Showing results by author "iMinds" in All Categories

Learn about your world with iMinds Specialist Series. Have a particular interest? Recognize gaps in your knowledge? iMinds Specialist works across each of our 12 categories bringing you targeted information to broaden your mind. Mystery & Conspiracy, Volume 1 covers a range of unexplained phenomena and conspiracy theories, including crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Dropa Stones, the curse of the Hope diamond and UFOs.

The will to win. The desire to be the best. The need to lift heavier or run faster than anybody has done before. These are all important motivators for success in sports. But they also contribute to the incredible pressure on athletes to do whatever it takes to improve their performance. The practice of ‘doping’ in sports has been around for over a century. And yet it is only quite recently that there has been widespread disapproval of it.

Bondi Beach is an icon of Australian culture. This one kilometre, or 1090 yard, strip of golden sand lures thousands of tourists and locals every day with its promise of sun, sand, and exposed skin. It is Australia’s see-and-be seen spot. Here, the world sheds its clothes, waves crash, and cultures collide. Located only seven kilometres, or just over four miles, from Sydney’s business district, Bondi is known as the beach with a city built around it.

In this volume, you will learn about: the New Wave film movement, the development of ponzi schemes, the life of Mahatma Gandhi, the crimes of Jack the Ripper, the debate over nature vs nurture, the phrase "15 minutes of fame", the development of immunisation, the incredible Yellowstone National Park, the fast and furious sport of polo, the elements of sharia law, the history and context of the apartheid policy, and the mysterious disappearance of the crew of the Mary Celeste.

You probably would agree that the four weeks leading up to Christmas are a special time of year. For Christians this is a period of preparation. Many Christians call these four weeks 'Advent' and they prepare themselves for the celebration of Jesus' birth. The word 'Advent' comes from the Latin 'adveneo', meaning 'to come to' and refers to Jesus' coming into the world at Christmas.

The Mockumentary.. or fake documentary.. is becoming an increasingly successful film and television formula across many genres. Although they all investigate very different people, places, and events, they all share one key characteristic that differentiates them from most documentaries. None of it is real. They're all make-believe.

Epidemics are important to us as humans because they affect our very survival. Knowing what they are and how to control them have been of interest to us for centuries. A simple explanation of the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic would be to say that an epidemic is the large-scale transmission of an illness, whereas a pandemic is an epidemic that spreads across several countries.

A Chinese book from 850 C.E., called Classified Essentials of the Mysterious Tao of the True Origin of Things, warns the reader that if sulphur, realgar and saltpetre are heated with honey, they produce smoke and flames. Thus begins the history of artificially made fire and, eventually, fireworks.

Learn about the process of German Reunification with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Reunification in Germany was a slow process. The country was divided between the communist East and the capitalist West from the end of World War Two in 1945 until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. To understand how momentous a step reunification in Germany was, it is necessary to go back to the start of the division in 1945.

Learn the history of the Davis Cup with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Davis Cup weighs more than 100 kilograms, is over one metre tall, and is the world's oldest sports trophy. It has been filled with champagne in Paris nightclubs, stolen in Peru, and locked in bank vaults during world wars. These days, it is sought after by more than 100 countries every year and known to many as the "holy grail" of men's tennis.

People come from all over the country and all over the world to seek success in New York City. A group that represents the success of the city is the American League baseball team, the New York Yankees. This team has more championships, more records and more star players than any other team in the history of baseball. However, the team that eventually became the "New York Yankees" was not always based in New York City.

It is increasingly in the media, but what exactly is culture jamming and how does it work? Culture jamming is a form of protest in which advertisements and other media messages are re-arranged or parodied in humorous or disturbing ways. The term covers a range of practices, including sabotaging billboards, spoofing well-known ads, and hoaxing the mainstream media.

Learn about your world with iMinds Specialist Series. Have a particular interest? Recognize gaps in your knowledge? iMinds Specialist works across each of our 12 categories bringing you targeted information to broaden your mind. History Volume 1 looks at the history of the whaling industry; the context of the Boston Tea Party; the role of the Rosetta Stone in understanding language; the terror of the Barbary Pirates; the importance of the signing of the Magna Carta and more.

We can all be smarter - keep learning every day with iMinds' Generalist ,Volume 6. A compilation of diverse topics across our 12 categories, in this volume you will learn about the history of the blues, the truth of the Spanish Inquisition, the phenomenon that is the Nazca Lines, the history of the Barbary Pirates, the story behind the concept of Murphy's Law, the science of REM Sleep, the mystery of the Dropa Stones, the amazing history of Route 66, the ins and outs of political lobbying, and more.

Learn about Armistice Day with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Armistice Day is a day put aside to commemorate the ceasefire which effectively ended the "Great War", as World War One was previously known.

Learn about attempts to cross the Berlin Wall with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The East German guards who patrolled the numerous watchtowers along the famous Berlin Wall had orders to shoot to kill anyone who attempted to scale the boundary from East Berlin to its Western neighbour. Still, there are many tales of daring escapes from East Berlin to West Berlin throughout the wall's history.The Berlin Wall spread all the way around West Berlin.

Learn about the idea that everyone has 15 minutes of fame with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series.

Commenting on the increasingly fleeting nature of celebrity, in 1968 artist Andy Warhol quipped: "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." In a 21st-century world of reality TV and youtube, it appears Warhol's prediction has come true. The changing nature of celebrity over time is an interesting backdrop to today's short-lived fame.

Have you ever witnessed 200 dancers in gold-lamé trousers invade a Los Angeles department store? Or maybe 300 nude cyclists riding down Paris' Champs-Elysees? Or perhaps you've received a text message inviting you to an impromptu 500-person pillow fight in London's Piccadilly Circus?

If you answered yes to any of the above, chances are you've unwittingly been exposed to the contemporary but curious cultural phenomenon of the flash mob.

Learn about the history of whaling with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The history of whaling is a fascinating look at international efforts to protect finite resources in international waters, otherwise known as common territory or commons. While whaling can date back to 6, 000 B.C., large-scale whaling is thought to have commenced around the 12th century, with the Basques who killed a large number of right whales in the Bay of Biscay.

Learn about Blues Music with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Blues music is a type of African-American folk music. It is concerned with expressing emotions through song. Generally, blues songs deal with tragic themes such as lost love, hardship, poverty and death. Indeed, the name "blues" comes from the emotions expressed in the songs themselves!