Showing results by author "iMinds" in All Categories

Learn about the story of Dante’s Inferno with iMinds insightful knowledge series. “Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself in a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost.” So begins the classic text of the Inferno, a medieval poem written in 14th century Italy. Along with its sequels, Purgatorio and Paradiso, it makes up the classic Divine Comedy. But what is the poem about? In the Inferno, the narrator of the tale travels through hell.

Learn about the science and history of dinosaurs with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. Huge and sometimes ferocious, dinosaurs ruled the earth for more than 175 million years. To us, dinosaurs might be scary-looking. But humans never had to fear dinosaurs because they died out 65 million years ago, a long time before the first people were around!Dinosaurs lived in a period called the Mesozoic era, which began about 240 million years ago.

Learn about Murphy's Law with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Murphy's Law is a tongue-in-cheek and rather pessimistic adage of eight simple words: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The translation of these words into "Murphy's Law" was in honour of US aerospace engineer Edward Aloysius Murphy Junior.

Learn about the history of the US Constitution with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. The United States Constitution is the highest law in the United States of America. All other laws made in the country come from the Constitution. The Constitution outlines and shows how the government of the United States should work. It is the oldest and yet shortest Constitution still in use in any major independent country.

Home to the giant tortoises that gave them their name, the Galapagos Islands lie one thousand kilometres off the coast of mainland Ecuador. The famous group of islands remained untouched by humanity for thousands of years, being only charted in the seventeenth century. Two hundred years later the stunning wildlife provided Charles Darwin with the perfect place to work on his theory of evolution. Darwin’s book ‘The Origin of the Species’ was partially inspired by his trip to the Galapagos.

Learn about Land Trusts with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. A land trust is an agreement whereby one party, the trustee, agrees to hold ownership of a piece of real property for the benefit of another party, the beneficiary. Corporations set up land trusts as intermediaries that hold and manage property on behalf of investors in return for management fees.

Hidden for centuries in the vast Peruvian jungle lies the ancient city of Machu Picchu. It is one of the finest examples of Incan architecture on the continent, preserved and unplundered by the Spanish when they invaded in the sixteenth century. It eluded the Spanish and although it has long been rediscovered, its essence is still shrouded in mystery.

Learn about the workings of the Human Body with iMindsJNR audio learning series for younger minds. The human body is more sophisticated than even the best computer. But while scientists know more about the human body than perhaps anything else, there are still mysteries that baffle us. When it comes to the human body, it seems that the more we know, the more we realise we don't know!

Learn about the mystery of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine with iMinds insightful knowledge series. The lost Dutchman’s gold mine is said to exist in the Superstitious Mountains in central Arizona in the southwest of the United States. Whether this mine actually exists or not is another question. Stories that tell of its discovery have taken on mythic proportion. According to legend, it is the largest gold mine in the world. To find it would beget an untold fortune. So who wouldn’t give it a try!

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is one of the world's most famous conspiracy theories. It is a statement of prejudice and paranoia, a fake historical record and a grand hoax all rolled into one.

Learn about the science and history of volcanoes with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. A volcano is an opening in the earth's surface through which molten rock, gases and debris can escape. The mound commonly associated with volcanoes is what remains after eruptions have collected and hardened around this opening.Volcanoes exist in the mythology of numerous countries, such as Iceland and Japan. Many past cultures, such as the Greeks and the Romans, also had volcano mythology.

Throughout the world, there are hundreds of lakes in which monsters are said to live. None of these lake monsters is more famous than the Loch Ness Monster, who is said to inhabit Loch Ness in Scotland.

Learn the history of Stonehenge with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Five thousand years ago, at the same time as the pyramids were being constructed in Egypt, another monolithic structure was being built in the English county now known as Wiltshire. This structure, a complex series of earthworks and towering standing stones, is one of Europe's most famous prehistoric sites.

Learn about securitization with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Securitization as a financial term has evolved over the decades, as different methods and products have developed from the process. At a basic level, securitization is the process of taking an illiquid asset, or a group of relatively homogenous assets, and through financial engineering, transforming them into a security. The assets are pooled together and repackaged into a single security, which is then sold to investors.

Learn about the Tragedy of the Commons with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Tragedy of the Commons is a situation in which a jointly owned resource is overused or destroyed because each person takes more than they would if the resource was privately owned. With each individual acting independently, the combined pressure on the resource exceeds what is in the interests of the community as a whole.

Learn the history of the Spanish Inquisition with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Spanish Inquisition was a governing authority started by the crown in the late-15th century. It included a network of spies who worked across the state to ensure Spaniards conformed to the accepted behaviour of traditional Catholic subjects. t was relentless in ensuring Catholic orthodoxy within Spain. But why was Spain so self-conscious in ensuring a singular religious identity?

Although a tiny city- state, the Vatican City boasts many cultural and religious gems in its small boundaries. It’s famous for being the smallest country in the world, at less than 50 hectares, or 120 acres. And its permanent population is less than 1000 people. But it is home to the Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s Basilica, ten museums and many lush gardens! And as the world centre of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican is a place of enormous interest to pilgrims and art lovers the world over.

Bubonic plague is widely regarded as being responsible for two of the most infamous plagues in recorded history - the Black Death in the mid-14th century and the great plague of London in 1665. The causative organism of modern-day plague was discovered independently in 1894 by two bacteriologists: the Swiss born Dr. Alexandre Yersin and Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato from Japan.

Learn about the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Bermuda Triangle is a large stretch of ocean in the Caribbean. It is infamous for numerous unexplained disappearances of boats and aircraft. What goes on in the Bermuda Triangle is one of the world's greatest mysteries. Many believe supernatural phenomena or extra-terrestrial activity occurs there.

Learn about the art movement called Impressionism with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds.

Impressionism was a style of art that began in late 19th-century Paris. It was concerned with depicting movement and capturing light in paintings. Impressionist artists included Claude Monet, Hilaire Edgar Degas, Eugene-Louis Boudin, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cezanne, Mary Stevenson Cassatt, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.