Showing results by author "iMinds" in All Categories

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 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.

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.

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 the discovery of Atoms with iMindsJNR audio learning series for younger minds. How is your body similar to the chair you are sitting in? Both things are made up of atoms! In fact, almost everything in the entire universe is made up of atoms. They are the building blocks of matter.

Learn about the history of the Roman Empire with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. A powerful army, a developed system of government and great road building - this is how Rome achieved an empire! For the early part of its history Rome was ruled by kings, like most other places in the ancient world. But in 510 BC, the Romans decided they were sick of obeying powerful monarchs.

Learn about the Seven Wonders of the World with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Twenty-five hundred years ago, people began to talk about the wondrous structures they had seen in their travels around the Mediterranean. In 222 B.C., Philo of Byzantium wrote an essay called "On the Seven Wonders".

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!

Learn about short selling with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Short selling is the practice of selling borrowed stock at a high price and then buying back the stock at a lower price. A short seller expects to profit from the fall in a stock's price. The more common investment practice is to “go long”, that is, to buy stock with the expectation of the price rising in the future. Simply, a short transaction sells high and buys low, while a long transaction buys low and sells high.

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 life and times of John F. Kennedy with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, or JFK, was president of the United States of America from 1961 to 1963. From his unlikely rise to power at the age of 43 to his dramatic death at the hand of an assassin, his presidency marked a transformative and tumultuous period in American history.

Kennedy was America's first Catholic president.

Learn about the development of In Vitro Fertization with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. "In Vitro Fertilisation", also known as IVF, is concerned with enabling infertile couples to have children. As a result of IVF, thousands of couples and individuals have been able to fulfil their dream of procreating. To fully appreciate the complexities of IVF it is important to know the history of experiments in reproduction.

Learn about the history of the city of London with iMinds Travel's insightful audio knowledge series. This collection includes the story of 6 of London's most important and beautiful destinations - The Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the National Gallery of London, and St Paul's Cathedral.

Learn about the Apartheid Policy of South Africa with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series.

Until 1994, only one quarter of the South African population voted in elections. People classified as "non-White" were denied basic rights, including the right to vote. This system was known as "apartheid". The word comes from Afrikaans, a South African language. It literally means "separateness" or "apartness".

The aurora borealis, often referred to as the Northern Lights, is a natural light-show that appears in the sky around the north magnetic pole. Auroras can sometimes be seen in other places of the world, but not as clearly. In the southern hemisphere, the phenomenon is called "aurora australis".

Learn about the history of the Tower of London with iMinds Travel's insightful audio knowledge series. The Tower of London offers an impressive skyline for England's capital city. Much of the awe tourists have for the Tower comes from its vastness. For the Tower of London is not just a single tower, but many buildings within the same complex.

Learn about Leveraged Buyouts with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Leveraged buyouts originated in the early 1960’s. It is also known as a hostile takeover, a highly-leveraged transaction, or a bootstrap transaction. In effect, it is a tactic through which control of a corporation is acquired by buying up a majority of their stock using borrowed money.

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.

Learn about the Renaissance period with iMindsJNR audio learning series for younger minds. The word "Renaissance" means "rebirth" in French. It was first used by French historian Jules Michelet in 1858 to refer to a "movement" that took place between about the 13th and 16th centuries . This movement describes the transition from medieval to modern Europe.

Learn about the Rosetta Stone with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. In 196 BCE, priests of all the gods of Upper and Lower Egypt assembled at Memphis to celebrate the accession to the throne of the boy king Ptolemy V. He was already in the ninth year of his reign, but this was the first time that such a momentous gathering as this had taken place.