Showing results by author "iMinds" in All Categories

Learn about lobbying with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. In a perfect world, elected officials in democratic countries would make decisions in the public interest after considering issues objectively and impartially. This is how parliaments and other representative bodies are supposed to work. In reality, however, politicians around the world are subject to a range of influences and pressures that can distort the political process.

Two thousand years ago the mighty Roman Empire spanned most of Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. At its heart was the capital city of Rome, the city to which ‘all roads led’. Inside this city, the great ruins of the Colosseum are a lasting reminder of the majesty of this great empire. But the gigantic sports arena that is the Colosseum also reveals a dark side of ancient Rome. For the arena’s purpose was as a ground for gladiatorial combat. And in its wildly popular four-hundred-year history, the Colosseum would witness the deaths of thousands of humans and animals.

Learn about the Stockholm Syndrome with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. At first glance, two of the most notorious bank robberies of the 1970s would seem to have nothing in common. They occurred eight months apart, for different motives, on opposite sides of the globe. But these two incidents would prove seminal to the development and understanding of a curious and once controversial psychological condition: the Stockholm Syndrome.

Learn about subprime lending with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Originally, the term subprime lending described any loan that charged less than the prime, or base, rate of interest. This definition, however, has changed over the last twenty years to mean quite the opposite. Now subprime refers not to the interest rate charged, but to the credit worthiness of the loan taker.

Learn about IPOs with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. IPOs or Initial Public Offerings are the sale of a company's equity to the public for the first time. By “going public”, a private company can be invested in by anyone on a stock exchange. Companies commonly “go public to” either to raise capital or to increase the company's liquidity. Previously, IPOs were limited to long established, large private firms.

Learn about the history of flight with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. Have you ever wondered how a bird flies, or how a heavy airplane stays in the sky? Flight occurs when an object moves through the atmosphere instead of falling towards the Earth. This object can be an aircraft, a spaceship, a rocket, a balloon, a bird, or an insect. In order for something to fly, it has to be lighter than the air around it or powerful enough to defy gravity, which is the Earth’s pull.

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 REM sleep with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. REM is an important component of sleep. But sleep itself is a difficult phenomenon to study, because it is such an insular process. Dreams in particular are highly elusive for the researcher of sleep. As dreaming is a "state of mind", theories concerning it are frustratingly convoluted and highly theory-based, with any advancement unlikely to be supported by hard evidence.

Learn about Monopoly Power with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Monopoly power is the ability of the dominant participant in a market to control prices. It is a sign of market failure and a major factor in antitrust investigations. Capitalist economic markets rely on competition to operate efficiently and to protect consumer welfare. When a single company controls the prices within a market, the economic welfare of the consumer is often at stake.

Imagine a sea of sparkling, clear blue water speckled with multicoloured coral. Imagine crabs, turtles, dugongs, sea snakes and hundreds of species of fish swimming among this coral. Now imagine this scene stretching out for more than two thousand kilometres, or 1240 miles! This is the Great Barrier Reef, which is so expansive it is said that if you dived along it every day of your life you would not see it all.

Which Roman building has been used as a military fortress, a Christian church, and a fish and vegetable market during the course of its long life? The answer is the Pantheon, whose majestic columns and magnificent dome ensure its place as one of Rome’s most impressive architectural feats. Its ability to be transformed to suit different religions and cultures has ensured it has lasted for millennia.

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher, teacher, and political figure. His teachings have profoundly influenced Asian thought and life. The impact of his life and intellectual ideas have changed human history and it can be argued that he is the most influential philosopher who ever lived.

Learn about Gold Trading with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Gold trading is the investment in and trading of gold as a commodity. It is similar to trading in other commodities such as oil or wood, though there are factors that differentiate it. Gold has represented money and wealth for millennia in different forms. In the present day, we are able to freely own and trade gold in various forms, from gold bars to shares in gold mining companies.

The concept of prosecuting war criminals is not unique to the modern world. Individuals who breached the "rules of war" were tried in ancient Greece, and probably earlier. However, those early prosecutions were hardly examples of fair and impartial international justice. Underpinning the prosecutions, however, was a notion that, even in war, there are certain rules which must be obeyed.

According to most economics textbooks, human beings are super-rational creatures who know what is in their own best interests and always act accordingly. When making a decision to purchase, the rational consumer would not buy something on the spur of the moment, or on the recommendation of a friend. Sound realistic?

Learn about the intricacies of sharia law with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series.

Sharia law is the law of the religion of Islam. The "sharia" means the "path" Muslims should follow if they are to lead good lives. Sharia law regulates not only human relationships between individuals, like other legal systems, but also human relationships with God. Therefore, sharia is much more than a law as Westerners know it. It is an entire way of life for Muslims.

It was another cold night in Boston on the 16th of December 1773. But this was no ordinary night. This night would ignite the flames of injustice within many an American colonist. And it would eventually lead to the American Revolution. That night, three British ships - the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver - were moored in the Boston harbor....

Learn about the sport of Polo with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Beautiful horses, well-dressed players and ancient cultures - welcome to polo. Polo is one of the only sports in the world that relies more on the power of an animal than that of a human. Polo has evolved with the world's cultures, creating new variations as it has spread.

Where can you find Ancient Greek and Roman artefacts sitting with twentieth century French impressionist masterpieces? Where can shining suits of armour be compared with traditional Korean dresses? One of the world’s largest and most encyclopaedic collections of art lies in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Affectionately known as The ‘Met’, it is the largest art museum in the Western Hemisphere, housing over 2 million artefacts.

Lehman Brothers Holding Co. was the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank before the firm's spectacular collapse in 2008. Lehman's global businesses previously generated more than $19 billion in 2007 from its vast capital markets, investment banking and investment management businesses. Lehman's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing on September 15, 2008 marked one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history.