So you want to feel healthier. It seems simple enough: Eat a balanced diet, get enough sleep and exercise, and maybe take a few supplements to speed the process along.

Or not.

Recent research finds that not only do these supplements most likely not help you slim down, bulk up, or get more energized — they're also harmful.

A large study from the federal government linked supplements — sold under brand names like Hydroxycut and Xenadrine — with 20,000 ER visits each year. Last year, the US Department of Justice filed criminal and civil-enforcement actions against 117 makers of these products.

So here are the supplements you should take — and the ones you should avoid:

SEE ALSO: Here's what a serving size of each of your favorite foods looks like

DON'T MISS: 11 fitness 'truths' that are doing more harm than good

Protein powder: Skip it and eat beans, tofu, nuts, fish, or meat instead.

Marketed as necessary for weight gain and muscle building, protein is one of the best-selling supplements in the US. On the one hand, protein is good for you — it helps build muscles.

But most Americans get plenty of protein in their diets. In fact, most of us get too much. Meat, fish, beans, tofu, and nuts are rich in protein. Plus, numerous companies have been accused recently of spiking their protein powders with cheap fillers — another reason to avoid the powdered stuff.

Homeopathic remedies: Skip them — they don't work.

Homeopathic treatments are super-diluted doses of medications. Advocates of these treatments claim that they can do everything from relieve colds to calm anxious pets.

But homeopathy hasrepeatedly been shown to be ineffective. A2005 study published in the medical journal The Lancet found that homeopathy — which involves diluting an active ingredient until there's no measurable quantity left — was roughly as effective as a placebo.

Workout boosters like Jack3d or OxyElite Pro: Skip them — they've been linked to illness and at least one death.

For years, the makers of these supplements, whose active ingredient is dimethylamylamine (DMAA) claimed that they increased speed, strength, and endurance.

But in 2011, after two soldiers who had used Jack3d died, the US Department of Defense removed all products containing DMAA from stores on military bases. And a recent indictment against Dallas company USPlabs, which makes OxyElite Pro, accuses the company of falsely claiming that its product was made of natural plant extracts. In reality, it contains synthetic stimulants made in China. The indictment also claims that the use of OxyElite led to several liver injuries and at least one death.

We live in a world that idolizes perfectionism. From a very young age, parents, coaches and teachers push us to be high achievers, but they fail to teach us balance. We live our lives with an ingrained desire to give our all in pursuit of lofty goals, but we don't know when to pull back. We don't know when enough actually is enough.

Most people lean hard into their perfectionism — they extol it as a virtue to the point that it becomes a vice. Doing so is troubling because separate studies from the University of British Columbia and the University of Tehran show that perfectionism is linked to depression, anxiety and a slew of mental health issues.

To defeat perfectionism, you have to learn to spot when it's holding you back. This task is difficult because perfectionistic tendencies like to hide under the guise of hard work and zeal.

Tal Ben-Shahar suggests that you shift your mentality from that of a perfectionist to that of an optimalist. Optimalists strive just as hard for success, but they're more flexible, resilient and adaptive in the pursuit of their goals.

Shifting your approach from perfectionism to optimalism is bound to make you happier and more productive. First, you need to recognize the signs of perfectionism that's holding you back. What follows are the hallmarks of perfectionism that has gotten out of control.

SEE ALSO: How people sabotage their success — and how to get over it

1. You recognize that your perfectionism is a problem, but you think that's what it takes to be successful

Sometimes, you really need to push yourself hard to be successful. When your perfectionism gets out of control, using hard work as the justification for the unnecessary pain and suffering you endure is easy. Make no mistake about it, perfectionism does create unnecessary struggle and strife. When you get your perfectionism under control, you can work less and get more done.

2. You get defensive when receiving feedback

Perfectionists care deeply about what other people think of them, and this can make feedback hard to take. Even well-presented, useful feedback feels like a needle to the eye. You likely catch yourself acting defensively before you even realize that you take issue with the feedback. It's a knee-jerk reaction.

As a perfectionist, you naturally have an intense desire to succeed. Take comfort in the fact that feedback (even brutal feedback) is ultimately helping you improve your work. Take it in stride, and feedback will actually help you get closer to perfection.

3. However, you're critical of others

Considering their inability to receive criticism, perfectionists sure can dish it out. Perfectionists can't help but measure themselves against other people, so taking someone down a notch, especially if that person is a threat, feels good.

Though, this isn't always the reason. Perfectionists are also critical of others because they compare them to the same unobtainable standard to which they compare themselves.

50 Cent recently settled his yearlong bankruptcy case by agreeing to pay $23.4 million to his creditors over the course of five years. 

As a result, the rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, is now looking to reorganize his finances and assets to chip away at this hefty debt, and it appears as if his decadent Connecticut mansion will be one of the first things to go. 

The 50,000-square-foot mansion was originally listed at $18.5 million in 2015, but Jackson dropped the price significantly to $8.5 million in the fall of last year, months after he declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Now the rapper has again lowered the price of his house to $5.995 million, according to an Associated Press report. 

The Farmington, Connecticut, home boasts "21 bedrooms, 25 bathrooms, an indoor pool and hot tub, a substantial night club, an indoor court, multiple game rooms, a green screen room, a recording studio," among many other opulent features, as described in the listing from Douglas Elliman Real Estate. 

Let's take a look inside 50 Cent's incredible mansion.

SEE ALSO: 50 Cent has to pay $23.4 million in a bankruptcy settlement, but he sounds happy about it

THEN READ: Inside Drake's $8 million mansion with a pool that puts Hugh Hefner' Playboy Mansion to shame

The mansion opens into a shining foyer with dueling, wood-paneled staircases.

One of its living rooms features gold curtains, gold-trimmed tables, and Persian carpets.

In a carpeted meeting room, Jackson's record plaques, magazine covers, and posters line a red wall.

Wonder Woman stole the show in "Batman v Superman," and next year she'll be getting her own movie.

Though we don't know too much about the film yet, Warner Bros. debuted a few of the costumes from the upcoming movie preview night at San Diego Comic-Con, the annual comic book and pop culture convention.

Four costumes were on display of the cast from the 2017 movie and Tech Insider was on hand to check them out.

Let's start off with Wonder Woman herself. She'll be played by Gal Gadot ("Fast and the Furious").

It looks like she has a different shield than the one seen in "Batman v Superman."

She also has a pretty cool looking fur.

In order to boldly go where no one has gone before, you've got to be a pretty awesome leader.

Over the years, the "Star Trek" franchise has given us many characters who've acted as inspirational, pioneering leaders.

Throughout the franchise, these captains and commanders have had very different approaches at times. In his book "Primal Leadership," Daniel Goleman (along with coauthors Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee) revealed that people tend to fall into one of six key leadership categories.

Here are these six emotional leadership styles, as exemplified by different "Star Trek" commanders. If you can effectively master one of these styles, you'll be setting yourself up to live long and prosper:

SEE ALSO: Lucille Ball is the reason we have 'Star Trek' — here's what happened

The visionary leader

Captain Jean-Luc Picard always promotes a clear vision of what Starfleet is all about. He motivates his crew members to be the best they can be can empowers them with the knowledge they need to get out there and make it so.

Picard is leading at a time when Federation ideologies and practices have matured. In dealing with threats like the Borg and complex relationships with traditional enemies like the Klingons and Romulans, he provides excellent insight. Visionary leaders are great for times when a new direction is needed.

The coaching leader

Captain Jonathan Archer is definitely a coaching leader. He's got to be, as the captain in command of the first Starfleet starship. Archer helps his crew members recognize their strengths and weaknesses. He also forms close connections with his team, even coming to an understanding with his Vulcan first officer T'Pol, whom he initially had a contentious relationship with.

Like some coaching leaders, his style can come across as micromanagement sometimes — chronologically, Archer is the first captain to start accompanying landing crews on potentially dangerous missions. Still, all in all, his methods help lay the groundwork for Starfleet's long-term capabilities.

The affiliative leader

Captain Kathryn Janeway is a classic affiliative leader. She's all about creating harmony within her organization and healing rifts between different groups.

She demonstrates this by bringing together her crew and the rebel Maquis faction at the start of the series. Janeway even leads her Voyager team to band together with adversaries such as the Borg and Species 8472.

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for "Mr. Robot."

The third episode of season two of "Mr. Robot," entitled "eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd," brought the show to some new, frenetic heights.

The episode dealt with Elliot's fragile psyche following the murder of his old boss Gideon. Meanwhile, Elliot continued to gain control of his life back from "Mr. Robot." And as always, there were some cool things happening if you paid close enough attention.

Here are some things you might have missed from the latest episode of "Mr. Robot":

1. The origins of fsociety.

We got to see how fsociety ended up in that dingy arcade on the Coney Island boardwalk. And the organization's name has simpler origins than you might have expected: it comes from the name of the arcade, which was Fun Society. And apparently, the arcade has a dark, violent history that is "a story for another time."

2. There was more fodder for your prison theories.

A lot of fans think that Elliot is actually in a psych ward or prison. This idea is troubling, but could be accurate. If you're into this theory, there were more subtle hints tonight. Elliot talked on a landline, likely because he's been cut off from his cellphone and computer. But maybe it was the way he kept saying "is it safe?" that might make you think there's actually a prison guard behind him.

3. The color red is prominent.

Everywhere you look, the color red sticks out. There's the phone Elliot talks on, the bloody bandage, the glowing red doorway from the fancy restaurant that Angela is later invited to, as well as the arcade. Knowing this show, it doesn't just seem like a coincidence.

Getting bored of Felix and Fido?

Apparently, some people in the Netherlands are, and they've begun seeking out more exotic pets.

A team of scientists there wanted to know what animals that aren't traditionally pets might make safe, happy, friendly companions.

After all, it's not just being cute and furry that we look for in a pet. We also need to know an animal will be comfortable living with humans and that we can take care of them responsibly — all without posing risks to us or our neighbors.

The researchers started with a list of 90 mammals and gathered facts about how each lives. Then they asked a few different groups of people to read each statement and decide whether it made the animal suitable or unsuitable as a pet, and then evaluate the animal based on the whole collection of statements they'd read. The five animals below were rated overall as suitable pets by the majority of a team of eight animal scientists, although no animal convinced all of the judges.

This is more a fun thought experiment than anything else, and we definitely don't recommend you go looking for some of these critters to adopt. (In many places, doing so would be illegal.) And while these five animals got tentative interest from the scientific team, other groups the researchers had evaluate their characteristics suggested none of the 90 animals on the initial list could responsibly be turned into pets.

All of the photos below are of animals in zoos cared for by trained professionals.

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Sika deer

Sika deer are found mostly in Japan, Russia, and parts of China. They typically come out at dawn and dusk and eat bamboo, grasses, and shrubs. So who knows, you might be able to talk them into doubling as lawnmowers.

Agile wallaby

Agile wallabies are mostly found in Australia and New Guinea. They live in small groups of about 10, which may help them find more time to look for food when there are predators around. They're very common — so common that ranchers in Australia are upset by how much damage they can do to pastures.

Tammar wallaby

Wallabies made a strong showing, with two in the top five. Tammar wallabies, the smallest type of wallaby, make sounds like coughs, clucks, and foot stamps to communicate with each other. They're sometimes hunted by foxes and cats. 

For many, eating incredible dishes is just as important as seeing incredible sites.

And for real foodies, it's about discovering the next foodie hotspot before having to spend hours in line for brunch, or having to bribe someone for an elusive reservation.

Discerning eaters spend hours researching their meals, but Gogobot, a travel-planning app and website, did the legwork for us, and just announced the top 10 Rising Star Foodie Destinations as part of its 2016 Foodie Tribe Awards.

Take a look at these cities whose culinary scene is heating up.

10. Phoenix, Arizona

For decades, Phoenix boasted mostly chain restaurants and sandwich shops, but as its population grows, so does the demand for better culinary offerings. The desert town is attracting more and more ambitious, award-winning chefs to the area, who are putting a new twist on Southwestern cuisine.

9. Detroit, Michigan

As the city aims to revitalize itself, so does its culinary scene. According to the Michigan Restaurant Association, statewide projected restaurant sales for 2016 will grow by 4.8 percent, as new restaurants are opening left and right.

8. Vancouver, Canada

Local produce, sustainability, and seafood are at the center of Vancouver's burgeoning restaurant scene.

Think you have what it takes to become No One?

A rad exhibit at San Diego Comic-Con gives "Game of Thrones" fans the chance to step inside the House of Black and White and donate a face to the Hall of Faces (sort of), where Arya trains in season six.

You can also check out the show's costumes up-close, try on Arya's sword Needle for size, and take a turn in the Iron Throne.

Here are our favorite photos from the exhibit.

The Hall of Faces is an equal parts awesome and horrific venue where the Faceless Men store the skinned faces of the dead.

Here's HBO's replica of the Hall of Faces at San Diego Comic-Con. Not bad!

It's made complete by the large cistern of poisoned water that appears in the middle of the hall.

Abercrombie & Fitch has been fighting to retain its relevance with trendier clothes and tamer ads, but back in its heyday it was a go-to destination for teens with its preppy apparel and racy ads.

It also happened to serve as a launchpad for many celebrities' careers.

College Candy dug up some photos of celebrities posing in Abercrombie & Fitch's signature photos, and we picked 15 of our favorites — including Jennifer Lawrence, Taylor Swift, and Channing Tatum.

Check them out:

SEE ALSO: Abercrombie is poised to become the comeback of the year

Karlie Kloss posed for Abercrombie in 2006. Now she's a household name, and she's known for strutting the Victoria's Secret runway.

In 2003 — a few years before her hit "Teardrops on My Guitar"— Taylor Swift gave the appearance that she actually was crying onto her guitar for Abercrombie.

Jennifer Lawrence might have told Graham Norton that she wasn't cut out for modeling — "They wanted natural pictures, so they made us play football on the beach," she said. "The other models played football in a pretty way, but not me. My face was bright red, and I was sweaty with flaring nostrils."— but she looks like she's having fun in this 2006 photo.

Sources: Business Insider, Daily Mail

Most of us know (and love) M&M's — those tiny, colorful chocolates that "melt in your mouth, not in your hand."

But very few of us are familiar with the process of how they're made.

Lucky for you, Business Insider recently visited the Mars Chocolate North America campus in Hackettstown, New Jersey, where 50% of all M&M's sold in the US are made.

Mars Chocolate — a segment of the $33 billion Mars candy, pet care, and beverage company — is the producer of M&M's, along with 10 other billion-dollar brands including Snickers, Dove, Milky Way, and Twix.

The Mars Chocolate North America campus, which opened in 1958 and employs 1,200 people, is home to a corporate office as well as the M&M's factory.

While touring the campus, we learned that the M&M's brand was founded by Forrest E. Mars, Sr. in 1941, and that it was the first candy in space in 1982.

Leighanne Eide, the Mars Chocolate North America site director, walked us through the factory and explained each step of the process. We were restricted from taking photos of certain top-secret areas — but below you'll get a better idea of how the M&M's-making process works:

SEE ALSO: Take a tour of the Mars Chocolate office, where life-size M&M's greet you at the door with free candy

The smell of sweet chocolate hit us as we approached the factory, which is a few hundred yards from the Mars Chocolate office in Hackettstown, New Jersey.

Upon entering the factory, we were asked to remove all jewelry. Next, Eide examined our fingernails to see if we were wearing nail polish. (They don't want chipped nail polish getting mixed in with the product.) Mine were polished, so I was asked to wear gloves. We were also required to wear a Mars-branded lab coat, like all factory associates.

Next we were given hard hats, safety glasses, ear plugs, and hair nets.

The identity of Banksy, the ever-elusive graffiti artist who has risen to superstar status over the past 20 years, is still unknown to the general public.

But that hasn't stopped him from selling art pieces for millions of dollars, compiling books of his work, and making documentary films about his escapades, all while becoming a household name the world over. 

We put together a list of some of Banksy's most clever and brilliant pieces to refresh your memory. 

(Captions by Christian Storm and Reuters)

Dismaland was one of Banksy's most ambitious works. The twisted 'bemusement' park in southwest England stayed open for five weeks.

150,000 visitors passed through the exhibit, which satirized tourist attractions like Cinderella's Castle and Sea World.

In 2016, Banksy surprised a school in his hometown of Bristol with a mural after they named a building for him.

Thinking back on how far we've come technologically, people often forget that any new tech needs to happen at the right time and place to succeed. 

Virtual reality, for instance, has existed as an idea since 1949, and engineers have been figuring out how to get it into public use for the past three decades. It so happens that the hype for the Oculus Rift exists because it's standing on the shoulders of products that have failed or were just too early or cutting-edge for their time.

Here are more that were too early to make the cut.

Nintendo Virtual Boy

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A lot of ink has been spilled the past year over virtual reality and whether it's time for it to go mainstream. But in 1995, Nintendo dabbled in virtual reality with its Virtual Boy console.

As you can see in the video above, the Virtual Boy works by using a form of "stereoscopic" 3D-vision on a single-color display. In this case, Mario Tennis is in all red, and players peer into a goggled headset to view the game.

The console was widely panned for criticisms virtual reality devices face two decades later — critics said it was causing motion sickness and its lack of color made it hard to fully immerse yourself in the game. 

Apple Newton MessagePad

Before smartphones, there were personal digital assistants. 

The Newton MessagePad was Apple's most well known shot at creating a PDA.

It was able to do basic word processing, store contacts, and send taxes. And like a tablet, it was compatible with a stylus. When it was released in 1993, the Newton MessagePad's portability was marketed as revolutionary. 

At the time it was released, the device measured 8 inches tall, 4.5 inches wide. Not quite pocket-ready. Other features, like handwriting recognition, didn't live up to expectations. 

The Newton basically failed to deliver its marketing promises, and was doomed to live as a footnote under the far more capable iPhone.

"Miniaturisation, digital cell phones, the web and cheap solid-state storage had not yet happened," said ex-Apple CEO John Sculley. "We had the right idea, but we didn't have Steve's unique talent to create a culture-changing product."

Sony Glasstron

Much like the Virtual Boy, Sony had its own entry into the head-mounted display market. The company released the Glasstron in 1997. The Glasstron functioned similarly to the Oculus Rift — the unit wrapped around your head and had two eyepieces. 

The company claims the display mimics a 52-inch display as viewed from 6.5 feet away, but the specs suggest otherwise: you're seeing a 800 x 600 pixel display from an extremely close distance.

Sony discontinued the headset, and essentially replaced it with the PlayStation VR, slated to be released in October 2016.

Arkansas police officer Tommy Norman has a very busy schedule. He makes snows angels. He dives down slip-and-slides. He gets his face painted. And he always saves time for a dance break.

If that doesn't sound like ordinary police work, it's because Tommy Norman isn't an ordinary police officer.

Norman has long been locally famous for his unique, community-building approach to policing. But now, thanks to social media, he's gained worldwide recognition — and 1.2 million Instagram followers to boot. 

Here's why people love Officer Norman so much: 

This is Officer Tommy Norman of the North Little Rock Police Department in Arkansas. He's been on the force since 1998 and he is beloved by members of his community.

What's his secret?

Officer Norman spends time getting to know the people he serves. It's a concept called community policing — and it fosters mutual respect between police and civilians.

Today is National Junk Food Day — a day meant to celebrate the greasy, sweet, and satisfying treats that we can't ever seem to resist. 

In honor of this auspicious event, let's take a look at 14 very successful individuals who got their start making the highly caloric meals that we all love: 

SEE ALSO: 12 famous people who started their careers as interns

DON'T MISS: 26 weird jobs famous people had before making it big

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO

As Business Insider previously reported, Bezos used to work at McDonald's.

In Cody Teets's "Golden Opportunity: Remarkable Careers That Began at McDonald's," Bezos revealed that he worked the grill and that the job taught him responsibility.

"My first week on the job, a five-gallon, wall-mounted ketchup dispenser got stuck open in the kitchen and dumped a prodigious quantity of ketchup into every hard-to-reach kitchen crevice. Since I was the new guy, they handed me the cleaning solution and said, 'Get going!'"

Rachel McAdams, actress

When she was just starting out, McAdams also worked at McDonald's.

By her own words, the now-actress wasn't a very good employee at the fast food giant, as Business Insider previously reported.

According to US Magazine, the "Spotlight" star once broke an orange juice machine.

Barack Obama, President of the United States

You heard that right. The current president of the United States worked at Baskin-Robbins in high school, as Business Insider previously reported.

He wrote about the experience on LinkedIn: "Scooping ice cream is tougher than it looks. Rows and rows of rock-hard ice cream can be brutal on the wrists."

Europe is full of incredible yet underrated waterfalls — if you know where to find them.

We've put together a ranking of some of the most beautiful, often overlooked waterfalls on the continent, based on how impressive and well-known they are.

From quaint waterfalls nestled in the woods to grand streams that spill over Alpine mountains, here are 17 lesser-known waterfalls on the continent that are worth visiting:

17. Venture into Northern Ireland's Tollymore Forest Park to find this small but glorious waterfall tucked amid the trees. The park is so picturesque it was used as a filming location for "Game of Thrones."

16. Take a tram fuelled by solar power to reach Lichtenhain Waterfall in Saxony, Germany, a natural waterfall that's been boosted with a small dam to increase its stream power. In two-hour increments, the dam gate is opened to release torrents of water. There's even music to mark the occasion.

Source: Atlas Obscura

15. Most people visit the village of Bagni San Filippo in Tuscany to see the natural hot springs there, but the pretty waterfalls tumbling into thermal pools are often forgotten.

It's no secret that real estate isn't cheap anywhere these days, but these palatial homes give expensive a whole new definition. 

With listing prices well over what most people make in a lifetime, the most expensive homes currently on the US market feature perks like full spas, enormous movie theaters, custom marble staircases, design details fit for royalty, and enough bedrooms and bathrooms to get lost in. 

With the help of real estate listing site Point2Homes, we've put together a list that exposes some of the most exquisite mega-mansions, penthouses, condos and compounds around the country. 

With all that these residences offer, there's no need to ever leave the house. And when you've paid this much, why would you want to?

SEE ALSO: This relatively unknown town in Florida has become a playground for the richest of the rich

DON'T MISS: Follow Business Insider's lifestyle page on facebook!

31. (TIE) This 130-acre ranch on Lake Tahoe in Nevada has just about every imaginable amenity, including an indoor pool and steam spa, access to some of the world's best skiing, seven guest homes and cabins, horse stables and paddocks, and a 5,000-square-foot entertainment barn.

Price: $69 million

It's also the site of the historic Glenbrook Rodeo, which draws celebrity guests and spectators to the property every year.

31. (TIE) La Casa Pacifica in Southern California has a storied past. Often referred to as the "Western White House," the Spanish Colonial Revival compound was once home to President Richard Nixon.

Price:$69 million

It boasts almost 500 feet of waterfront and breathtaking views in the region that is famous for being the "most idyllic climate in the world."

Click here to tour the home »

29. (TIE) This incredible 14-room Manhattan duplex offers 360-degree views of Central Park and the city skyline from its perch atop the prestigious Pierre Hotel on 5th Avenue.

Price:$70 million

Custom details are featured throughout, including two enormous, wood-paneled dressing rooms attached to luxurious master suites

Bats can be found around the world, from Texas to Thailand. They make up a quarter of the world's known mammals. There are approximately 1,100 species of bats.

Bats around the world are threatened by increasing habitat loss and in North America, they are threatened by white nose syndrome. This is a fungal disease that deteriorates bats' wing membranes and damages their muzzles, ears, and skin. White nose syndrome also awakens bats out of torpor (their form of winter hibernation) before they are ready. White nose syndrome now affects bats in at least 29 states and 5 Canadian provinces. 

While a lot of people see bats as "scary" or "creepy," they play a vital role in their ecosystems. Bats help pollinate plants when they travel, they disperse seeds throughout forests, and their droppings even act as a fertilizer. Some even eat bugs and mosquitoes. 

Below is a list of 5 of the most unique bat species. (Warning: you might actually like bats after reading this.)

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Ghost bats

The ghost bat is also known as the false vampire bat. It is about 4.3 inches long and weighs anywhere from 74 to 144 grams, which actually makes it ones of the biggest bats in the world. It has large eyes, a leaf-shaped nose and very large ears that are joined together above its head. Its fur is very light brown or gray, and some appear to be almost white. It does not have a tail. 

The ghost bat eats insects, reptiles, frogs, birds, small mammals, and even occasionally other bat species. The ghost bat lives in small colonies in arid and rainforest regions around the world.

There are less than 10,000 total individuals left in the world. Its population has decreased over the last 100 years due to mining, which disturbs roost sites in caves. The ghost bat also only produces one offspring every year, making any recovery efforts for their species slow. 

Bumblebee bats

Only about 1.1 inches long, the bumblebee bat is the smallest mammal in the world. It weighs only 2 grams. In fact, it is so small that it is actually about the same size as a bumblebee, explaining its name.

The Bumblebee bat is reddish-brown to gray in color, with a pig-like nose, large ears, and tiny eyes. It has relatively long forearms (1 inch) that helps it achieve a special trick: hover mid-air like hummingbirds. It eats flies and spiders.

The bumblebee bat lives in groups of varying size (rom 10 up to 500) inside limestone caves within evergreen or deciduous forests in Thailand and Myanmar. The species was first discovered in 1974, but today the bumblebee bat is endangered and its population is declining.  It has become an attraction for collectors and tourists who want to catch a glimpse of this tiny creature.  The burning of forests near the caves where it lives is also threatening its survival.  

Hammer-headed bats

Hammer-headed bats are the largest bats in Africa.  They live in the swamps, mangroves, and palm forests of central Africa. 

They show strong sexual dimorphism, meaning males and females are very different looking from one another. Both males and females have large, square-shaped heads, brown fur with a white collar, and a large, flexible thumb. But males are bigger and have large lips, warty snouts, and a split chin with cheek pouches. 

These bats eat the juice of mangoes, bananas, and guavas. They mate in an arena type setting — 25 to 130 bats will gather along tree branches by the river at night to mate. 

The good news is that hammer-headed bats are under no special conservation status and their numbers are currently sustainable. 

The Oxford English dictionary counts 171,476 words in current use, but there are so many more — by one count, 47,156 — that have been lost to history.

Not all of them deserve to get resurrected, but some for sure.

Here are some words that could help us describe our lives better than what's currently available.

Drake Baer contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Overmorrow: on the day after tomorrow.

Example: "I'll have that report to you overmorrow." 

Why: Overmorrow was in Middle English but fell out of the language. So instead of having this word, we have the wordy "day after tomorrow." German still has this very useful word: übermorgen.

Bedward: heading toward bed.

Example: "I'm bedward, putting this group text on mute." 

Why: Because it treats your bed as a cardinal direction. As it should be.

Elflock: hair that has been tangled as if by elves.

Example: "I think I bruised my scalp trying to get those elflocks out." 

Why: Because hair tangles are frustrating, but elflocks are adorable. And speaking of them helps to re-enchant our world.

The release of "Pokémon Go" has children and ostensible adults everywhere spouting gibberish words like Pikachu, Aerodactyl, and Jigglypuff like we’re all back in 1998. Sure, that’s partially thanks to the app’s newfangled AR software, but it’s also thanks to the incredible staying power of the Pokémon franchise, a potent blend of role-playing games, bug collecting, the techno-futurism of so much mid-’90s anime, and creatures with eyes so big they force you to coo in delight.

To better understand the franchise, Vulture looked back at the first season of the surprisingly still-running "Pokémon" anime, which premiered in Japan in 1997 and in the U.S. on the WB in 1998. (It’s now on Netflix.) What exactly convinced millions of children that leaving their families to train pocket monsters could be a good idea?

These episodes are, of course, written for elementary-school kids, so while we’ve noted some of the most significant episodes, we don’t necessarily recommend that you binge them all. Think of this as a guide for when you are with friends who have Go-induced curiosity (be warned: a drinking game built around every utterance of “Pikachu” is not safe), want to show your kids something from your own childhood, or — we won’t judge — crave a brief jaunt into the comforts of nostalgia.

SEE ALSO: I caught some rare Pokemon in the middle of Manhattan, and it's clear why people are obsessed with Pokemon Go

DON'T MISS: The best place to play Pokemon Go is pretty creepy

1. “Pokémon – I Choose You!” (episode 1)

The "Pokémon" anime roughly approximates the Game Boy games "Pokémon Red" and "Blue," so, as in those games, we begin in Pallet Tow, where our hero, the 10-year-old Ash Ketchum, starts his quest to be a Pokémon master. No one really defines what it means to be "Pokémon master," but it involves a mix of:

a) Catching and identifying all of the Pokémon in the world
b) Training your own Pokémon and winning battles
c) Wanting to be the very best, like no one ever was

Thus, Ash acquires his first Pokémon, the iconic electric mouse Pikachu, who refuses to travel inside a Pokéball or ever do anything Ash says. Together they head into the world, face off with spoiled rival Gary Oak, and glimpse a rare legendary Pokémon in the distance — though it might all be a dream.

2. “Showdown in Pewter City” (episode 5)

Ash takes part in his first major battle, with Brock, the rock Pokémon trainer who controls the Pewter city gym. Brock, it turns out, is about the same age as Ash, and he really wants to go on his own adventures, so after they face off (Ash’s Pikachu defeats Brock’s giant rock snake with supercharged electricity, which is technically impossible in the game, but whatever), they decide to go on a quest together.

The larger point is that Brock, who spends most of his time cooking and dopily hitting on police officers, is a dreamboat; 75 percent of the kids who watched "Pokémon" in the '90s had crushes on him, and the other 25 percent were in denial.

3. “The Water Flowers of Cerulean City” (episode 7)

Since we included an episode about Brock, we also have to include this crucial episode about Misty, Ash’s stubborn redheaded companion–slash–love interest, who’s been hanging around for six episodes yelling at him for breaking her bike. Ash wanders into a town with a gym run by Misty and her sisters, though she doesn’t want anyone to know about her involvement in the gym, because her sisters are mean to her. Also getting a good showcase in this episode: Team Rocket, a trio consisting of Jessie, James (dubbed by Eric Stuart, a fey fixture in anime fans' childhoods, as he also voiced a character in "Yu-Gi-Oh!"), and their talking cat, Meowth. They provide the series’ comic relief by employing a set of Wile E. Coyote–brand schemes to capture Pikachu. In this episode, that's a tank/boat equipped with a giant vacuum, which is honestly pretty cool.