OPEC on the verge of a 'break-up'; What is next for Yemen?; Bionic eye may be coming to a store near you; Meet South Korea’s Susan Boyle

OPEC on the verge of a ‘break-up’; What is next for Yemen?; Bionic eye may be coming to a store near you; Meet South Korea’s Susan Boyle

The Saudi oil minister says OPEC meetings have been ‘the worst’ ever; Who’ll take plug Yemen’s political vacuum?; Scientists in Australia are accusing you of hearing things that aren’t there.

June 10, 2011 4:00 by shafeer

OPEC close to ‘break-up’ after oil talks fail

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimisaid had said that the recent OPEC Vienna gathering was “one of the worst meetings we have ever had”. While Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE had backed the Saudi proposal to increase output Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq and Libya were strongly opposed to it. So could this be the end of OPEC?

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What is next for Yemen?

What with Yemen’s Saleh leaving to go to neighbouring Saudi Arabia for medical assistance, a vacuum of power has developed in Yemen. What happens next? Time’s Jeb Boone questions whether Saleh’s son Ahmed or his nephew Yahya will rise to the position in this interesting analysis of the situation in Yemen.

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Eye Robot

Kipp is fascinated by the implications of the “smart contact lens” technology currently developed by scientists. Not only will these lenses assist your vision, but scientists suggest they will also have sensors and electronics embedded in them to help monitor disease and dispense antibiotics and other medicine. Eventually, scientists hope these lenses could also be used to measure the level of cholesterol or alcohol in ones blood and accordingly send out a warning.

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Can you hear the bells?

A recent study from Australia’s La Trobe University suggests there is a connection between caffeine consumption and auditory hallucinations. What the tricks-y scientists did to the subjects they were studying was ask them to ring a buzzer whenever they heard Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”—yet it was a trick, the candidates were only listening to white noise. The findings? People who drank at least 13.5 ounces of coffee a day buzzed the buzzer more.

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South Korea’s Susan Boyle

We don’t know how you stand on “Susan Boyle” phenomenon; for our part we initially thought it was a heart-warming story until the media decided to turn into the spectacle it became. Yet love it or hate it, you have to admit it was just slightly entertaining, as is this video of a man, who is being called Korea’s Susan Boyle.