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The 21 most innovative startups in tech

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Prerna Gupta Hooked

In a world where there's 30 plus food delivery companies and an army of 'Uber for X' clones, startups working on high impact and daring ideas can be overlooked. But that doesn't mean they're not out there.

Eager to impress our editor's five-year-old son who wants to be wowed by the tech world, Business Insider assembled a list of crazy and unique ways startups want to change the world.

We polled investors and entrepreneurs to hear what audacious ideas companies are working. Here are 21 companies will go big, or go broke trying. 

We limited the list to private companies who have raised money in the last five years, so this excludes big projects like Google's Loon or Tesla's world takeover. Think we missed some? Leave your nominations in the comments.

SEE ALSO: These 13 startups have raised millions — but no one knows what they do

Orbital Insight wants to change what we know about the world, by viewing it from above.

What is it: When retailers missed their estimates in the last quarter, Orbital Insight already knew about it. The mostly-in-stealth startup had been analyzing imagery from satellites and noticed one striking thing comparing year-over-year images: there's fewer cars in parking lots.

That's just one example of the power of looking down on our Earth rather than only at what you can see out your window. Orbital Insight wants to understand the trends of the world by taking advantage of data science and machine learning to spot when change is happening. 

Website: http://orbitalinsight.com/

Funding: $10.45 million



Diamond Foundry is growing diamonds.

What it is: The startup, which launched publicly in November, claims it can grow hundreds of diamonds that are up to nine carats in just two weeks in a lab. The company had been working for three years to come up with a way to lab-grow pure diamonds, not synthetics. The company says it discovered a plasma that allows atoms to attach themselves to the thin slice of Earth-extracted diamond. The atoms then stack on top of that natural diamond, layer by layer, until a pure, jewelry-grade diamond is formed.

Website: https://www.diamondfoundry.com/

Funding: Less than $100 million, including money from individuals including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Twitter/Medium founder Evan Williams, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus.

 



Fetch Robotics wants to create robots that helpfully work with humans.

What is it: Described as the most prominent robotics company not to be owned by Google, Fetch Robotics wants to change the way warehouses work. Unlike other companies, though, the future with Fetch Robotics doesn't have to eliminate the human entirely. Instead, what investors like about Fetch is how it weaves the two seamlessly together.

Fetch has created both a pick robot and a freight one. While the "Fetch" can grab items off shelves, a warehouse doesn't need to go all-in on robots to take advantage of their efficiency. The new "Freight" robot acts more like a trained dog, steadfastly sticking to either a human or another robot's side. So a worker (or the Fetch itself) pulls item off a shelf and adds it to the Freight's bin. Once it's full, it returns to the shipping area and a new robot is automatically dispatched.

Website: http://fetchrobotics.com/

Funding: $23 million total, including a $20 million Series A round in June 2015



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6 extreme job interview tactics that actually work

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job interviewGetting a job is hard. But so is getting an interview, and when you are given the chance to sit down and chat with someone who holds your future in their hands, you usually play it very safe.

But sometimes safe isn't the best answer, proven by these examples that came from an extensive Quora thread in which one user asked: "what is the craziest thing you have ever said (or done) at an interview and still got the job?"

Sometimes you have to employ extreme interview tactics to get the position.

SEE ALSO: 5 things that will blow your chances during a job interview

1. The walkout

Let's start this series off with the story that inspired it — namely, mine. Advertising is a competitive and cut-throat industry, and getting your foot in the door, even for an interview, can be hard work. Even back in the early 2000s, before the Internet bubble burst, getting a decent job in the industry was tough.

So, when getting an interview at a place known for doing outstanding work, the usual routine for candidates was to go in, sit down, be polite, let the interviewer tear your work apart, and hope for a callback. If you were lucky, he or she would actually like a few pieces in your portfolio.

In my case, the hiring manager, who was a director of marketing, looked like a bulldog chewing a wasp as he went through my work. "Seen it before. Crap. Not impressed. That's obvious." And so on.

As he got halfway through the folio, I'd had enough. I needed a job, but not one that would be filled with this kind of derision. I stood up, closed it, and politely said, "thanks for your time, but clearly my work is not suited for you or this company."

As I walked out, he got out of his chair and patted me on the back. "Wait, wait," he said. "Maybe I was being a bit harsh. I think there are actually some strong pieces in there."

I sat down with him, and it turns out this was his "test." To see how candidates react to a real ego bashing. Would they cry? Would they get angry? Would they say nothing? Apparently, my reaction was the one he had been looking for.

Moral of this story: Trust your gut. If you really feel like you need to react in a certain way, and it does not seem inappropriate (like punching someone in the face for instance), go with it. Showing people who you really are can make a big difference.



2. The pocket surprise

This story comes from Richard Waddington, who had been the same company for over 10 years, and was looking for a change. Incidentally, a recent study shows 50% of people see their current job as just a placeholder, and are actively looking around.

Richard had never been out on an interview in all that time, and so when he decided to move on and got an interview at another company, he was obviously nervous. The stress of finding the right clothes and shoes, the preparation, the background work — they can all get to a person.

Richard was also a family man, and as he left for the interview, his four-year-old daughter handed him a little plastic cow from her farm yard play set and said, "Daddy, take this for good luck."

Richard went through hours of interviews, with different people (which is all too common these days) before sitting in front of the VP of HR. She sternly asked him, "How do I know you'll fit in?"

Without thinking, he exclaimed, "I have a cow in my pocket!" He set the cow on the table, over an awkward silence. But, she burst out laughing, and he got the job.

Moral of this story: A real moment can go a long way toward showing people who you are when your guard is down. A genuine laugh, a reaction, something that lets the interviewer see a person and not just a candidate, may feel extreme or risky… but it can reap rewards.



3. The bluff

This is a case of, when all else fails… bluff.

The interviewee, John Doe (who wants to remain anonymous for obvious reasons), was applying for a job as a consultant. And, the interview was not going well.

The interviewer then asked John to solve a puzzle, and as he described it, John could not help the spread of a massive grin on his face. He had recently heard, and solved, this very puzzle, and interrupted the interviewer, saying, "Sir, I'll be honest with you. I've heard this one before," and gave an outline of the solution.

The interviewer appreciated his candor, and went on to another question. This one was a mind bender. A very hard, almost impossible, puzzle for John to solve. He had no idea. So, he did the only thing he could think of. Smiling broadly he said, "Sir, I hate to admit it, but I've heard this one before as well!"

The interviewer did not ask for proof, but simply believed him and said, "Wow… no puzzles today it seems." The bluff worked, and John got the job.

Moral of this story: Sometimes, you can bluff and win. But you really have to be prepared to have your bluff called. However, if that happens, simply use the honest approach – "hey, I was bluffing, I just have no idea how to answer." It might just work, too.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

6 scientific benefits of being bored

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Bored"I'm bored!"

Never will you hear more exasperation in a child's voice than when they utter these words.

When we were kids, the very thought of being bored seemed insufferable.

But now, as adults, we've got so much going on in our lives — so many distractions, responsibilities, and technology at our fingertips to amuse ourselves with — that boredom just doesn't seem like an option anymore.

Unfortunately for us grownups, research suggests that we could be missing out on a lot by not being bored.

Here's why it's a good idea to unplug and get back to boredom for a while:

SEE ALSO: 9 scientific ways having a child influences your success

DON'T MISS: 13 bad habits you should break in 2016 to be more productive

It can make you more creative.

Researchers believe that being bored can lead to some of our most original thoughts.

During a study by UK psychologist Sandi Mann, researchers gave subjects various boring tasks to complete and then asked them to use their creative thinking. The subjects who had the most boring task — reading the phone book — came up with the most interesting uses for plastic cups, which is a standard test of divergent thinking.

Mann says that boredom encourages people's minds to wander, leading them to more associative and creative ways of thinking.



It lets you know when something is amiss.

As researcher and philosophy professor Andreas Elpidorou explains in a psychology journal article that cites numerous studies, boredom "acts as a regulatory state that keeps one in line with one's projects.

"In the absence of boredom, one would remain trapped in unfulfilling situations, and miss out on many emotionally, cognitively, and socially rewarding experiences. Boredom is both a warning that we are not doing what we want to be doing and a 'push' that motivates us to switch goals and projects,"he writes.



It makes you more goal-oriented.

When people's minds wander and they're not thinking about what's going on around them, they're more likely to think about the future, European and American researchers found.

In a process known as "autobiographical planning," people most frequently plan and anticipate their future goals while daydreaming.



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The hidden sugar in 16 surprising fast-food items

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Fast Food Sugar 3

Sugar has become a problem.

Americans consume 30% more sugar daily than we did three decades ago, according to the Obesity Society.

According to the World Health Organization, the maximum daily amount of sugar consumed should be less than 10% of your daily caloric intake.

The WHO strongly recommends reducing that to 5%, or roughly 25 grams.

Avoiding it can be harder than you think.

We've found unassuming menu items at major food chains that have surprising amounts of sugar in them, many way above the daily recommended amount.

We've also ranked them from lowest sugar content to highest. 

 

SEE ALSO: What 2,000 calories looks like at every major fast-food chain

NOW WATCH: We did a blind taste test of popular french fries — the winner was clear

Taco Bell: XXL grilled stuft burrito

Total grams of sugar: 6

Percent of recommended daily intake: 24%



Five Guys: single cheeseburger

Total grams of sugar: 8.5

Percent of recommended daily intake: 34%



Burger King: bacon and cheese Whopper

Total grams of sugar: 9

Percent of recommended daily intake: 36%



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 13 worst things about Silicon Valley

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Silicon Valley

There's a really cool sense of innovation in Silicon Valley that makes it one of the most popular destinations in the world.

But everything has its down side, and Silicon Valley is no exception, as seen in this Quora post titled, "What's the dark side of Silicon Valley?"

We sifted through the post to pull together 13 of the worst things about living in Silicon Valley.

SEE ALSO: 13 things the best startup CEOs do better than everyone else

Don't even think about starting a family with an average salary.

"It is amazingly difficult to start/have a family if you make 'normal' salaries here (you know, only in the $100k range). The amount of wealth in the area has driven up home prices near the places where the jobs are to astronomical levels."— Chris Schrader, Business Intelligence Consultant



You'll meet some arrogant people.

"I grew up in an educationally arrogant environment. Students and adults alike were snotty about people who would go to community college / "low tier college" (i.e. SJSU, and even highly ranked schools like UC Davis) because everyone's parents had a Ph.D from a prestigious university."— Min Ju Lee, Google X



Watch out for fake mentors.

"There are plenty of self-proclaimed 'mentors' fishing around to be an adviser to your nascent startup. They end up eating equity and not doing much except just keep connecting you to other useless people. My guess is that they do it because by amassing a huge collection of startups they 'advise', they can hope for at least one of them going Instagram."— Pallav Sharda, ex-physician, now in digital health



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 12 most innovative features in the new, high-tech Cadillac

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The new Cadillac CT6 is here, and the sedan comes with some pretty sweet high-tech features.

2016 Cadillac CT6

From driver assist to "night vision," the 2016 Cadillac CT6 looks like a sweet ride.

Here's a closer look at the new Cadillac, starting at $53,495.

The car's engine comes with automatic start/stop technology to temporarily turn off the engine when it comes to a halt.



And the Cadillac's fob allows you to start it and heat the seats in advance.

And there's the option of heating the steering wheel.



Looking inside the CadillacCTS, there's a customizable 12.3-inch LCD screen behind the steering wheel.

The screen lets you see information like your speed and the song currently playing.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

This new set of towers in Dubai will have its own indoor rainforest

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dubai rosemont towers

Dubai, the land of towering skyscrapers, is getting yet another set of buildings. 

The Rosemont Hotel & Residences is a massive, double-tower complex that's currently being constructed under the direction of ZAS Architects Dubai

Part of a the new Rosemont global hotel brand, the $550 million project will consist of two towers rising over 50 stories each, adding up to over 2 million square feet on a 140,000-square-foot site.

One tower will be a hotel, and the other will be serviced apartments, all slated to open in 2018. In case you weren't certain you were living in a Jetsons alternate reality, robotic room service and luggage handling should clue you in.

The world's first indoor rainforest is another perk.

Take a look at what the next big thing in luxury real estate will look like.

 

SEE ALSO: 12 up-and-coming New York City restaurants you need to try right now

DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's lifestyle page on Facebook!

The 75,000-square-foot outdoor rainforest will have a café, stream, and space for "adventure play", according to information provided by ZAS Architects Dubai.



The lot — in the upscale Al Thanyah neighborhood, near Ski Dubai and the Mall of the Emirates — was previously vacant.



To make sure the rainforest functions, despite being located in a building in one of the most arid desert climates in the world, water will be collected and stored from condensation. The rainforest area will present a "unique all weather atmosphere" with shade and mist sprays from trees, and there will even be "activity trails" to explore the rooftop rainforest.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The music that inspired Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and other successful entrepreneurs

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elon musk

This just in from Captain Obvious: Music inspires people.

It can get you in touch with feelings and memories. It can be the catalyst for big ideas. It can help you make sense of problems. It can heal.

Here's the music that's doing all those things for some of the most legendary entrepreneurial minds in the world:

SEE ALSO: The best music to listen to for optimal productivity, according to science

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

Mark Zuckerberg: Lady Gaga and Daft Punk

Yes, the man who brought us Facebook is particularly fond of the woman who brought us the meat dress. Lady Gaga, of course, is boisterous pop royalty. There's almost no chance anyone who listens to a top-40 radio station has been able to avoid her ubiquitous hits "Bad Romance,""Poker Face," or "Born This Way." Adventurous listeners looking for a lesser-known gem should try out the track "The Fame."

Daft Punk is an electronic duo that combines elements of many different musical genres into their catchy tunes. New listeners would do well to try out their infectious, funk-driven hit "Get Lucky." Maybe you'll get as lucky as Zuckerberg did.



Steve Jobs: Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, The Grateful Dead, Cat Stevens, Jackson Browne, Miles Davis, Peter, Paul and Mary, and The Rolling Stones

Jobs' passion for classic rock and folk music has been well-documented. Must-listen choices here would be The Beatles' iconic White Album (official title: "The Beatles"), Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark," The Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers," and Jackson Browne's "The Pretender." In the mood for some jazz to inspire your creativity? Try Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue." You really can't go wrong with any album by any of these artists, though.



Richard Branson: Peter Gabriel and Mike Oldfield; his favorite band is the Sex Pistols

The Virgin Group founder's tastes are a little more edgy — the Sex Pistols are the groundbreaking punk band that paved the way for countless acts to follow in their raucous footsteps. Their gospel was nonconformity — their only studio album, "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols," is a testament to that — and it's no surprise that an entrepreneurial mind like Branson's would be drawn to it.

On the other end of Branson's musical spectrum, Peter Gabriel has enjoyed mass appeal with smash hits like "In Your Eyes" and "Solsbury Hill." For a lesser-known tune, my personal favorite is "I Have the Touch." As for Mike Oldfield, it's no surprise Branson is a big fan — the 1973 album "Tubular Bells" famously launched Virgin Records.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

3 small space tricks we learned from touring New York City's newest micro apartments

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London tiny home

Whether inspired by tiny houses or Marie Kondo's compassionate purging, streamlined, small space living seemed to be all the rage last year. And with the unveiling of a sample apartment at the much-hyped Carmel Place (formerly My Micro NY) — the micro-apartment development currently being built in Kips Bay — the trend shows no signs of stopping.

We stopped in at Carmel Place to see how the pros plan to make life in a super-tiny apartment livable. “We wanted to show that small space living doesn’t have to be a sacrifice to quality of life," says Chris Bledsoe, co-founder of Stage 3 Properties LLC, the company handling the building's "design and lifestyle" services.

SEE ALSO: Interior design tips that everybody living in a small space should know

Go vertical.

The apartments at Carmel Place were specifically designed to have higher-than-average ceilings, both to mitigate any sense of claustrophobia, and to create extra room for storage.

"We went for higher ceilings to bring more light in, and to take advantage of the full volume of the space by having overhead storage," Bledsoe tells us.

Even if your ceilings aren't especially tall, the lesson here still sticks: With the right shelving, any overhead space (above door frames, couches, etc.) can be re-purposed as a storage opportunity.

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Make closets pull double duty.

Possibly our favorite feature in an apartment full of gadgets was the pull-down closet rod in one of the cabinets, which allows your clothes to jut out further for easy access, and positions clothes higher up than they otherwise would be, creating extra room for storage underneath.

This setup also has the advantage of turning any sizeable cabinet into potential new closet space:



Fold all of your furniture.

The couches in Carmel Place apartments tidily unfold into beds (see below). But actually, virtually all the furniture in the apartments has some kind of second (or third, or fourth) function.

To wit: The coffee table can also fold up and out into a TV tray, a desk, or even a full-sized dinner table; the desk expands out into the size of a dining table, with extra leaves and compact folding chairs stored in the hall closet in case you decide to have a dinner party. (Bledsoe says that many of the building's multi-tasking pieces were sourced from Resource Furniture.)

Maybe it's time we started expecting more of our one-trick-pony furniture?

Related:

Live large in a small space: how to divide a studio apartment

How to conquer a no-storage studio, and other small-space decorating tips

Could you handle living in a micro apartment? This UWS studio might change your mind

Should NYC adopt backyard "DADU" houses, the ultra-cute solution to overcrowding



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Even if you're getting old, the Cadillac CTS-V will make you feel young (gm)

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Cadillac CTS-V

Cadillac is General Motors' luxury brand and has been for over 100 years — and it's undergoing a major reinvention. Sales and marketing operations were moved to New York City in 2014 in order to make Caddy seem hip and fresh and of the global-luxury conversation.

But Cadillac has been in the throes of transformation for more than a decade. For much of its history, it sat at the peak of GM's famous-brand ladder: You entered your automotive life with a Chevy and closed it with one. Back then, during the US auto industry's golden age and even into its crisis years in the 1970s and '80s, Cadillac produced big, comfortable cars that were designed to surround passengers in swaths of soft leather and ample ashtrays.

Taking one hard turn into a corner wasn't something that entered any Cadillac owner's mind, as he or she piloted the barge down a freeway with Sinatra flowing from the FM radio. The invasion of German sports sedans disrupted this settled arrangement. "Luxury" now had to include "performance." And to up the ante, BMW in particular began to advance its "ultimate driving machine" pitch with street-legal competition-derived cars from its M Sport division. This was German performance — plus!

Even after Cadillac revolutionized its styling to be more aggressive, it had to tackle the impression that the Germans were better at going fast. This led to a synthesis of Cadillac and Corvette. Posh met performance, and "performance" was a big V8 engine with enough horsepower to make you think you're not just driving — you're being propelled forward at alarming velocity by a thick column of fire. The V-Series was born.

Caddy has been refining this formula for about a decade now, and Johan de Nysschen, the brand's boss, recently stressed to Business Insider how important the V-cars are to the future of the the brand. "[They're] very stunning and are exciting people around the brand," he said. "They draw people into showrooms who would never consider Cadillac."

A Caddy with the heart of a Corvette? Sounds pretty tasty, and maybe just a little bit rude. So we sampled the core of the V lineup: the 2016 CTS-V sedan.

The Caddy landed in my driveway at Business Insider car-test HQ on the rainy days before the end of 2015. The "Red Obsession" paint brightened things up.



I know the CTS-V doesn't look anything like its ferocious GM stablemate, the Corvette Z06 supercar, which serves up 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque from the most powerful engine GM has built.



But the Cadillac actually has ... THE SAME ENGINE as the Vette, a 6.2-liter supercharged widow-maker. It's just been toned down to crank out a mere 640 hp.



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9 surprising facts that can help you learn anything faster

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neil degrasse tyson shades pointing business insider

The skill of learning is something kids can and should practice if they want to have a fighting chance at fulfilling all those lofty goals their parents have set for them.

But some people keep studying — and thinking — the same way all their lives. 

Thankfully, cognitive science has taken a look at how people actually learn. The results are surprising and super helpful.

Skills are easier to pick up as individual parts.

If you want to learn the guitar, don't think about performing all the parts at once. 

Set the smaller, more measurable goal of learning a few easy chords, how to strum correctly, and how to put those chords together.

Over time, the accumulation of those tinier skills will add up to the whole of guitar-playing.

It's a technique that applies to mechanical learning as well as fact-based lessons.



Mistakes should be celebrated and studied.

Being perfect is overrated.

The entire point of learning is to make attempts, fail, and find a lesson in where you went wrong.

In 2014, a study of motor learning found the brain has more or less reserved a space for the mistakes we make. Later, we can recruit those memories to do better next time.

If parents teach kids never to make mistakes, or shun them when mistakes happen, kids end up missing a wealth of knowledge.



Being optimistic helps you succeed.

Stressing kids out with negative reinforcement can get them stuck in a mental rut, filling them with self-doubt and anxiety, both of which are toxic for learning.

"Anxiety precludes you from exploring real solutions and real thought patterns that will come up with solutions," says Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks

Decades of positive psychology research suggest that we will become more successful in just about anything we try to do if we approach it with an open mind and see tangible room for improvement. 

Parents should teach kids to see learning as exploration. It will help give them a sense of determination, which they can manufacture into grit when the going gets rough.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's how Iraqi and Kurdish forces are training to destroy ISIS

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danish training operation inherent resolve iraqi army

Earlier this month, a spokesman from the Combined Joint Task Force's Operation Inherent Resolve said that ISIS lost 40% of their territory in Iraq and 20% in Syria. In December, Iraq's armed forces recaptured the western city of Ramadi, paving the way for an expected assault on Mosul, ISIS' de facto capital in Iraq.

Behind the successes in Ramadi and elsewhere lay the efforts of the US-led coalition to train and equip credible regional forces that can reclaim their country from the scourge of ISIS.

In addition to an impressive air campaign, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Hungary, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portrugal, Spain, and the UK have all contributed to the US-led effort to train and empower regional forces to defeat ISIS.

In the slides below, find out what the brave recruits go through when training with the US-led coalition to counter ISIS.

SEE ALSO: Here's how the US is leading the fight against ISIS

Here is a quick overview of Operation Inherent Resolve's members and initiatives.



Before the training started, the coalition had to move in with supplies. The coalition arms and equips Iraqi national forces and other regional groups like the Kurds.



A large part of the coalition's efforts in training local forces is to build their confidence and capacity with thorough hands-on training.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

4 qualities of inspirational teachers, according to Bill Gates

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Bill Gates

The best teachers leave a lasting impression on students. 

In Bill Gates' most recent entry on his blog, "Gates Notes," he talks about the moment he saw a physics lecture by the late scientist and professor Richard Feynman in a local university's film collection. Although he never actually had Feynman as a teacher, he admires his teaching style.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Feynman's Nobel Prize win, Gates shared his thoughts on what made the professor so special. Here are those qualities, which can be applied to any classroom.

They are excited about the material.

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Gates says he loves the way Feynman's face lit up when he explained how fire works. He radiated an obvious love of knowledge, and it made the students excited about science too.

"In that sense, Feynman has a lot in common with all the amazing teachers I’ve met in schools across the country," Gates writes. "You walk into their classroom and immediately feel the energy — the way they engage their students — and their passion for whatever subject they’re teaching."



They can make difficult subjects easy to understand.

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Physics can seem complicated and abstract, but Gates says the best teachers make difficult subjects relatable.

Feynman once did a series of lectures at California schools for people who didn't specialize in physics, and made the topic digestible for everyone. You can now watch those lessons online for free.

"He's taking something that's a little mysterious to most people and using very simple concepts to explain how it works," Gates says. "He doesn't even tell you he's talking about fire until the very end, and you feel like you're figuring it out with him."



They engage their students.

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Like all great teachers, Feynman engaged his students and made physics fun.

"Feynman made science so fascinating," Gates says. "He reminded us how much fun it is, and everybody can have a pretty full understanding. 



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See how the amazing cast of 'American Crime Story' transformed to bring the O.J. Simpson trial back to life

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FX is hoping for another hit from "American Horror Story" co-creator Ryan Murphy with his upcoming true-crime anthology series "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story."

Based on Jeffrey Toobin's book "The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson," the limited series will look at the Simpson trial from the perspective of the lawyers.

It will explore the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court and how the LAPD's history with the city's African-American community affected the trial.

The show has a stellar cast playing the actual people, including Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson, John Travolta as his attorney Robert Shapiro, and Sarah Paulson as prosecutor Marcia Clark, among others — and the costuming, hair, and makeup certainly do a lot of work.

Take a look at the actors in character next to the real-life people they're portraying below:

SEE ALSO: O.J. Simpson contemplates suicide in the new teaser for FX's true-crime series with Cuba Gooding, Jr.

MORE: John Travolta asks O.J. Simpson the tough question in this 'American Crime Story' teaser

Cuba Gooding, Jr. ("Jerry Maguire,""Empire") as O.J. Simpson:

Simpson was tried on two counts of murder for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and waiter Ronald Lyle Goldman in June 1994.



David Schwimmer ("Friends") as Robert Kardashian:

The late Kardashian was one member of Simpson's team of high-profile defense attorneys. And, yes, he's the father of Kim Kardashian, her sisters, and her brother, who is named after the attorney.



Courtney B. Vance ("State of Affairs,""Revenge") as Johnnie Cochran:

The most well-known member of Simpson's defense team, which was dubbed "The Dream Team." Cochran went on to represent several celebrities, including Sean Combs, Snoop Dogg, and Michael Jackson.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The US government says Theranos blood testing puts consumers in 'immediate jeopardy'

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theranos review melia robinson

Theranos, a blood-testing startup valued at around $10 billion, has just received a damning letter from the US government.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), one of the federal bodies that regulates laboratory blood tests, just sent the company a letter (uploaded by The Verge— see below) that claims it is not in compliance with at least five conditions required for clinical certification.

"It was determined that the deficient practices of the laboratory pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety," the agency wrote.

CMS, a US government organization, defines "immediate jeopardy" as:

[A] situation in which immediate corrective action is necessary because the laboratory's non-compliance ... has already caused, is causing, or is likely to cause, at any time, serious injury or harm, or death, to individuals served by the laboratory or to the health and safety of the general public.

The controversial blood-testing startup ran into trouble late in 2015 after The Wall Street Journal launched a series of pieces that raised questions about the company's finger-prick blood-testing technology.

On Sunday, The Journal originally reported that CMS found problems with Theranos' laboratory in Newark, California.

Theranos has 10 days to show the agency that it's working to fix the problems.

For now, the company has issued a response that emphasizes the limited scope of the letter:

This survey of our Newark, CA lab began months ago and does not reflect the current state of the lab. ... CMS’s findings included standard and condition-level deficiencies, and one finding at the “immediate jeopardy” level, based on a condition-level deficiency in one specific area – hematology. To be clear, that finding does not apply to the whole lab, and none of these findings relate to our Arizona lab, where we currently process over 90 percent of our tests.

We've embedded the full cover letter from CMS to Theranos, below, and uploaded the images in case that doesn't work in your browser.

Tech Insider has reached out to Theranos for further comment, and will update this post if and when we hear back.

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13 interview questions you might have to answer if you want the 'best job in America'

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Data scientist is the best job in America in 2016, according to a recent report from Glassdoor.

The top ranking was based on Glassdoor's analysis of earning potential, career opportunities, and number of job openings. The median base pay was $116,840.

Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist, explained the position's rise this way to Business Insider: "Since all companies have an online presence these days, they all need people who know how to manage and store data that helps them make better business decisions, compared to years ago when businesses didn't have data management at their fingertips to review and analyze to help them drive business forward. I expect this to continue to be a hot job for several years to come, too," 

And this type of data science is especially vital for tech companies like Facebook, Google, Uber, and so on.

But what does it take to get hired as a data scientist at a tech superpower?

We looked through Glassdoor's interview data to bring you 13 of the most interesting questions you'd have to answer to snag one of these coveted positions:

 

SEE ALSO: The 25 best jobs in America right now, according to employees

Facebook: "How many birthday posts occur on Facebook on a given day?"



Facebook: "You're about to get on a plane to Seattle. You want to know if you should bring an umbrella. You call 3 random friends of yours who live there and ask each independently if it's raining. Each of your friends has a 2/3 chance of telling you the truth and a 1/3 chance of messing with you by lying. All 3 friends tell you that 'Yes' it is raining. What is the probability that it's actually raining in Seattle?"



Uber: “What metrics would you use to track whether Uber's strategy of using paid advertising to acquire customers works? How would you then figure out an acceptable cost of customer acquisition?”



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The world's most wanted drug lords

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El CHapo capture

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.

guzman_e capturedOne 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.



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.

 



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.



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These incredible photos of America's most iconic jets will leave you mesmerized

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SR71 Blackbird

Military aircraft are incredible examples of engineering and human ingenuity. And, aside from their advanced technical and scientific magnificence, aircraft are also amazing to behold.

Photographer Blair Bunting has captured the stark elegance of some of the most recognizable US military aircraft — the SR-71, the F-22, and a US Thunderbird F-16. 

Below are some of Bunting's favorite photos from his SR-71, F-22, and F-16 photo shoot. 

The following photos are republished with permission from Blair Bunting.

SEE ALSO: These are the most incredible photos of the US Air Force in 2015

The SR-71 "Blackbird" was a high-speed, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.



The plane could travel faster than 2,200 mph at altitudes over 85,000 feet.



The aircraft was in service from 1964 to 1998.



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Unnervingly clear drone footage shows the toll Syria's war has taken on one of its oldest cities

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Unnervingly clear drone footage shows the Damascus suburb of Darayya in ruins nearly five years after the city served as the site of some of the earliest anti-government protests in Syria's civil war.

Darayya, one of the oldest cities in Syria, has seen some of the heaviest bombardment since the war erupted in 2011, having changed hands between al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and the Syrian army repeatedly since 2012.

Largely controlled by government forces since mid-2013, Darayya was also the site of a reported massacre by pro-regime forces that killed nearly 400 people in August 2012.

syriaFootage published on January 26 by RussiaWorks, a Russian company with ties to the Kremlin, shows how severely damaged the city is.

Business Insider cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video. However, the footage tracks with other pro-Kremlin videos RussiaWorks has produced to bolster domestic support for Moscow's foreign incursions, from Crimea to Syria.

"RussiaWorks is part of a slick campaign by the Kremlin to sell the war at home and project Russia as a military power," Boris Zilberman, a Russia expert at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told BI in October.

"The videos are put together by a number of Russian war correspondents/production folks that are tied to the Kremlin and probably have a lot of time on their hands — and some good drones — to make highly edited videos."

Russia launched its air campaign in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime on September 30. This latest footage, released by RussiaWorks on Tuesday, comes three days before peace talks between the government and the opposition are due to begin negotiations in Geneva. 

SEE ALSO: Russia's intervention in Syria 'has changed the slope' of the war's most important battlefield

Aerial views of the city, once home to 80,000 people, show that virtually no buildings have been left intact.

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Here's footage of a tank approaching a fork in the road:

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An aerial view of explosions ripping through the city's buildings:

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These are the worst mistakes we have seen young people make in job interviews

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At Business Insider, we have interviewed hundreds of job applicants.

We are usually impressed with the calibre of candidates. Most people we meet seem smart and accomplished, and applicants "get" our all-digital, fast-paced, anti-boring way of handling business news.

But ... young people are human, too. They make mistakes. And the following mistakes have cost them the jobs their CVs and résumés otherwise said they were good for ...

20. Typos in your cover letter, CV, or résumé.

Your command of written English — spelling, grammar, and punctuation — is a shorthand test of your intelligence. Or at least, of your ability to memorize the rules of the language. Typos make you look unintelligent, even though smart people make mistakes all the time.

Tip: Get someone else to edit your letter and CV before you send them.



19. Having bad breath.

Everyone suffers from dry mouth at the office.

Tip: Chew a piece of gum and then remove it five minutes before the interview.



18. Not telling a good story about your life.

Who are you, what are you good at, and what do you want to do with your life? We want a quick, clear history of your life and career so far. At Business Insider, storytelling is literally what we do, but at any company, communication is key. If you cannot communicate who you are quickly, you're not getting the job.

Tip: Write it down beforehand and rehearse with a friend.



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