Books by 12min Originals

If you are looking for a quick (but effective) moment of reconnection with your inner self, you will find it in the next few minutes. Press play, breathe and relax!

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact to this day. Built as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu in the 26th century BC, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world for nearly four millennia. It is still full of mysteries.

The majestic embodiment of a princess’s desire to transport mountainous Iranian scenery to the dreary Mesopotamian plains, the Hanging Gardens seem an amalgam of technical virtuosity and romantic dreams. Described as a remarkable feat of engineering with an ascending series of tiered gardens, they were either built in the 7th century by a powerful Asian king – or never at all.

The original Temple of Artemis was built over an entire century and financed by the fabulously rich king of Lydia, Croesus. After it was destroyed in an act of arson, the citizens of Ephesus refinanced its reconstruction. The new temple made it to the original list of Wonders, where it was singled out as the most wondrous of all seven.

Fashioned by Phidias, the foremost sculptor of Ancient Athens, the Statue of Zeus was destroyed in a fire in 5th-century Constantinople. Before that, for an entire millennium, it occupied the entire height and half a width of the aisle of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Made of ivory plates and gold panels, it was a marvelous sight to behold.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb built around 350 BC in Halicarnassus for the Carian King Mausolus, a satrap of the Persian Empire, by his sister-wife Artemisia II of Caria. Eclipsing all other tombs in the world, both in size and grandeur, for millennia, it was the only Wonder of the Ancient World built by a woman.

The last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to be built, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, was also the last of them to survive, excluding the still intact Pyramids. About 380 feet (120 m) in overall height, for millennia, the Lighthouse was the tallest non-pyramidal structure in the world.

Standing at 110 feet, the Colossus of Rhodes was the largest statue of antiquity. A gigantic bronze thank-offering to the sun god Helios, it was built in 12 years but stood erect for no more than 60. Yet, even after it was wrecked by an earthquake in 225 BC, it continued to inspire awe in onlookers for centuries.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were a collection of monuments considered by ancient writers as astonishing examples of human creativity and construction, as well as embodiments of the quality of “wonder,” due to their capacity to inspire awe and admiration in those who beheld them. Discover what they were, as well as why and when they were originally grouped together.

Sometimes, anxiety can be a useful emotion: it can help us stay safe and do the right thing in the face of danger. However, most of the time, anxiety can be absolutely devastating to our mental health. Dealing with it is especially difficult in cases of prolonged uncertainty, as is the current coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to alleviate its effects.

For a while, working from home (or, telecommuting as it is sometimes called) was predicted to be the future of work – but it never happened. Now, the coronavirus pandemic may have already made it our present. For better or for worse? Read ahead to find out.

On March 11, 2020, a few months after an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 hit China, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic. But how did it all start? And how serious is it? Get ready to discover everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus – and learn what you can do to prevent its spread.