Gourmet dining has become an essential part of the in-flight experience, especially for business and first-class passengers.

More and more airlines have started working with Michelin-starred chefs to bring culinary expertise and finesse to their in-flight meals. One such airline is Singapore Airlines, whose in-flight menu was ranked the best first-class eats by readers of Saveur Magazine last year. Singapore Airlines was named the second-best airline in the world by leading aviation consumer website Skytrax in July 2015. 

According to airline spokesman James Boyd, the airline invests around $500 million per year in its in-flight dining, more than $16 million of which goes toward their wine program.

We met with Chef Alfred Portale, executive chef of Michelin-starred Gotham Bar and Grill, who has been working with Singapore Airlines for about 11 years. He shared how he prepares dishes for first-class passengers, the difficulties of the process, and why you won't see certain ingredients in your in-flight meals.

SEE ALSO: 21 incredible luxury destinations you should visit in 2016

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Portale currently works as the executive chef at New York City's Gotham Bar and Grill, which has a Michelin star, several three-star reviews from the New York Times, as well as various James Beard Awards. Portale personally won the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef in 2006.

Portale has been creating in-flight dishes for Singapore Airlines for about 11 years, creating a roster of about 18 dishes twice annually. Singapore Airlines will then select a few of those dishes and switch them around every two months so that their frequent fliers can enjoy a rotating menu.

When it comes to the menu, Portale makes a point of including both healthy options, like salads packed with grains, and luxury items that range from lobster and king crab to truffles. Pictured here is the seafood salad that will be offered on the airline's in-flight menu later this year.

Many of the staples of modern technology we take for granted have roots in the military's research and development arm.

Created after the Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) makes investments and conducts research into game-changing technologies with national security implications. Just this week, the agency announced planned funding for military cyborgs.

While the agency's breakthroughs on cyborgs or stealth technology may not have obvious civilian applications, much of DARPA's past research does. 

Whether you're using the Internet or GPS, you have some of the government's top scientists to thank.

SEE ALSO: 15 astounding technologies that DARPA is working on right now

Most of the functions of computing we often take for granted originated with DARPA back in the 1960s.

In 1968, Douglas Engelbart showed off a revolutionary computer known as oN-Line System (NLS) in a presentation now known as "The Mother of All Demos." The crowd was blown away by never-before-seen tech, like a computer mouse and graphical user interface.

In his 90-minute presentation, Engelbart and his colleagues at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) — helped with funding from DARPA and the US Air Force — floored the crowd in San Francisco.

Their NLS system laid the groundwork for Xerox PARC's Alto computer that came five years later (Steve Jobs used Alto's innovations to help build the Macintosh).

The NLS was the first computer with:

— a mouse

— a graphical user interface

— hypertext links that users could click on for more information

Source: Darpa

A collaborative document creation tool called "The Journal," essentially a primitive precursor to modern Wikis or Google Docs, also came out of NLS,

Source: Stanford University

If you're going into space, you might as well look good, right? 

That's the idea behind the new "spacewear" partnership between Virgin Galactic and Y-3, Adidas's futuristic fashion label.

Here's a look.

Virgin Galactic head of design Adam Wells (left) and Y-3 senior design director Lawrence Midwood debuted three prototype suits at Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic's New Mexico launching station.

The three suits — including the one pictured here in front of Spaceport America — are mostly made of Nomex, a super-tough, flame-resistant fabric similar to Kevlar body armor.

Rather than the bright reds that are usually found on Virgin branded gear, the spacewear is made up of different black textures.

We write a lot about “buddy trips” (often all-male or all-female) as a main type of golf vacation, but we know all too well that these are far from the only way to craft a memorable golf travel experience.

I was reminded of this when I received a note about the International Husband & Wife Golf Championship. The “IH&WGC” is being played for the 32nd time this year (host sites rotate around the Caribbean), and even though team golf can get intense at times, we’re not aware of it ever resulting in divorce proceedings.

In other words, spousal golf is happy golf, so if you and your better half are looking for a great golf getaway, below are some of our best suggestions.

SEE ALSO: Inside China's Mission Hills Golf Club, the largest golf resort in the world

Trump National Doral — Miami, Florida

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One could say the thrice-married Donald has a lot of experience with matrimony, so it’s a good assumption that upon assuming control of Doral, he would focus on making it a particularly appealing destination for couples. His team succeeded – in addition to making improvements to all on-site golf courses, the 48,000 square foot spa is now undergoing a major renovation project that will bring it into similar prominence.

Hammock Beach Resort — Palm Coast, Florida

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Many top-echelon golf resorts’ courses tend not to be very female-friendly, but this is not the case at Hammock Beach, whose golf offerings feature enough width off the tee and manageable approaches to greens that husbands and wives alike enjoy playing both the Tom Watson-designed Conservatory Course and the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course. The resort even offers a popular “Couples Golf Package” for traveling lovebirds.

Destination Kohler/The American Club Resort — Kohler, Wisconsin

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On the golf side, the Whistling Straits facility has gotten the bulk of recent press, having hosted the 2015 PGA Championship. But its Blackwolf Run complex is equally as famous in the women’s game, having hosted two U.S. Women’s Opens. The resort’s overseers understand the appeal to couples, as evidenced by the popular Celebration Experience package, which includes champagne, chocolates and rose-petal turndown service. Furthermore, the Kohler Waters Spa, one of the best of its kind in the world, is particularly known for its range of couples’ massages. What could be better before or after a round on one of the resort’s four Pete Dye-designed courses?

What's it like to not walk on solid ground for a year?

That's one of the questions NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and companion Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko have set out to answer during their year-long mission on board the International Space Station (ISS).

If the men succeed in their mission to discover how a long-term, low-gravity environment affects the human body, they'll be the first humans to ever spend a full year in zero gravity, which is twice as long as typical US missions. Their journey of more than 143 million miles is critical in preparing astronauts for future expeditions to Mars.

So far, Kelly and Kornienko have spent more than 300 continuous days aboard ISS, and Kelly shared some interesting observations so far during a Reddit AMA this weekend.

Here are some of the most interesting things the astronaut revealed about life aboard the International Space Station:

SEE ALSO: What it's REALLY like to be a part-time 'princess'

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Space isn't as scary as you might think.

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"I don't feel alone or afraid. I was up here for six weeks as the only American on the US side of the space station and I was fine. I have been afraid when the ground has called and privatized the audio generally meaning something bad has happened. So I have been a little afraid."

This is a response to the question, Do you ever feel alone/afraid? If so, how do you combat those feelings?

The Bahamas are just as beautiful from space.

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"My favorite spot on Earth to see from space is probably the Bahamas. The brilliant and varied colors of the blue water and contrast from here is pretty spectacular."

This is a response to the question, What is your favorite part of Earth to see from space?

Kelly's first meal upon returning to earth won't be fast food.

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"The first thing I will eat will probably be a piece of fruit (or a cucumber) the Russian nurse hands me as soon as I am pulled out of the space capsule and begin initial health checks."

This is a response to the question, What will be the first thing you eat once you're back on Earth?

Chick-fil-A has come a long way since the first location opened in 1967.

The chicken chain has exploded in the last couple years, as it expands across the US with some of the best fried chicken sandwiches in the country. However, as Chick-fil-A gets bigger, there are some facts about the chain that would be major surprises to many customers.

Here are some of the most unbelieveable things that have happened in Chick-fil-A's 49 year history.

SEE ALSO: Chick-fil-A has made 8 major changes in the past year to stay ahead of KFC

Chick-fil-A has its roots in a restaurant called the Dwarf Grill, opened by founder Truett Cathy in 1946.

The company still has 12 locations of the full-service concept, today dubbed The Dwarf House, in the metro Atlanta area. In addition to the typical Chick-fil-A menu, these locations serve items such as the ham-and-cheese “Midnight Sandwich" and coconut icebox pie. It also has a miniature door for pint-sized customers, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Cathy is credited for inventing the boneless chicken sandwich — today a fast-food classic.

Realizing traditional fried chicken preparation methods were too time-consuming for most fast-food chains, Cathy utilized a pressure cooker to create a speedily prepared boneless chicken sandwich in the early 1960s.

Cathy opened the first true Chick-fil-A at age 46, in suburban Atlanta.

In 1967, two years after finally perfecting his chicken recipe, Cathy was ready to open a restaurant based purely on the sandwich. The first location opened in Atlanta’s Greenbriar Mall, and was only 384 square feet.

After a decade of experimenting, failing, learning from those failures, and "figuring things out," you might find yourself in a more secure financial position once you hit your 30s.

What do you do with excess money when you're no longer living paycheck to paycheck? And how do you prepare for big expenses you're bound to face in your 30s?

We spoke to Michael Solari, a certified financial planner at Solari Financial Planning, about the smartest things 30-somethings can do with their money to set themselves up for a prosperous future.

Here are eight smart places to start:

SEE ALSO: The 11 worst money mistakes to make in your 30s

1. Increase your 401(k) contributions.

"In your 30s, the most important thing that you have is time, and the more money you can save now is going to pay huge dividends down the road," says Solari.

You should already be contributing towards your employer's 401(k) retirement account, but if you get a pay raise, increase that contribution, Solari says.

Also, get in the habit of upping your contribution at the end of each year, even if it's just 0.5%, he advises. Check online to see if you can set up "auto-increase," which will automatically increase your contributions every year.

2. Make a contribution to a Roth IRA.

If you're maxing out your 401(k) plan, the next step is to put money towards a Roth IRA, a retirement savings vehicle that offers tax benefits and is particularly well-suited to younger people who earn less than the income cap ($116,000 a year or less for individuals; $183,000 or less for married couples filing jointly).

Contributions to this type of fund are taxed when they're made, so you can withdraw the contributions and earnings tax-free once you reach age 59 1/2.

Solari recommends directing your tax refund, bonuses, or any other extra money to a Roth IRA.

3. Contribute to a dependent care flexible spending account.

This applies to those with younger children looking to save on child care. Typically, larger companies will offer a slew of benefits, one of them being dependent care flexible spending accounts (also known as FSAs) into which you can put pre-tax money. In some cases, you'll receive a debit card from the company to use towards services such as daycare and summer camp. If you're paying a nanny or babysitter, you can pay them with cash and then apply for reimbursement from the FSA. 

"If you have children in daycare and your company offers a flexible spending account, contribute to it," Solari says. "The tax deduction will give you a 15 to 30% discount on your daycare. It's a great way to save money."

Check with your human resources department to see if you're offered this benefit.

Humans began speaking 50,000-100,000 years ago, and the “oral tradition” has molded societies for millennia.

That is a lot of time to perfect our influencing skills, but somehow all but the most accomplished still struggle at influencing the masses with their speech.

There are, of course, a fair few notable examples. Socrates, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill to name but a few.

They captivated their audiences with their every word. They had the most intangible of personality traits: charisma.

It didn’t matter how many people they were speaking to; their speeches were such that you felt that they were addressed to every single individual.

Their effortless style was underpinned by a finely-tuned (and barely perceptible) technique that allowed them to put their audience under their spell.

Their every movement acted in tandem with their words and every appearance was a multi-dimensional feast for the senses of the audience.

In my view, there are four aspects of every charismatic speaker. With lots of practice and a bit of initial self-confidence, any one of us can become one.

SEE ALSO: 10 habits of genuinely charming people

They create an emotional connection.

The perception of the audience is all that matters. It doesn’t matter how many times you have practiced the speech on front of the mirror or what your colleagues think of the message. Unless you create an emotional connection with your audience, the message will fall short.

The audience is naturally sympathetic — they are there to learn, to be inspired, or to join you on your journey. They are open to building a relationship with you, so it is vital that you connect with them from the moment you enter the room.

A warm smile is usually a good place to start!

The best speakers use the emotional range of their voice to take the audience on a journey with them. When they express joy, surprise, pride, concern, fear, hope or any other emotion, they seek to elicit the same emotional response from their listeners.

They perfect the mechanics of speech.

Speaking well is about pacing your words and ideas, being expressive with your tone at the right moments, and learning to breathe properly to have the power to deliver your message.

Allowing your audience to pause at the right moments in any speech is crucial. The best orators vary the pace of their speech and give the audience time to digest their ideas while anticipating what might be next.

Few people can listen and think at the same time. The power of truly impactful speaking comes from your silences.

The tone of your voice has subtleties you don’t even realize. Being able to control your voice and insert the right hints of emotion at the right times will ensure that your audience is in no doubt as to your message. When your body language is congruent with your speech, you will naturally find the right tone.

When you speak, you require a greater volume of air to deliver your message. How many times have you heard people trail off at the end of the sentence when they should actually be emphasizing their point? It is often the case that the most important words and concepts come at the end of sentences. Breathe deeply with your diaphragm and you will have the “puff” to deliver those lines with aplomb.

The speaker's body matches his or her words.

When there is a disconnect between what someone is saying and how he or she is saying it, we automatically feel uncomfortable.

When positive language meets defensive body language, alarm bells start to ring — is the speaker being sincere? When passionate language is accompanied by a static pose, we wonder if the speaker is truly that excited.

When you speak to an audience, move when your language compels you to move. Use gestures to accentuate your language rather than draw attention from it. Give your audience hints as to how they will be feeling with your facial expressions, and they will soon get onto your wavelength.

In the near future, you might be headed to the doctor for a prescription of... bacteria.

Though bacteria carry the negative stigma of being associated with infections, not all bacteria are harmful — in fact, there are some instances when not having enough bacteria can actually cause problems. 

Lately, scientists and health companies have been exploring how to improve the bacteria living all around us. 

From tackling antibiotic resistance to treating acne, here are some of the ways people are hoping to use microbes to improve our bodies and our lives:

NEXT: The bacteria in your belly can determine what diet will work best for you

CHECK OUT: A tiny percentage of the population needs only 4 hours of sleep per night

To keep us clean.

We didn't always shower every day, and some scientists think we still don't need to. Instead, some say, we should strive to maintain a healthy mix of odor-emitting and odor-eating bacteria to keep ourselves smelling fresh and clean while keeping our skin moist. As my colleague Tanya Lewis learned by using a product called Mother Dirt, it's somewhat feasible to spray bacteria on your body to keep you "clean." 

To keep our breath fresh.

While we sleep, our mouths can dry out, which can kill off some good bacteria and cause gas-emitting bacteria to thrive. That's the reason you sometimes wake up with a putrid-smelling mouth. But researchers think a potentially beneficial bacteria strain, Streptococcus salivarius K12, could be put into a lozenge or spray and used as a probiotic to knock out the bad bacteria that causes bad breath.

To clear our skin.

Most acne is associated with bacteria that gets trapped in pores, where it emits chemicals that attract white blood cells and inflame the skin nearby. Extreme acne is often treated with antibiotics, which wipe out all the bacteria living on your face. According to the National Institutes of Health, researchers are looking into probiotics that could be applied to the skin to get rid of the irritating bacteria while simultaneously keeping your microbial community healthy. 

Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the world's most wanted drug lord, was captured on January 8 in his home state of Sinaloa, known as the "cradle of Mexican drug trafficking" because of the large number of infamous narcos born there.

Now that he's back behind bars, six months after he escaped, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stamped the word "captured" across his picture on its "most wanted international fugitives" web page.

The page contains just two other names, neither of whom appear to be particularly relevant today.

One is a Colombian named Maria Teresa Osorio de Serna who is wanted for "money laundering and cocaine conspiracy" and is said to have links to Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel.

The other is John Alexander Thompson, aka Coach, who is wanted for heroin distribution and is said to be either African or Caribbean, without specifying a country.

DEA spokeswoman Barbara Carreno told VICE News that the agency was receiving many confused inquiries because of delays in updating its website.

"The fact that Maria Teresa [Osorio de Serna] is one of two people on the international page is more of a function of that not being kept up so well," she said. "With all the queries we're getting, we're going to make sure everybody is where they need to be so people can find them easier."

In the meantime, here is a brief guide to the world's most wanted drug lords:

SEE ALSO: The FBI's 9 most wanted fugitives still on the run

Ismael Zambada García, aka El Mayo – Sinaloa Cartel (Mexico)

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada is a legendary figure in the Mexican underworld who has reputedly never spent a day in prison. Believed to be in his late 60s, El Mayo has long been considered to be as important a figure in the Sinaloa cartel as El Chapo, though he keeps a much lower profile.

Zambada and the Sinaloa cartel are known to traffic a wide range of narcotics, such as domestically produced heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, while also providing transit for South American cocaine.

Both capos first rose to prominence within the Guadalajara cartel in the 1980s, with El Mayo gathering influence in the 1990s, most of which Chapo spent in jail.

The two kingpins teamed up again following Chapo's first escape from maximum-security jail in 2001 to become leading figures in a broad alliance of Sinaloa groups known then as the Sinaloa Federation. They were both on the same side when the Federation split in 2008.

The elusive El Mayo gave an interview to the news magazine Proceso in 2010 in which he argued that his capture or death would make little different to drug trafficking in Mexico as there would always be others to take his place.

El Mayo has seen several members of his family arrested in recent years, including his brother and three sons. The most important, Vicente Zambada Niebla, was extradited to the US in 2010 and later pled guilty and accepted a plea bargain of a minimum of 10 years in prison.

He had originally sought to get out of a trial by arguing that he had negotiated an immunity from prosecution deal in exchange for becoming a DEA informant before his arrest.

Related: A Turf War in a Previously Dreamy Coastal City Points to Splits in Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel

Rafael Caro Quintero — Sinaloa Cartel (Mexico)

Rafael Caro Quintero is one of the Sinaloa-born founders of the Guadalajara cartel who was captured in 1985 in a crackdown launched following the kidnap, torture, and murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena.

Caro Quintero was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but a judge suddenly released him in August, 2013 on a technicality. By the time new arrest warrants were issued, Caro Quintero was long gone, with most assuming he had headed for the Sinaloa cartel's bastion in the Sierra Madre.

The release of Caro Quintero triggered expressions of fury in the US, where the Camarena case is a highly sensitive and symbolic issue within law enforcement. The US Treasury Department also repeatedly claimed that businesses associated with his family remained major players in drug money laundering.

Within Sinaloa, some say Caro Quintero resumed a prominent role within the cartel alongside El Mayo and El Chapo.

Related: The Godfather of Mexican Drug Trafficking Was Released From Prison and Has Disappeared

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho — Jalisco New Generation cartel (Mexico)

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, is the best known leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG in Spanish, which is considered to be the fastest growing criminal organization in Mexico.

It began roughly five years ago, partly from the remnants of other dismantled cartels. It is now considered to be the second most important trafficking organization in Mexico after the Sinaloa cartel, with which it is said to maintain an alliance.

The CJNG has made a particular name for themselves in the production of synthetic drugs, especially methamphetamine.

El Mencho and the CJNG received little attention until 2015, when the CJNG carried a series of direct attacks on law enforcement in the state of Jalisco. These included the shooting down of a military helicopter in May.

Since then the pursuit for El Mencho has intensified and the authorities have arrested his brother and son, as well as several other high ranking cartel figures. These captures are believed to have triggered a spike in homicides in Jalisco state.

Related: How the Jalisco New Generation Cartel Is Terrorizing the People of Western Mexico

Finding a great hotel can be tough, even in a highly-visited city like Amsterdam.

Are the beds nice? How about the bathrooms? Is it in a safe neighborhood? Is it full of old game consoles and video games?

Okay, in fairness, you're almost certainly not asking that last question. Even so, one hotel in Amsterdam — The Arcade Hotel Amsterdam — is attempting to answer it. Come for the nice rooms, stay for the selection of classic games!

That's the idea, anyway.

SEE ALSO: The most high-tech hotels in the world

Okay, first and foremost, the rooms are pretty swanky.

So far, so good: pretty hotel room with some nice amenities (balcony!) for a decent price.

And how about that bathroom!

One of the greatest American muscle cars in history will cross the block at a Mecum's Kansas City auction in March: a 1968 Shelby GT-500KR Fastback.

Yup, the one with the 428 "Cobra Jet" engine.

That's pure American muscle right there.

In a collector car market dominated by eight-figure Ferraris, a black Shelby Mustang is a welcome relief. An every-man's hero. A Budweiser in a wine bar.

The auction house does not give a pre-sale estimate. However classic car insurer Hagerty sets a value for this model at $146,000-184,000 in good to excellent condition.

Have a closer look at this stunning ride.

Here it is: a 1968 GT-500KR. That's right: the "King of the Road"

Certainly one of the all-time great muscle cars.

1968 was the only year of the 428 cubic-inch "Cobra Jet" engine ...

Donald Rumsfeld can add app developer to his CV. 

Last week, the former secretary of defense, who's 83 years old, released an iPhone game called "Churchill Solitaire."

The app is exactly what it sounds like — a version of solitaire that Rumsfeld says Winston Churchill liked to play.

Rumsfeld calls the game "an incredibly devilish version of solitaire," and he insists that until just a couple of years ago, only about a dozen people in the world knew how to play this version of the game.

SEE ALSO: Major app developers are bringing their apps to the Windows phone

When you first open the app, you're treated to newsreel footage of Winston Churchill and World War II.

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Patriotic music as well as excerpts from Churchill's speeches play over the video clips.

The app, unsurprisingly, has a heavy military theme.

You embark on a "campaign" when you start playing, and your goal is to make your way from Cadet to Prime Minister. Military music plays throughout the game.

Your journey begins at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, where Winston Churchill is one of your classmates.

Rumsfeld himself didn't write the code for the app, but the former secretary of defense was "very" involved in the 18-month development process, according to the game's press materials. He reviewed nearly all of the more than 150 development versions of the app.

SEE ALSO: The 6 best things to do in Belize

Ceviche

Peruvian ceviche is found all over Mexico, Central America, and South America. However, Belizean ceviche is different. Typical ceviches in Mexico are sweeter and are heavily fish based. Belizean ceviche, though, is usually made with raw conch and shrimp. Conch is widely popular in Belize, even given today’s shortage. For real Belizean ceviche, head to the sophisticated restaurant Harbour View in Belize City. Since most planes land here, it’s an easy pit stop so you can fuel up for your adventure. 

Harbour View, Belize City. +501 223-6420

Pupusas

Brought by refugees from El Salvador, pupusas are best bought from vendors at street stalls. But if you want to sit down for your meal, Waruguma comes close to authentic by keeping things very simple, very crisp and very saucy. The stuffed corn pancakes make for a just-right savory snack and always come with homemade hot sauce and coleslaw.

Waruguma, Middle St. & Pescador Dr., San Pedro. facebook.com

Tamales (Bollos)

Belizean tamales or bollos are a traditional Maya and Mestizo food; unlike the Mexican tamale, Belizean tamales are wrapped in plantain leaves instead of corn husks. A bollo is made with seasoned chicken or pork wrapped in soft house-made corn dough, and then steamed in plantain or banana leaves. Until recently, the best place to find them was Bertha’s Tamales, a small shack on the side of the road on Hummingbird Highway. Unfortunately, the shop burned down a couple of weeks ago. While we'll mourn its absence and hope for its return — not just for our sake, but for the family who runs it — in the meantime we'll hope to catch a glimpse of the guy who rides a beach cruiser, with a cooler strapped to the handlebars (he rides from San Pedro to the northern part of Ambergris every single day). Don't want to leave things to chance? Try Martha's Guesthouse Restaurant.

Martha's Guesthouse Restaurant, 10 West St, San Ignacio, Belize 501-804-3647

Although many analysts are and have been calling for a bottom in oil prices, there are three key reasons why oil can continue to fall substantially further from current levels near $30 per barrel:

1) Bankruptcies don't necessarily mean lower production and higher prices

At least nine U.S. oil and gas companies, accounting for more than $2 billion in debt, filed for bankruptcy in Q4 2015.  This brought quarterly bankruptcies for the sector in line with levels last seen in the depths of the Great Recession. And although it is estimated that there are more than five times as many oil and gas loans in danger of default as there were a year ago at current prices, we must consider what bankruptcy means for future production and prices.

Counterintuitively, growing bankruptcies in the sector do not necessarily lead to lower production and higher prices. In fact, this process could very likely lead to lower breakeven costs, which would make lower prices even more sustainable in the coming years.  This is a simple function of the fact that Chapter 11 bankruptcy does not destroy oil producing assets or infrastructure, it simply lowers the breakeven cost of production by allowing this capital to be reacquired and reengaged at lower prices.  

Private equity firms and other investors will use this opportunity of rampant bankruptcies to buy up oil and gas fields and their producing assets at greatly discounted prices once the prior owner’s debts are wiped clean.  Through this process, an oil well that just weeks ago had breakeven costs of $40 per barrel can nearly instantly have a breakeven cost of $20 or $30 per barrel.

2) Macroeconomics and monetary policy

With oil prices falling by over 50% you would assume that demand would increase substantially and you would be right, as demand rose by the most this century in 2015.

However, there is little reason to believe that this rate of demand growth will be sustained. In recent weeks, stock markets and crude have plummeted as global markets are hit with multiple fronts of bearish developments – from the World Bank cutting global growth forecasts once again over fears in emerging markets, to central banks in developed nations around the world losing their wars on deflation.

Prior to December, the five-year correlation between the S&P 500 and Brent crude oil was a negative 72%, but since December that correlation has jumped to a positive 91.4%.  Meaning, for years there was an inverse relationship between oil prices and the stock market, but since December they have moved in near lockstep. It is no coincidence that this correlation developed as the Federal Reserve ended a near decade-long policy of zero percent interest rates with their December interest rate hike announcement.

As a result, the Federal Reserve’s monetary base and the velocity of money have continued to contract, leaving fewer dollars in circulation in the economy to bid up oil prices and other assets. With uncertainty growing in Brazil, China, the Middle East, and Russia, and a strengthening U.S. dollar that increases crude prices in local currencies, this is unlikely to lead to another year of surging oil demand.

3) Global markets are expected to remain oversupplied into 2017

Although the story of global oversupply has been repeated to the point of redundancy, it is still important to consider how the relative changes in expectations for oversupply have evolved over the past month. Just last week, Iran met the final terms of its international nuclear deal commitment, which allowed the country to once again begin competing for global market share in the crude market.  

As the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently pointed out, although many analysts would say that Iran’s exports are already “priced in” to the market, there are many unknowns yet as to the quantity and quality of oil that Iran will offer on the marketplace, which means that this event cannot yet truly be fully priced in.  

In its first Oil Market Report for 2016, the IEA concludes that, “The oil market faces the prospect of a third successive year when supply will exceed demand by 1.0 mb/d and there will be enormous strain on the ability of the oil system to absorb it efficiently.” And as it relates to Iran, “In a scenario whereby Iran adds 600 kb/d to the market by mid-year and other members maintain current output, global oil supply could exceed demand by 1.5 mb/d in the first half of 2016”. These are not forecasts that portend well for a bullish reversal in oil prices.

People who live past 100 usually don't usually try to live that long; it just sort of happens to them. 

For the last decade, Dan Buettner, an author and National Geographic fellow, has been looking into what he calls Blue Zones: pockets of longevity around that world that have unusually high concentrations of centenarians. (The most famous is the Greek island of Ikaria.)

Buettner spoke at a plenary talk on longevity at the Clinton Health Matters Initiative’s fifth annual Health Matters Summit on Jan. 25. Former President Bill Clinton hosted the panel. 

During the talk, Buettner mentioned things that he and his scientist partners have found Blue Zones tend to have in common. 

Of course, not everyone in any given place lives a long life, and no set of behaviors can guarantee someone will make it past 100. But healthier communities tend to have healthier people, and — based on what Buettner has observed during his extensive travels — Blue Zones are some of the healthiest communities in the world.

Here are six habits Buettner has found are shared among the long-living people in Blue Zones. 

They have cheap, easily accessible produce, and they actually eat their fruits and vegetables.

They walk more places, often because their communities are pedestrian-friendly.

They don't lead sedentary lives. They're "nudged into movement about every 20 minutes," burning 500 to 1,000 calories per day.

Some big purchases leave you feeling elated: that new car, or the couch you’ve been saving up for. But what about when that splurge turns into a mistake you wish you could immediately take back?

We asked DailyWorth readers to tell us about their most regrettable purchases. And oh, did they spill.

SEE ALSO: 5 'good' credit habits that are actually terrible

1. “I regret spending $1,500 on a plane ticket to meet my then-boyfriend in Southeast Asia on the last leg of a backpacking summer trip. I thought we were going to spend two weeks catching up, being in love, and exploring a new country together. But instead, I found out halfway through our vacation that he had been cheating on me the whole time he was away. The rest of the trip was spent feeling like a fool, hiding out from him, and being completely livid about the whole situation. We broke up on the plane ride home.”
—Lulu, 40

2. “I once purchased a gorgeous $500 white silk jumpsuit because I thought it made me look like Beyoncé. In truth, it kind of did. But I consequently learned that even looking like Beyoncé wasn’t worth the $500 plus tax I had dropped. I felt so ill spending that amount of money on something as singular as a jumpsuit (as opposed to, say, a winter coat), that I couldn’t even enjoy it. I returned it the next day much to the perplexity of the sales associates who said the jumpsuit was clearly made for me. Or Beyoncé.”
—Lydia, 28

3. “I was living in London and saw a carpet beetle, which is harmless and very common — it's like a moth. But it sort of vaguely looks like a bed bug. So I spent six hours Googling bed bugs, and then had a complete breakdown in front of my roommates. I ended up paying £150 to an exterminator to tell me I didn't have bed bugs. It was crazy embarrassing, and my roommates still tease me about it to this day.”
—Hannah, 42

Let's say you're watching your kids play in the park, and decide to take a picture.

You whip out your flagship smartphone with its excellent camera, pull up the camera app, and wait for the decisive moment to snap. But there's a problem: your kids look tiny on your screen. You have three options: get up and walk closer, zoom in, or take the picture as-is.

Which is best?

I've written before about how if your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough. Your absolute best move is to get closer for the shot. But maybe you're not a camera snob: you want a nice picture to remember the day, but you don't want to trudge around finding the perfect angle to make it look gorgeous. Then you're better off not zooming in. 

Camera lenses without moving parts, like smartphones, can't actually zoom in. Zooming requires changing the distances between the pieces of glass in a lens. Smartphone cameras rely on a trick called "digital zoom"— nothing more than cropping in-camera.

When you "digitally zoom" onto a subject, your phone uses only a fraction of its' sensors pixels to take the picture. It blows up the result to produce a low-resolution, compressed image emphasizing all the flaws in the lens itself. Worse, it throws out the rest of the image — context and visuals you can never recover.

Don't believe me? Here's proof:

Here's a photo I took of a caterpillar on a hike:

You'll notice the image looks pretty nice. It's sharp. The lensing is attractive. There are no obvious defects that scream "cell phone camera". The caterpillar doesn't take up the whole frame but all the pebbles give it some nice context — we don't lose anything by having it look small.

Here's what it looked like when I took another shot using digital zoom:

Suddenly all the camera's flaws stand out. Motion blur from my hand shaking, invisible in the full frame, covers a much larger swath of this shot. Lens distortions that disappear across the camera's wide-angle view look bizarre and dizzying up close. The caterpillar may look more dramatic, but the picture is now so messy that it takes a second to even figure out what it is.

The original image actually looks better when I crop it the same amount:

Not digital zooming also gives you the chance to make a nice crop after the fact. With more time to think your frame over, and more image to choose from, you can make a nice close-up image that will always look better than whatever you cropped in-camera.

The conventional wisdom is that Silicon Valley is the only great place to found a tech startup. It's got great engineers, a huge network of financiers and advisers, and pleasant weather all year.

But it's also ridiculously expensive. To buy a house and live comfortably in San Francisco, a person needs a salary of more than $180,000 per year — more than double the salary needed to do the same in LA, according to a recent survey.

Where else should you settle?

To get an idea, Mattermark took a look through its funding data, focusing on the number of investment rounds closed and the total deal value. Then it looked to see which cities showed the biggest increase in deal action between 2014 and 2015. It also measured the average annual-growth rate in deal rounds and value between 2012 and 2015.

Here are the fastest-growing startup scenes in the US right now:

SEE ALSO: Here's how much you'd have to earn to buy a house and live comfortably in 23 US cities

10. Kansas City, MO: 31.56% deal growth in 2015, 9.61% average growth since 2012.

9. Dallas, TX: 37.09% deal growth in 2015, 18.83% average growth since 2012.

8. Washington, DC: 38.16% deal growth in 2015, 21.31% average growth since 2012.

The Golden State Warriors are the best team in the NBA with a 40-4 record.

The reigning champs rattled off an NBA record 24 straight wins to start the season, and show no signs of slowing down.

That the Warriors have managed to get even better than last year has wowed the NBA world. While there's no guarantee they'll make a second-straight Finals appearance, they have to be considered the heavy favorites, particularly because no team boasts such a deadly combination of players.

The Warriors are the most complete team in the NBA, with a roster that boasts a mix of offensive weapons, defensive stoppers, bench scorers, and role players. Here's how they built it.

DRAFTED: Stephen Curry

It all starts with Stephen Curry, of course. The Warriors made the brilliant decision to draft Stephen Curry at No. 7 in the 2009 draft, and it's paid off. Curry is the reigning MVP and likely cruising toward another MVP this season, averaging 30 points, five rebounds, six assists, and a wild 51% shooting, 45% from three-point range.

DRAFTED: Klay Thompson

Taken with the 11th pick in the 2011 draft, Thompson has become Curry's fearsome back-court partner. Aptly making up the second part of the "Splash Brothers" moniker, Thompson is averaging 20 points per game for the second straight year while shooting 42.5% from downtown and playing stellar defense.

DRAFTED: Draymond Green

Green is the Warriors' linchpin. At 6-foot-6, he's the player every team wants and can't find. He can defend every position on the court, making the Warriors' a swarming, versatile defensive squad, and he's valuable to the offense as a shooter and playmaker. After earning an $82 million contract in the offseason, he's averaging 15 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists per game this year while shooting 40% from three.