a squabble over demands, they deal with the emotions of the other side in order to create a more positive mood.

“Hooks” are the things that someone enjoys or likes talking about.

“Hot buttons” are things that make them angry, upset or depressed.

By steering the discussion toward hooks and away from hot buttons you can make sure you’re not unnecessarily antagonizing the other side and, instead, are soothing them.

What’s the best way to find out someone’s hooks and hot buttons? By listening.

The motto of the HNT is “Talk To Me.” NYPD negotiators are taught to spend 80% of their time listening and only 20% talking.

All hostage negotiators use active listening techniques not only to build a relationship but also to get information.

Gary Noesner, former head of the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit, explains the value of listening in his book "Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator":

The core of the new curriculum consisted of specific active listening skills first developed by the counseling profession. In brief, this entails creating positive relationships with people by demonstrating an understanding of what they’re going through and how they feel about it. By applying this approach, the negotiator can demonstrate empathy and show a sincere desire to better understand what the individual is experiencing. We know that people want to be shown respect, and they want to be understood. Listening is the cheapest, yet most effective concession we can make. The positive relationship achieved through this interaction then sets the stage for the negotiator to exert a positive influence over others’ behavior, steering them away from violence. The skills boil down to restatement of contact and reflection of the captor’s feelings. Increased use of these techniques would have dramatic results.

So make a mental note of someone’s hooks and hot buttons when they talk. As the NYPD HNT likes to say:

The more information we have about a subject the more power we have.

Paying attention to what makes someone happy and what makes someone angry is key to getting them on your side.

(To learn the FBI’s hostage negotiation techniques, click here.)

So you’re listening for their hooks and hot buttons, but past that, how should you steer the conversation?

2. Focus on the future

In a second scenario at the police academy, an actor pretended to be a suicidal EDP (emotionally disturbed person). Holding onto a railing, he was ready to jump to his “death.”

One of the principles the HNT uses with suicidal individuals can also help you build trust in any negotiation.

They "focus on the future."

Suicidal people are always talking about the past, what went wrong in their lives. Getting them to think about the future and employing "hooks" that make them feel positive can result in them safely coming down.

Most people who end up as the perpetrators of a crisis incident didn’t plan for a showdown with the police. So it’s HNT’s job to provide them with a plan for how to resolve things safely for everyone.

In our own disputes we’re often too focused on proving we’re right and they’re wrong. And just like in a hostage situation, the person causing us problems probably didn’t think through a way to amicably end things.

By focusing the conversation on the future, and providing them with a way to fix things, you can turn a shouting match into a more calm, rational discussion. Instead of arguing about what they did or didn’t do, turn your attention to what both of you need to do next.

By emphasizing the future, and that there will be a continuing relationship between you and the other side, you can help insure that they will treat you well.

In his book "The Truth About Trust: How It Determines Success in Life, Love, Learning, and More," professor David DeSteno explains the importance of emphasizing a continuing relationship and a future focus:

Every individual is out to maximize his own resources, and that means always trying to discern two things: whether a potential partner can be trusted and whether he or she is likely to be encountered again. Answers to those two questions, far beyond anything else, will determine what any of us is motivated to do in the moment.

As Adam Dolnik explains in his book "Negotiating Hostage Crises with the New Terrorists," this strategy is even effective with the most dangerous of people: terrorists. By emphasizing that they can continue their political struggles better by staying alive, terrorists have been talked into surrendering.

(To learn FBI Behavioral Unit techniques for getting people to like you, click here.)

So you know what to talk about to build trust. But what’s the best way to get that information across?

3. Your behavior is contagious

They get angry and so you get angry. They shout and so you shout. And nobody gets anywhere.

One of the key principles HNT emphasizes is that your behavior is contagious.

And that can be as simple as keeping a calm but assertive tone of voice, even when the other person is screaming at you.

Former Lead International Hostage Negotiator for the FBI, Chris Voss, recommends what he calls the “Late Night FM DJ Voice.” Calm and soothing.

And to do that right, you need to keep a handle on your emotions.

From "Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator":

The very first thing I talk about when training new negotiators is the critical importance of self-control. If we cannot control our own emotions, how can we expect to influence the emotions of another party?

This is why to be a member of HNT, detectives have to have a minimum of 12 years with the NYPD. You need maturity to be able to keep calm when lives are at stake.

The NYPD’s Harvey Schlossberg describes a principle called “dynamic inactivity.” What’s that? Sometimes you just need to shut up and do nothing.

Silence can help de-escalate a situation. Giving the other side the last word can give them that feeling of control that we all need to calm down.

(To learn how to use hostage negotiation principles to deal with your kids, click here.)

You know what to say and how to say it. What’s the final key to making sure that people stick to their word?

Apple only launched the iPhone 6S two months ago, but there are already rumors swirling about its successor — some far more believable than others.

At this point, Apple hasn't even announced the iPhone 7, so it's difficult to be sure of anything.

But here's what people are saying, and what to expect.

SEE ALSO: This tiny chip could charge your iPhone much faster

It'll launch in October 2016.

It's highly likely Apple's next smartphone will be revealed at an event in September 2016 and will go on sale to the public the following month. It's a formula that Apple has been following like clockwork for years now.

There will be two of them.

With the iPhone 6, Apple introduced two different sizes for the first time — the 6 and the 6 Plus, now followed by the 6S and the 6S Plus.

This allows the Cupertino, California-based company to target people looking for a big-screen phablet device without alienating customers who want something a little smaller. It's been a roaring success: The iPhone 6 landed Apple the most profitable quarter of any company ever, and Apple says the 6S sold even better than its predecessor during its first weekend of availability.

It'll look very different.

The iPhone works on a tick-tock release strategy. One year, the phone gets a big redesign and a new number (iPhone 4, 5, 6). The next, it gets revamped guts and a new feature or two, and an "S" gets appended to its name (iPhone 4S, 5S, 6S).

This year was the 6S, which means next year should be the iPhone 7 — with a totally new look.

Being frugal might sound like it’s about sacrifice and giving up luxury, but for the couple behind the popular blog Frugalwoods.com, it’s anything but.

“We don’t consider our lifestyle to be one of deprivation,” says Mrs. Frugalwoods (they use pen names on the blog and asked to remain anonymous to protect their day jobs).

The 31-year-olds might not have the latest iPhone or subscribe to a full cable package, but they plan to retire at age 33 and live the life of their dreams in the Vermont woods. If you’d like to replicate their path, here are 10 of their strategies.

SEE ALSO: 8 strategies to spend less money, from real people who save over half their income

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Find creative ways to have small luxuries you enjoy.

The couple loves drinking carbonated water, but constantly buying bottles of Perrier or SodaStream replacement canisters is not going to allow you to live on $13,000 a year, as the couple does. (They earn far more in their office jobs but opt to save the majority of their money.) 

Instead of drinking only tap water, they figured out how to get a CO2 tank for much less (by buying directly from a supply shop) and connect it to their SodaStream to make the drink.

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Be flexible about where you live.

The Frugalwoods couple is currently searching for their dream homestead to retire to in 2017. They have settled on finding a property in a rural area of Vermont, but otherwise, they are pretty flexible about the specifics.

If the land has maple trees, then they’ll possibly collect and sell maple syrup; if the property has apple trees, then they’ll pursue that agricultural route for fun and potential profit. Whatever the land offers, they are prepared to either build a new home or live in a house that is already built.

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Insource as much as possible.

Yes, insource – the opposite of outsource. Instead of paying someone to fix a leaky toilet, cut your hair or clean your home, you can handle all those tasks yourself. The Frugalwoods couple does just that, and while some tasks might take extra time, they say overall the strategy frees up their schedule. There’s no meeting repairmen or scheduling salon appointments to worry about. 

Hundreds of world leaders are gathering in Paris this week and next to discuss making drastic cuts to their countries' carbon emissions.

When making these decisions about how to curb climate change, looking at the big picture can be the easiest way to understand what's going on.

That's definitely the case for figuring out where the world's energy comes from and goes today.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory makes these energy flow maps showing where energy comes from and how this energy is used for each country and the world as a whole.

This information can be really useful when we are trying to pin down ways to slow climate change. Since you can see where the biggest bubbles are in the pipeline, you can see where we need to cut down. And, looking at how skinny the renewable energy sources' lines are, where we need to bulk up.

In 2011, the world used 534,000 petajoules (PJ) of energy, and the biggest source of that energy was oil, unsurprisingly, at 60%. For context, the average American home used 39 billion Joules of electricity in 2013; a petajoule is equal to 1,000 trillion joules.

Here's how the world's energy flow breaks down:

This chart is overwhelming at first, but not so bad once you look at it closely. 

Where all of the energy comes from is on the left and where it all goes is on the right. Follow the colored lines that emanate from the sources to figure out where that energy is going:

A few interesting things to note.

The world's biggest energy-guzzling sector is industry, with transportation close behind. What's particularly interesting is that transportation — that's our planes, trains and automobiles — is the biggest user of petroleum, which is terrible for the environment. As Elon Musk told Wait But Why, a switch to electric cars could have a huge impact on fossil fuel emissions.

The most frustrating thing about this chart, though, (besides how little energy renewables are putting into the system) is this gray box on the far right.

In 2011, more energy was wasted than used.

The "rejected energy," at 290,000 PJ, is what was lost because we can't use energy sources with 100% efficiency. A lot of this energy was lost as heat during the fuel-burning process. The transportation sector, for example, is only 25% efficient.

"Not all of the energy that we consume is put to use," A.J. Simon, group leader for Energy at Lawrence Livermore, said in a press release. "Heat you feel when you put your hand on your water heater and the warm exhaust from your car's tailpipe are examples of rejected energy."

If we could capture the energy we use more efficiently, we could ultimately use less of it. That would do wonders for the environment. And to generate all of the energy that the rapidly growing human population will need without destroying the planet, we're also going to have to get a lot more of it from renewable sources.

But it's tough to truly realize what's going wrong without seeing what's really going on.

We found these graphics in Tim Urban's "How Tesla Will Change The World" post at Wait But Why, which is really long but worth a read.

Boulder, Colorado is the top-ranked small city for American college students, according to a new ranking from American Institute for Economic Research (AIER).

Boulder earned the top spot thanks to its prime arts and entertainment scene and city accessibility for its residents.

The rankings are calculated using 11 criteria that included economic vitality, availability of entertainment, and rent. AIER defines small cities as having between 250,000 and 1 million residents.

Scroll through to find out the 20 best small cities for college students.

20. Lexington, Kentucky

19. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

18. Honolulu, Hawaii

Ten years from now, Basra, Iraq could be home to the tallest building in the world, a 3,779-foot structure known simply as The Bride.

If the architects manage to move The Bride beyond the planning stages and into construction, the structure could pioneer a new style of building. With its iconic "veil" of solar panels, the four-tower behemoth will produce as much energy as it consumes — a breakthrough in tall-building design.

In the process, it might just set the standard for what it means for a city to go vertical.

When we say The Bride is tall ...

... we mean it's tall.

The Bride easily surpasses the world's tallest buildings, including those already in place, like Dubai's Burj Khalifa and Shanghai's World Financial Center, and those under construction, like Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower.

It will offer lots of amenities.

The Bride will be more than a 241-story set of office buildings in Basra, a battle site in the first Iraq war that's now getting a taste of oil wealth.

Inside the four towers, which connect in different locations around the structure, there will be offices, hotels, neighborhoods, restaurants, parks, gardens, public squares, and an extensive rail system.

Iraqi architecture firm AMBS wants The Bride to be the world's first truly vertical city.

The Bride's veil is the real hero.

Providing shade from the 100-plus-degree heat is a 6.5 million-square foot glazed canopy that helps the building achieve its "net zero" status.

According to AMBS, The Bride's veil will be able to both heat and cool the building in order to keep a comfortable temperature.

This week, the UN Climate Summit, COP21, takes place in Paris, France, bringing together leaders from nearly 200 countries to try to reach an agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and stop global temperatures from continuing to rise.

To mark the occasion, Google published a blog post explaining how people can use Street View in Maps to explore the causes and impact of climate change.

SEE ALSO: How a 'small but mighty' team of Googlers is using Maps to save people and the planet

Polar Bears International partnered with Street View to map polar bears and see how they're affected by changes in their fragile habitats. Here's a polar bear waiting for the sea to freeze, on the edge of Hudson Bay:

Learn more here.

The number of blue oak trees in California has been declining due to stress from changing temperatures. To help track changes, the state's Nature Conservancy captured Street View imagery in Central California that it will compare to new imagery in several years.

Learn more here.

Google Earth Outreach has worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to map methane leaks across the US using Street View cars with methane analyzers onboard.

Boston: Older pipes, more leaks

Indianapolis: Newer pipes, fewer leaks

Mental strength isn't often reflected in what you do.

It's usually seen in what you don't do.

In her book, "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," author Amy Morin writes that developing mental strength is a "three-pronged approach."

It's about controlling your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.

Here are 13 things mentally strong people do not do, according to Morin.

This is an update of an article originally written by Steven Benna.

SEE ALSO: 7 ways mentally strong people handle stress

DON'T MISS: The 27 jobs that are most damaging to your health

1. They don't waste time feeling sorry for themselves.

"Feeling sorry for yourself is self-destructive," Morin writes. "Indulging in self-pity hinders living a full life."

It wastes time, creates negative emotions, and hurts your relationships.

The key is to "affirm the good in the world, and you will begin to appreciate what you have," she writes. The goal is to swap self-pity with gratitude.

2. They don't give away their power.

People give away their power when they lack physical and emotional boundaries, Morin writes. You need to stand up for yourself and draw the line when necessary. 

If other people are in control of your actions, they define your success and self-worth. It's important that you keep track of your goals and work towards them. 

Morin uses Oprah Winfrey as an example of someone with a strong grip on their power. Winfrey grew up dealing with poverty and sexual abuse, but "she chose to define who she was going to be in life by not giving away her power," she says.

3. They don't shy away from change.

There are five stages of change, Morin writes: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.

Following through with each of the five steps is crucial. Making changes can be frightening, but shying away from them prevents growth. "The longer you wait, the harder it gets," she says, and "other people will outgrow you."