• Tesla said on Sunday that its Model 3 sedan gives occupants the lowest probability of receiving a serious injury in a crash than any other vehicle tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
• In a post on its website, the automaker said Model 3 occupants have less than a 6% chance of suffering a serious injury during a collision.
• The automaker also said its Model S sedan and Model X SUV have the second and third-lowest injury probability ratings of any vehicle tested by the NHTSA, respectively.

Tesla said on Sunday that its Model 3 sedan gives occupants the lowest probability of receiving a serious injury in a crash than any other vehicle tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

In a post on its website, the automaker said Model 3 occupants have less than a 6% chance of suffering a serious injury during a collision. The automaker also said its Model S sedan and Model X SUV have the second and third-lowest injury probability ratings of any vehicle tested by the NHTSA, respectively.

The NHTSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In September, the government agency gave the Model 3 a five-star overall safety rating, the highest score the agency can give. The Model 3 received a five-star rating in the frontal crash, side crash, and rollover categories, and some of its driver assistance features — like forward collision warning, lane departure warning, crash imminent braking, and dynamic brake support — met the agency's performance tests.

The Model S and Model X also received five-star safety ratings from the NHTSA.

Tesla attributed the Model 3's high safety rating in part to the vehicle's even weight distribution and the fact that its heaviest parts are placed close to its center of gravity, which the company said increases stability. The company also said its passenger compartment and battery pack were designed to limit intrusions and direct the forces produced by a crash away from the cabin.

Some of the Model 3's safety features have also been evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which gave the vehicle a "superior" rating in the "front crash prevention" category ("superior" is the highest rating in that category) and an "acceptable" rating for its headlights ("acceptable" is the second-highest rating in that category), and found its automatic braking system to be overly cautious. The organization has not yet rated the safety of the vehicle's other features, like its sides, roof, and seats.

Have a Tesla news tip? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.

SEE ALSO: I drove a $57,500 Tesla Model 3 for a week to see if it's practical for everyday driving — here's the verdict

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This trike is made to look like a semitruck

Looking to torch a ton of calories but don't want to get injured? Low-impact workouts might just be exactly what you need.

"Low-impact training is a training or exercise method that minimizes risk for external pounding, shearing, or jarring forces upon the body's joints,"Taylor Hynes, a certified strength and conditioning coach and director of Player Performance and Wellness for the FC UNITED and Team ONE lacrosse clubs, told INSIDER. The good news? Hynes said low-impact does not mean low-intensity.

Hynes added that everyone can benefit from low-impact exercise, but that it's also important for people to incorporate high-impact workouts into their routine in order to maintain overall fitness.

Read more: Shorter, high-intensity workouts offer the same benefits as longer, moderate ones — here's how to get started and how it could transform your body

"The primary drawback to low-impact training is that it is incomplete in the whole human athletic range of abilities," she said. "Only training one way reduces the body's intelligence in other areas. Your healthiest body can respond to all demands and recover to 100% without issue."

But Hynes said that it's a myth that high-impact workouts burn more calories than low-impact ones. "As long as the intensity of your work to rest ratio is appropriate, and the intensity of your session is high enough, then you can burn an equal amount of calories," she said. "Calories burn when your body's internal temperature reaches a certain temperature through muscular stress. Heat is not a byproduct of impact."

So what are the best low-impact exercises to burn through calories? Hynes took us through six effective workouts that won't put sudden force on your body but will still improve your fitness.

Swimming, if done right, can burn a lot of calories.

"Water is eight times denser than air, but it also possesses less gravitational pull, so the bodies are far less subject to shearing forces," Hynes said. "In fact, when strokes are technically proficient, swimming is a smart resistance training tool for muscles in addition to it serving as a low-impact, high-intensity training tool."

The only catch is that you have to get your heart rate up for it to be a high calories burner, Hynes said. Hynes suggested using a kickboard or trying water jogging. "Try this: two sets of 10 laps at 30 to 45 seconds each," Hynes said. "Get to the other side as quickly as technique allows. The remainder of the interval is your rest time."

Kettlebell routines will work your entire body.

Hynes told INSIDER that the kettlebell can accompany almost any bodyweight exercise since it's a simple, handheld, and versatile weighted tool.

"Fuse four to six different exercise together at 30 seconds each," she said. "Rest 30 seconds at the end of the round, and then repeat four to six times to total 20 to 30 minutes worth of work."

If you're looking for some suggestions, Hynes recommended swings, goblet squats, push presses, reverse lunges, and pullovers. "That routine gets lower, upper, core, and taxes all systems of the body just enough to stress without deteriorating any structures," Hynes said.

Cycling is a powerful non-impact exercise.

Whether you're a fan of spin classes or prefer to take your bike outside, cycling can be a great form of exercise with little risk of injury. 

"Whatever your method, cycling is a great option for non-impact training," Hynes said. "The terrain of your ride will determine the intensity of your session.

"Typically, since cycling requires one main, bipedal movement, these sessions need to be 45 to 90 minutes for a massive calorie burn."

• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spent more than $200 million on a teacher effectiveness initiative, and an independent assessment found that the program failed to help students.
• Now the Gates Foundation is trying a new approach: supporting local organizations that work directly with teachers and principals.
• Professors who specialize in education told Business Insider that the new initiative's focus on local groups is a step in the right direction.
• However, experts noted the Gates Foundation is funding some of the same groups as before, and one professor said many of the new projects are vague and broad in scope.

In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched an ambitious project to improve teacher effectiveness among certain primary and secondary schools in California, Florida, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. 

The goal was to reform teacher evaluations. More effective teachers, the foundation predicted, would improve student achievement, raise graduation rates, and help low-income and minority students get into college.

About $1 billion went into the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative, with the Gates Foundation itself pouring over $200 million into a group of school districts and charter school networks in the four states.

The initiative, designed to last seven years, ended in 2016. This year, the Rand Corporation released a report concluding the program had failed to dramatically improve student achievement or graduation rates. Bill Gates himself noted the initiative's poor results in a speech last fall, saying his foundation will no longer invest in teacher evaluation.

Speaking at a Harvard event in April, Gates said his foundation has failed to elevate the US education system to the top despite hundreds of millions of dollars in donations.

“We have no noticeable impact after almost 20 years of working in that space,” Gates said. “But we’re committed.”

Now the Gates Foundation is trying a new approach: It has given out $92 million in grants through a new initiative, called Networks for School Improvement (NSI), to 19 organizations that work with middle and high school students across at least 12 states. The Gates Foundation plans on spending more than $450 million on NSI over a five-year period.

Unlike the previous initiative — which implemented classroom observations and student surveys of learning conditions and teacher professionalism — NSI will not introduce sweeping reforms among participating schools. Instead, the foundation is encouraging grantees to determine how to solve problems that are specific to a particular group of schools or students.

Some of the grantees' goals include increasing the number of black, Latino, and low-income students who successfully complete eighth-grade math; increasing the number of students who are on track by the end of their freshman year to graduate from high school on time; and making sure high-achieving students do not enroll in colleges that are less rigorous than what they are qualified for.

Several professors who specialize in education and public policy said the Gates Foundation's new initiative is a step in the right direction, but they are concerned about NSI's potential to fall flat like its predecessor. 

Why the first initiative was unsuccessful

The Gates Foundation's teacher effectiveness initiative tried improving students' performances by overhauling how teachers are evaluated.

In Memphis, Tennessee, reforms like classroom observations and student surveys appeared to improve student achievement in Shelby County Schools, then known as Memphis City Schools. The district offered few evaluations before the Gates Foundation stepped in.

But the changes also produced some challenges; a few years in, a number of teachers felt demoralized and stripped of their job security, while principals realized they had not been adequately equipped to change schools' teaching culture, according to Chalkbeat. By March 2016, elementary school students in the district were scoring in the 30th percentile on math and reading assessments, far from a 60% proficiency goal. Middle school students were behind as well, scoring in the 40th percentile.

The Rand Corporation acknowledged in its report that schools succeeded in implementing new ways to evaluate teachers, mainly through direct classrooms observations and patterns in student achievement.

But Madhabi Chatterji, a professor of measurement, evaluation, and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, told Business Insider that assessing teacher effectiveness based in part on student outcomes was too simplistic.

"They undertook something that is so broad and difficult to define in terms of a problem that to find black-and-white results that can be documented on a large scale would be very difficult," Chatterji said.

Student achievement is measured through standardized tests, but Chatterji said teachers only account for a relatively small percentage of how students perform. Most of the variance in test scores can be attributed to students' prior performance in a given subject area and their background, such as socioeconomic status, she said.

Chatterji added that while the Rand report painted the Gates Foundation's initiative as a failure, an analysis of such a large program after a short period of time may not even detect positive outcomes.

Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the Gates Foundation's CEO, told Business Insider that the teacher evaluation initiative provided the foundation with valuable information for future projects, adding she is excited about supporting teachers and principals on a local level. 

"Sometimes, the best thing the Gates Foundation can do is enable others to share best practices and learn from each other," she said.

Critiques of the Gates Foundation's management

Katrina Bulkley, a professor of educational leadership at Montclair State University, told Business Insider that private foundations' engagement with education policy is both helpful and challenging. Some foundations don't place much weight on understanding the needs of the communities they try to help, she said, but they still provide important resources that schools may not otherwise receive.

The Gates Foundation has been criticized for its management approach, likened to treating grantees like contractors instead of partners, according to research conducted for Megan Tompkins-Stange's book on the Gates Foundation and other large philanthropies. Tompkins-Stange, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, has said this strategy is ineffective in the long-term.

Tompkins-Stange, who could not be reached for comment, told Non-Profit Quarterly that the Gates Foundation "has perhaps listened to some of the criticism" while creating NSI.

But Sarah Reckhow, a professor of political science at Michigan State University, said NSI is not a total shift for the foundation. 

"They are funding some of the same old grantees they have funded in the past, so I wouldn’t overemphasize it as breaking strategy," Reckhow said.

The New York City-based New Visions for Public Schools, for example, recently received a five-year, $14 million grant. Since 2000, the organization has received more than $75.6 million in other grants from the Gates Foundation. 

New Visions for Public Schools, which has worked to improve on-time graduation rates among high school students, will use the new money to increase post-secondary readiness among black, Latino, and low-income high school students in New York City. (Robert Hughes, the Gates Foundation's US director of K-12 education, previously led New Visions for Public Schools.)

Reckhow said NSI reminds her of the Annenberg Foundation's Challenge grants, which allocated a total of $500 million in the 1990s to 18 public education programs that supported networks of schools.

"I feel like we keep coming back to this type of strategy in education reform of some type of intermediary that is not a district and not a traditional public sector entity that is holding the network of schools together, and yet it’s not a school all on its own," Reckhow said. "I don’t want to be overly dismissive. The basic idea of continuous improvement has backing in research, that's fine and well. ... [But] you can’t have continuous improvement if you only wait four years." 

The NSI initiative has potential, professors say

Chatterji, the Columbia University professor, sees potential in some of the NSI grantees. She said a few projects seem to have well defined, targeted goals that could produce measurable outcomes in a few years. On the other hand, Chatterji said she worries many of the grantees won't produce observable effects because they seem vague, are broad in scope, and aim to produce a major change in a short amount of time.

As a whole, using funding to support local programs is consistent with research on school improvement, Bulkley said. The NSI initiative is trying to empower local organizations in a way that the Gates Foundation has sometimes failed to do, she said. 

Reckhow noted that the Gates Foundation is a lot more transparent than peer organizations. Its grants can be searched, and the foundation hires researchers to release public reports on its progress. She added that the foundation's Request for Proposal is also unusual because many foundations just donate money to groups they support.

She said the foundation seems to be reorienting its approach to shaping education policy, though she has not seen a "big flashiness" around the new initiative so far.

"I guess we will see how that plays out with this new strategy, but in the past what tended to happen — whether it was small schools or the teacher quality thing — is this sort of magnetism of what Gates is doing that seems to attract other funders," Reckhow said. "Because they have this enormous agenda-setting power, because Bill Gates and Melinda Gates are public figures, if they give a speech or if they want to talk to the media, everybody listens."

Hilary Brueck contributed reporting.

SEE ALSO: A $1 billion Gates Foundation-backed education initiative failed to help students, according to a new report — here's what happened

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: One bite from this tick could ruin red meat for the rest of your life

• Apple's stock price is at an attractive entry point for investors as the demand for new iPhones is leading to stronger revenue.
• RBC says revenues from the launch of potential iTV and other product lines, rising Apple Watch and AirPods attach rates, expansion of services business and continued buybacks will benefit the tech giant.
• Watch Apple trade here in real time.

Apple's stock price is at an attractive entry point for investors because the demand for the new generation of iPhones will lead to a stronger bottom line, according to RBC Capital Markets.

Intentions to purchase an iPhone increased to 26% — versus 20% last year — based on a survey of more than 5,000 individuals, according to a recent note from RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said they planned to purchase higher-cost, higher-tier memory models, according to the survey.

The firm says the tech giant could also benefit from the launch of potential iTV and other product lines, rising Apple Watch and AirPods attach rates, expansion of services business, and continued buybacks. "We believe the fundamental reality remains that AAPL’s valuation is materially sub-par to what we anticipate is its long-term revenue and EPS potential," Daryanani said.

In May, Apple announced that it would buy back $100 billion of stock. The company did not provide a timeline for the repurchases. But in the June quarter alone, Apple repurchased 112.8 million shares of its common stock at a cost of $20 billion, according to company's 10-Q filing.

Apple, classically a hardware and devices company, is in the midst of what Wall Street calls a shift to services.  Analysts are now expecting the services business to increase from 8% of the total in FY12 to an estimated 20% of the total in FY21E. The services business includes App Store, Apple Music and Apple Pay. 

As a result, Daryanani expects Apple to post fourth-quarter results slightly above Street expectations. "Overall, we see Sep-qtr revenues up mid/high teens vs. Sep-2017," he said. "While FX could be a slight headwind, AAPL's hedging program should largely offset that."

RBC reiterated its "outperform" rating and $250 price target — a 10% upside to where shares settled on Friday after hedge fund billionaire David Einhorn said he sold the stock amid concerns of an escalating trade war between the US and China.

Apple shares were up 30% this year. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: One bite from this tick could ruin red meat for the rest of your life

Not many products are inspired by the anatomy of a lizard, but that's exactly the thinking behind the Z-Man Climbing System, designed by Draper, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based engineering firm. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) asked Draper to develop a product that could help soldiers in wartime scale different surfaces — and after 10 years of research, design, and data analysis, Z-Man was born. A decade's worth of calculations means a ton of data, which is why Draper works with Dell Technologies. The company offers storage solutions that keep Draper's projects running smoothly.

Watch the video above to learn more.

This post is sponsored by Dell Technologies and Intel^®.

Let Dell Technologies Digital Transformation solutions powered by Intel^® help you transform your business.

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. Click here to learn more.

A revolution in payments and banking is beginning as virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa gain the abilities of cashiers, personal shoppers, and bank tellers.

Already, Siri can help users make peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers with Venmo, Alexa can pay off Capital One credit card bills, and Google Assistant can let users shop with their voice from nearby stores. 

This is just the beginning. Today, 18 million US consumers have made a voice payment, and Business Insider Intelligence projects that figure will quadruple over the next five years. 

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence explores how and why financial services providers such as PayPal and Bank of America are positioning for voice interfaces to take off. The report includes actionable recommendations that draw on interviews with executives spearheading voice initiatives, as well as exclusive survey data from our proprietary research panel. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Voice payments are catching on — 8% of US respondents to a 2017 Business Insider Intelligence survey said they used voice commands to buy something, send money to a friend, or pay a bill.
• Adoption is set to grow from 8% to 31% of US adults by 2022. Three factors will fuel this growth: an explosion of voice-enabled devices, generational gains in AI, and a strong consumer value proposition for voice payments.
• Payments providers are moving in: Amazon, Apple, Google, and PayPal are part of the growing list of companies making these next-generation payments possible.
• Banks are betting on AI, too. Bank of America, Capital One, USAA, and more are rolling out conversational interfaces to their customers.
• Next-generation voice assistants will blow the current generation away. Voice payments will evolve from clunky and poorly scripted sessions to interactions as natural as one might have with a personal shopper or bank employee.
• Getting to the next generation will not be easy, but the payoff will be large. Grounded in realistic expectations of adoption in the years ahead, providers of voice payments and banking experiences stand to accumulate early advantages by moving in early.

 In full, the report:

• Shares current and projected adoption of voice payments.
• Outlines voice payments and banking integrations on the market.
• Examines growth drivers and barriers to consumers' voice payments adoption.
• Provides strategies for successfully deploying voice interfaces.

Join the conversation about this story »

• According to Sports Illustrated's Robert Klemko, a group of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' friends from his hometown of Tyler, Texas reminisces in a group chat while watching their high school teammate light up the NFL week after week.
• When they saw Mahomes used his non-dominant hand to connect with Tyreek Hill on third-and-7 against the Denver Broncos, the group chat exploded with callbacks to a little league baseball game from nine years ago.
• At 14 years old, the future first-round NFL draft pick called his home run to right field before he left the dugout. He also did it left-handed.

Patrick "Showtime" Mahomes has been absolutely electric for the Kansas City Chiefs this season. Fans have watched with amazement as the second-year quarterback narrowly avoids sacks and makes odds-defying completions time and time again, but even Mahomes' Chiefs teammates were absolutely awestruck by his left-handed toss for a crucial first down against the Denver Broncos Monday night.

"It showed how cold-blooded he is. He has ice in his veins,” Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston told Sports Illustrated's Robert Klemko after the game. “To be that confident in your left hand, on the run, fourth quarter? You’re a cold-blooded guy to do some s--- like that.”

His childhood friends, on the other hand, weren't too surprised.

According to Klemko, a group of Mahomes' pals from his hometown of Tyler, Texas reminisces in a group chat while watching their high school teammate light up the NFL week after week. On that night when Mahomes used his non-dominant hand to connect with Tyreek Hill on third-and-7, the group chat exploded with callbacks to a little league baseball game from when they were 14 years old.

Mahomes' and his friends' all-star team was blowing out a cross-town rival and the future first-round NFL draft pick was due up to bat. Before leaving the dugout, Mahomes made an announcement to his teammates.

"We had a big lead like usual and he got up and said, 'I’m going to go up there left-handed and hit a home run,'" childhood friend Jake Parker told Klemko.

Mahomes sauntered up to the plate and dug his left foot into the dirt. On the second pitch, he smacked the ball over the right-field fence and trotted the bases. His teammates were shocked.

"He would mess around in the cage now and then but nobody expected him to hit a home run in a game," Parker said.

Nine years later, Mahomes' friends knew better than to question his abilities — no matter which hand he's using.

Check out his sensational left-handed throw here:

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it takes to be an NFL referee

• Patrick Winget, the head of design and production for LuLaRoe, abruptly left the $2 billion women's clothing company in mid-September. 
• Winget's departure comes as many LuLaRoe consultants — the tens of thousands of women who sell its clothing — flee the business in droves, according to interviews with nine former consultants. 
• Sellers who exited the business last year said they are still waiting on refund checks worth as much as $8,000 from the company.
• "I’m terrified [LuLaRoe] will go bankrupt before I get my refund," said an ex-consultant who claims she has been waiting since December for a check totaling more than $4,000.
• LuLaRoe did not respond to requests for comment on the refund claims.

One of LuLaRoe's most senior founding executives, Patrick Winget, has suddenly left the women's clothing brand.

Winget served as the head of design and production for the multilevel-marketing company since its inception in 2013. He is widely regarded as a sort of celebrity among the tens of thousands of people — mostly women — who sell LuLaRoe clothing online and at private parties across the US.

In hundreds of social media posts over the years, LuLaRoe sellers have gushed about meeting Winget in person at LuLaRoe events. They have asked him to sign their clothing and have praised him as the "brilliant" mind, "man genius," and "hero" behind the brand.

There's a LuLaRoe garment named after him — the "Patrick" t-shirt — and late last year, the company sold thousands of t-shirts and leggings with an image of his bearded face printed across them. 

Winget abruptly announced his departure on Instagram in September, writing, "Hello Everyone, Just wanted to let you all know that as of today I am no longer with LuLaRoe. I wish you all nothing but continued success. See you soon." The post has since been deleted. 

LuLaRoe later sent an email confirming Winget's exit to its sellers.

The email said Winget "decided to step down from his role, and pursue other opportunities" and that he would be "spending some important and precious time attending to some personal family matters."

LuLaRoe declined to provide further details on Winget's departure in response to a request by Business Insider.

Women fleeing LuLaRoe say the company owes them thousands of dollars in refunds

Winget's departure comes as the company, which generated more than $2.3 billion in sales last year, faces several lawsuits attacking its business practices.

A 2017 Business Insider report revealed quality complaints about its clothing, including claims that its pants "rip like wet toilet paper." Following the report, LuLaRoe launched a refund program for customers.

In the months that followed, thousands of consultants began fleeing the business by sending their unsold inventory back to LuLaRoe for a refund.

But the company has failed to refund many of those sellers, some of whom claim they have been waiting nearly a year for LuLaRoe to repay them, according to interviews with nine former consultants. LuLaRoe did not respond to requests for comment on the refund claims.

Ex-consultant Nicolette Fontenot told Business Insider that LuLaRoe owes her a refund check totaling $7,999.89. She sent the company her unsold inventory in December.

"I'm pretty confident I'll never see a dime," said another former consultant, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Ashly. She said she has been waiting since February for a refund totaling more than $4,000.

Some former consultants said they are afraid the company is headed for bankruptcy. 

"I’m terrified they will go bankrupt before I get my refund," said an ex-consultant who has been waiting since December for a check totaling more than $4,000. She asked to remain anonymous for fear that LuLaRoe would retaliate against her for speaking to the media.

SEE ALSO: Leaked email reveals Amazon is changing how delivery drivers are paid following reports of missing wages

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 outdoor adventures that are worth the hike

• Hurricane Michael is heading towards Florida's Gulf coast, where it's expected to make landfall on Wednesday. 
• Experts say the hurricane today will likely strengthen to at least Category 3 by Tuesday night, making it a major hurricane.
• Michael will bring heavy rains, storm surge, and dangerous winds to parts of Cuba and Florida. Some of those effects are already being felt.
• The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio and a hurricane watch for parts of the Florida coast.

Florida is bracing for yet another hurricane.

On Sunday, Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in 26 counties ahead of Hurricane Michael's arrival. The storm is expected to strengthen to at least a Category 3 hurricane as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico today and tomorrow, and make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

As of Monday morning at 11 a.m. ET, the hurricane was churning about 50 miles south the western tip of Cuba. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane warning for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, while a hurricane watch is in effect along the Florida coast, from the Alabama border to the Suwannee River. 

The storm is already bringing rain to the Florida Keys, and is expected to reach the state's Panhandle or Big Bend areas on Wednesday, the NHC said. Its maximum sustained wind speeds are around 75 mph, but that's likely to increase over the next two days. 

Gov. Scott implored those living in northeast Florida to keep track of the storm and evacuate if necessary. Residents in that region have been told to stock up on enough water, food, and medicine to last three days. 

Michael is expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds, and life-threatening storm surge. The coastal area from Indian Pass to Crystal River — an hour and a half north of Tampa — is expected to see the highest storm surge, with 8 to 12 feet predicted. 

In the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend areas, residents could see 4 to 8 inches of rain, with a few areas getting up to 12 inches. That could lead to life-threatening flash floods, the NHC warned.

In Cuba, hurricane conditions are expected spread across the western part of Pinar del Rio starting this afternoon.

After making landfall, the hurricane is predicted to push inland, bringing heavy wind and rain to the southeastern US late in the week. 

SEE ALSO: At least 9 people have died in Hurricane Florence, and nearly 1 million are without power. The storm set a new rainfall record in North Carolina.

DON'T MISS: 'It was a really brutal, grueling experience': A reporter describes what it was like on the ground at the height of Hurricane Florence's fury

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why water disappears from shorelines during a hurricane

• Sophie Turner said she kept a corset from "Game of Thrones." 
• She also revealed that Maisie Williams and Kit Harington kept swords from the HBO series. 

Sophie Turner didn't leave the "Game of Thrones" set empty handed.

During a Saturday panel at New York Comic Con, the 22-year-old actress revealed that she kept a corset she wore on set as Sansa Stark. 

She also said that both Kit Harington and Maisie Williams took swords from set. 

Williams, who plays Arya Stark, previously told BBC Radio One that she kept her brown leather jacket from recent seasons. 

"I can imagine it being something that I'm like, 'Oh, I was on this show once upon a time and this was the jacket I wore,'"she said. "And my grandkids being like, 'Please stop.'"

She didn't mention her sword, Needle, at all during that interview but it would make sense if that's the sword she took.

As for Kit Harington, he once told "Entertainment Tonight" that the one prop he wanted to take home was his sword, Longclaw. 

"There's only one that I've ever wanted: I want my sword," Harington said. "The first season they were like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah of course,' and as the seasons went on and the show became more and more popular and that sword's value went up, they became slowly quieter about it."

He also told Men's Journal that he kept some of Jon Snow's armor, but didn't mention the sword. 

"I kept some of the armor that I use for Jon Snow's outfit, like the wrist protectors I’ll wear in his costume," he said. "I thought those were pretty cool."

"Game of Thrones" will return for its eighth and final season in 2019. 

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Ray Dalio says the economy looks like 1937 and a downturn is coming in about two years

• Khabib Nurmagomedov taunted Conor McGregor on Monday following his victory over the Irishman at UFC 229.
• The Russian called McGregor "slow" in a series of photos posted on Instagram.
• Meanwhile, McGregor posted a photo of his own, adding, "We lost the match but won the battle. The war goes on."
• We may not have heard the last of this feud.
• Read all of Business Insider's UFC 229 coverage here.

It looks like the feud between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor is still alive and well after the Russian's victory at UFC 229 on Saturday.

Nurmagomedov took to Instagram to call his opponent "slow" in his first post since taking victory in Las Vegas.

In the post translated by Business Insider, the fighter said: "Brother, as you are too slow to follow, and I am starting to feel uncomfortable for you.

"I did tell you, that on 6th of October I would say it all, or did you really want me to get beaten?

"Apologies to all, who got offended by our victory. And to my real fans – you are the best.

"Thank you for your incredible support, I love you, sincerely yours – Khabib Nurmagomedov."

Nurmagomedov followed up with two more Instagram posts, the first of which read: "I think I need new haters, the old ones are starting to like me."

Finally, the fighter wrote: "My face, when someone says that they didn’t like my jump, but I tried so hard.

"I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings with this jump."

The fighter's win was marred by his post-fight antics, which saw him leap out of the octagon towards McGregor's entourage.

Las Vegas police escorted Nurmagomedov out of the arena and the incidents attracted condemnation from the UFC president Dana White.

The bad blood between McGregor and Nurmagomedov, which was sparked when the Russian was seen on video slapping McGregor's teammate Artem Lobov in April, has been well-documented.

The altercation with Lobov led to McGregor attacking a bus full of UFC athletes and staff.

"He talk about my religion, my country, my father. He come to Brooklyn and he broke bus and he almost kill a couple people," Nurmagomedov said in his post-fight press conference.

"What about his s---? Why talk about I jump on the cage. I don't understand."

McGregor posted a photo of his own on social media in which he claimed that although he had lost the match, he had "won the battle," and said, "the war goes on."

The 30-year-old has completed just one fight in a recent six-fight deal with the UFC, and he has already expressed a desire to contest a rematch with Nurmagomedov. "Good knock,"he said on Twitter yesterday. "Looking forward to the rematch."

In a separate post on Instagram, he posted a photo alongside a caption that read: "I'll be back."

We may not have heard the last of this feud.

SEE ALSO: Conor McGregor, sporting a black eye, claims he 'won the battle' and that the war with Khabib Nurmagomedov is not yet over

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it takes to be an NFL referee

• A Boston-bound JetBlue Airways flight from Las Vegas experienced a scary moment on Sunday as the plane had to be evacuated just before takeoff because of smoke pouring out from its engine, according to multiple reports. 
• In a statement to Business Insider, a JetBlue spokesperson said, "Flight 178 from Las Vegas to Boston experienced smoke coming from its right engine before takeoff. The smoke was quickly suppressed and the aircraft taxied safely back to the gate."
• Fox 5 Las Vegas reported that McCarran International Airport officials said the flight was canceled because a fire broke out in the plane's engine. 
• JetBlue did not respond to Business Insider's request to comment on the cause of the smoking engine. 

A Boston-bound JetBlue Airways flight from Las Vegas experienced a scary moment on Sunday as the plane had to be evacuated just before takeoff because of smoke pouring out from its engine, according to multiple reports. 

JetBlue Airways Flight 178 was scheduled to depart Las Vegas McCarran International Airport on Sunday morning, October 7, for a flight to Boston Logan International Airport. But the plane never took off. 

In a statement to Business Insider, a JetBlue spokesperson said the plane, "experienced smoke coming from its right engine before takeoff. The smoke was quickly suppressed and the aircraft taxied safely back to the gate. All customers safely deplaned and the aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection."

Fox 5 Las Vegas reported that McCarran airport officials said the flight was canceled because a fire broke out in the plane's engine. 

Boston 25 News reported that passengers said the pilot mentioned a blown tire and engine. 

JetBlue did not respond to Business Insider's request to comment on the cause of the smoking engine. 

The plane experienced issues just prior to takeoff, according to reports.  As the plane was accelerating to lift off into the air, passengers said the plane made a loud noise which led the pilot to slam on the breaks and abort the flight altogether, according to CBS 4 Boston.

Ryan Cunningham, a passenger of Flight 178, told CBS 4 Boston that he noticed some initial bumpiness during takeoff.  

"Pretty sure the nose was probably off the ground, probably three or four feet, and then we just heard this loud ‘Boom’ and the pilot slammed the brakes," Cunningham told CBS 4.

Passenger Theresa Alexander told ABC 5 Boston,"We had just barely got off and all of a sudden, I heard this, ‘bang, pop.’ The plane kind of went sideways, and I saw the smoke coming out of the side." 

Video provided by CBS 4 Boston on YouTube shows large plumes of smoke pouring out of the engine as the plane parked itself on the ground. 

Fox 5 reports that the McCarren airport control center was notified of the fire at 11:30 a.m. and that after the Clark County Fire Department arrived on the scene, the fire was put out by 12:03 p.m. 

McCarran officials stated there were 146 passengers on board the flight, according to Fox 5 Las Vegas.

The Boston Globe reported the evacuated passengers were accommodated on alternative flights. 

Video uploaded to social media by a passenger on the plane shows the extent of smoke coming from the engine. 

SEE ALSO: A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Sydney after the pilots made a mayday call because the plane was running low on fuel

FOLLOW US: on Facebook for more car and transportation content!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This van transforms into the ultimate adventure vehicle

If someone has one dark personality trait, they are more likely to have another. That's according to a new study, which found that if you have something called the "D-factor," you tend to put your own needs about anyone else's — even if your actions are damaging to others.

People with any of the nine dark personality traits may belong to the Dark Tetrad. Colloquially, these people are known as sadists, narcissists, psychopaths, and sociopaths. But having some of the traits doesn't necessarily mean you have an antisocial personality disorder.

In fact, most people are on the psychopathy spectrum somewhere. And much of what people believe about people with dark personality traits isn't necessarily true. They aren't all obsessed with murder and hurting people. They just simply might not fret about it as much if they do cause someone else harm.

Here are the nine traits that are considered dark and what they mean. Remember, having one means it's more likely to have another too.

Egoism

This is the excessive need to put your own needs first at the expense of others. In philosophy, egoism means one's self is the motivation and goal of all their actions.

Machiavellianism

Named after infamous Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, it is the belief that the end justifies the means, no matter how manipulative or callous. In short, someone who has Machiavellianism is a master manipulator, and anyone who allows themselves to be used probably deserves it.

Moral disengagement

Someone who can morally disengage from a situation can convince themselves normal ethical standards don't apply to them in certain contexts. This means they can behave unethically without worrying about the consequences.

It's 2018, and you're not very familiar with technology. Where do you start?

While there are tons of gadgets and services out there vying for your attention and your dollars, there are a handful of "essential" technologies that are absolutely worth investing in, as they make your life easier in significant ways.

Here's your guide to all the essential technologies worth your money in 2018.

SEE ALSO: We just got our first real look at 'Cyberpunk 2077' — here are 31 things we learned about the futuristic video game people can't stop buzzing about

A quality smartphone

A quality smartphone is one of the best investments you can make.

Smartphones are the most personal computing devices we own. You can use them for just about everything: They're phones, obviously, but they're also cameras, calculators, and full-blown computers that can fit in your pocket or bag. They're the Swiss Army knives of the future.

The biggest choice you'll make is actually pretty simple: Which operating system do you prefer? Most smartphones either run iOS — which is operated by Apple — or Android, which is designed by Google and tweaked (slightly or a lot) depending on the phone you buy. 

If you like iOS, that means you're getting an iPhone. You can't go wrong with any of the new iPhones, including the $750 iPhone XR coming this month or $1,000 iPhone XS, but the older models like the iPhone 7, which starts at $450, are still an incredible deal.

If you like Android, you have a ton of options, but popular picks are the affordable OnePlus 6, which starts at $530, and the Galaxy S9 and Note 9 phones from Samsung, which start at $720 and $1,000, respectively. We're also expecting new Pixel 3 phones from Google this month.

A streaming device for your TV

Streaming devices are a worthy investment for any TV owner in 2018.

Streaming devices, in short, open up the possibilities for your TV. Most streaming devices support popular streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu, but depending on the company that makes your device, you'll also typically have access to an online store, like Apple's iTunes Store or Google's Play Store. So, if you purchased movies, TV shows, or games through any of those stores, you'll be able to access them on your TV.

The style is up to you. Several companies make sticks that can plug into your TV's USB port, like Amazon's $40 Fire TV Stick and Google's $35 Chromecast, while many other devices plug into your HDMI port and sit on top of a table or stand, like the $150 Apple TV and Amazon's $120 Fire TV Cube. One company worth following is Roku, which makes streaming devices in all shapes and sizes, and they're all relatively affordable.

A smart speaker of your choosing

Smart speakers may seem a little creepy at first — putting a microphone in your home should raise your eyebrows at least a little bit — but the benefits of owning a smart speaker, like a Google Home or an Amazon Echo, are absolutely worth it.

You can get a smart speaker for as little as $50, like Google's Home Mini or Amazon's Echo Dot, and those speakers often go on sale, meaning you can find them sometimes for as little as $35. You can also buy more high-end speakers, like Apple's $350 HomePod or Google's $400 Home Max, the latter being the best-sounding smart speaker you can buy.

But what do you actually do with these things? Well, just about anything: You can ask for the time, or the weather, or how old a certain actor is, or what to cook for dinner. You can connect your speaker to smart light bulbs, so you can turn on your living room or bedroom lights with just a simple voice command. I've found countless uses for my Amazon Echo, which only costs $80, but personally I think these devices are best used in the kitchen, where you can use it to set timers or play music, all hands-free.

• Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones was ejected after a review from officials in New York determined he punched a player during a pile-up.
• It was the first time the NFL's new review system has ejected a player.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones was ejected from the Chiefs' Week 5 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday after the NFL's new review system caught him punching an opponent.

During an extra-point attempt in the third quarter, Jones landed on top of a Jaguars player and was flagged for unnecessary roughness.

However, the NFL's new review system, which allows senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron to review plays for non-football acts, caught Jones punching a Jaguars player on the ground. Riveron, reviewing the play from New York, called for Jones' ejection. It was the first time a player has been ejected following a review from New York.

How much the NFL concentrates on trying to catch dirty plays like this going forward is worth monitoring.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it takes to be an NFL referee

• Tara Fares was a huge Instagram star in Iraq and was shot dead on September 27 while driving her car in Baghdad.
• Iraq's Interior Ministry looked into the shooting and said Monday that extremists were behind her death.
• Iraq is a very conservative Muslim society and Fares was often threatened for wearing reveling clothing.
• Shimaa Qasim, another Instagrammer with 2.8 million followers, was told "you're next" after Fares's death and fled the country on Monday, local news reported. 

Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji said Monday that the Instagram star Tara Fares was murdered by extremists — and the Instagrammer told "you're next" hours after Fares's death has fled to Jordan.

Fares was one of Iraq's leading social media stars with 2.8 million followers on Instagram. She led the way in Iraq for women to express themselves online.

But her death on September 27 after she was shot three times while at the wheel of her car — along with those of three other women killed in suspicious circumstances during September — left Iraqis fearing that a conservative religious faction was targeting liberal women in the country.

In a Facebook video posted on Monday, al-Araji said an extremist group, which he wasn't willing to name, had been found responsible for the 22-year-old's murder, Iraq 24 reported.

He promised to "bring perpetrators of Fares's murder to justice to be tried in front of the Iraqi people."

Shimaa Qasim, another influencer and model with 2.8 million followers, posted a tearful YouTube video in Arabic documenting how she was told "you're next" by online trolls after Fares's murder. 

Kurdistan news agency Rudaw reported on Monday that Qasim recently fled the country for Jordan and hadn't left her house since Fares's murder on September 27.

"I was threatened with murder. My life was in danger. The killing of this many people scared me. I wasn't comfortable living there anymore. That is why I left Iraq and came to Jordan," she said to Rudaw.

A string of similar killings

Some people in Iraq are convinced that hard-line religious extremists are behind the attacks — in a move to confine women to the house and deprive them of freedom.

Iraq is a very conservative Muslim society and Fares was often threatened for wearing reveling clothing.

In September, two famous beauty salon owners were found dead under mysterious circumstances, and a prominent human rights activist was shot dead in broad daylight. 

Before Fares was killed, the prominent human rights activist Suad al-Ali was shot dead in the city of Basra, in a public marketplace. Al-Ali founded the al-Weed al-Alaiami for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, according to the BBC.

Earlier in August, two prominent beauty brand owners were found dead only a week apart.

One of them, Rasha al-Hassan, was a beautician who owned the Viola salon in Baghdad. She was found dead on August 24 in her home. Little other information about her death has been made public.

The other, Rafeef al-Yasiri, 32, was known as "Iraq's Barbie" and was prominent on social media. She was found dead on August 17, a week before al-Hassan.

Al-Yasiri was a plastic surgeon herself and organized national programs specializing in medical affairs for women, CNN reported.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 3 surprising ways humans are still evolving

• Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss looks for job candidates who are adaptable, and who thrive in an environment of constant change.
• In a job interview, he'll warn candidates that Canada Goose is a "crazy place to work."
• He wants candidates who will be able to forge their own career path and who are excited by constant change.
• Other executives and hiring managers agree on the importance of adaptability.

When Dani Reiss interviews people, he warns them: "This place is a crazy place to work."

Their reaction has a big influence on whether they'll get hired.

Reiss is the CEO of luxury outerwear maker Canada Goose, and he told Business Insider that he's always on the lookout for candidates' adaptability.

Reiss tells job candidates explicitly, "Your job is going to be different in 12 months. I can't tell you today what that job will be, but I can tell you that it's not going to be the same as it is today."

He added, "We really need people that have that entrepreneurial spirit and a relentless energy to them, and passion."

Canada Goose started out as a small family-owned business (Reiss' grandfather founded the organization) and went public last year. Today, it's a $2.7 billion company. So it's especially important for job candidates to be prepared for rapid growth and change.

Yet Reiss isn't the only executive to prize flexibility in employees. Jennifer Shappley, senior director of talent acquisition at LinkedIn, writes that 69% of hiring managers agree that adaptability is the most important soft skill in job candidates.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Dulski, head of groups and community at Facebook, wrote in a 2013 LinkedIn blog post that "people who are comfortable with change in general tend to be more successful."

Dulski advises managers to ask questions such as, "Can you tell me about a time when your company or team went through a major change and how you handled that?" to evaluate a candidate's ability to manage change.

Reiss said it's not necessarily a bad thing that some people thrive amid constant change while others don't. But at Canada Goose, "we try and look for people who are over-committed, and who are excited by a wild ride and journey," he said. "At a place like Canada Goose, you have to make your own career path."

SEE ALSO: Actress Elizabeth Banks spoke to a Dunkin' Donuts exec about why the company is changing its name, and took away a career lesson anyone can use

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. for a week like a Navy SEAL

With Halloween right around the corner, chances are you're already thinking about costume ideas.

If you don't have time to put together a DIY look this year, and you're not impressed with in-store options, there are still dozens of ensembles to choose from — even if you wait until the last minute.

Below, check out 11 easy costumes you can make with a pair of jeans you already have in your closet.

Dress up as denim-clad Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake from the 2001 American Music Awards.

What you need to be Britney Spears: A denim dress or skirt, a denim top, a light blue shirt, a denim or light-blue blazer, jeans, and a denim hat if you have one.

Throw on a flannel and some scarecrow makeup.

What you need: A plaid shirt, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a straw hat.

See more from Jessica Lyn on Instagram.

Transform into cultural icon Rosie the Riveter.

What you need: A red bandana, a blue or denim top, jeans, and some red lipstick.

• Amazon's announcement of the choice for its second headquarters, HQ2, is imminent, and at least one organization says it would be wise to choose Newark, New Jersey. 
• According to a recent report by JUST Capital, a nonprofit organization that ranks companies on issues like job creation, community support, and environmental pollution, Amazon should make a socially conscious choice for its second headquarters if it wants to improve its reputation. 
• Given that Amazon has promised to bring as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs with HQ2, the organization argues that the company should select a city where unemployment is relatively high, such as Newark.

Amazon's announcement for HQ2 is imminent, and some experts say it would be wise to choose Newark, New Jersey. 

According to a recent report from JUST Capital, a nonprofit organization that ranks companies on issues like job creation, community support, and environmental pollution, Amazon should make a socially conscious choice for its next headquarters if it wants to improve its reputation. 

Amazon has promised to invest over $5 billion and accommodate as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs with its new headquarters. 

These new jobs could be particularly powerful in cities where access to employment is limited, JUST Capital argues. Enter Newark, a city where the unemployment rates among people of color are 19.4%, the highest of the HQ2 finalists. The median income in Newark is around $33,000, and the poverty rate sits at 29%, according to the report.

Choosing Newark, combined with improved worker pay and treatment, reduced environmental impact, and more charitable giving, could help Amazon's overall JUST Capital ranking shift from No. 55 to No. 9 in a list of more than 900 businesses that the organization tracks in the US, it said. 

Amazon's reputation is a hot topic at the moment. In September, the retailer dropped to second place in the Reputation Institute's annual RepTrak ranking for the retail sector. It fell from 18th to 23rd place in the ranking of global companies.

Amazon has taken numerous hits to its reputation over the past few months, including attacks from politicians and activists over the company's treatment of workers. 

The e-commerce giant has taken steps to restore its image in the public eye, most notably by raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour earlier this month. 

"We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead," CEO Jeff Bezos said in a prepared statement on October 2. 

Amazon has said it will announce its HQ2 decision by the end of the year. 

SEE ALSO: Amazon's reputation is taking a beating from all sides. Here's what a reputation expert says it should do to turn things around.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 outdoor adventures that are worth the hike

• Google is shutting down its Google+ social network.
• A software glitch exposed the private information of hundreds of thousands of Google+ users between 2015 and March 2018, when the company became aware of the breach, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal.
• Google chose not to disclose this information out of fear of regulatory pressure and bad PR, The Journal reports. 
• Many people probably aren't aware if they even have a Google+ account — here's how to check.

After the Wall Street Journal revealed that Google accidentally exposed the private information of hundreds of thousands of Google+ users over the period of three years, you might not feel so comfortable having a Google+ account anymore, even though Google plans to shut down the service. 

In March 2018, Google became aware of a security breach that had exposed user data since 2015, the Journal reports. After discovering and fixing the bug, Google ultimately decided against disclosing this information out of fear of regulatory pressure, the Journal reports. The company has said it hasn't found any evidence that the exposed data was misused or inappropriately accessed by any third party. 

Google+ was created in 2011 and never seemed to gain much traction in the social media sphere, and eventually Google turned it into the underlying account infrastructure connecting its various Google software products, so you might not even realize if you're a member. However, it's likely you are — if you have a Google account, you've probably been given a Google+ account by default.

Luckily though, if you want to jump ship before Google formally shuts down the social network, there's an easy way to check if you're signed up — and delete your account. 

First, make sure you're signed into Google, and then go to Gmail.com or the Google homepage. Next, click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the webpage.

Next, check if there's a link for "Google+ Profile" beneath your name and email address in that window. If the link shows up, you have a Google+ account. Click the link to be taken to your Google+ profile.

Once you're at your Google+ profile, click on "Settings" on the left side of the page.