News
Following are a selection of interesting news items from our field. This section will be updated on a continuous basis so check back often in between issues, to see what is new.
Source: WHO
New WHO-ITU standard aims to prevent hearing loss among 1.1 billion young people
12 February 2019 | GENEVA: Nearly 50% of people aged 12-35 years - or 1.1 billion young people - are at risk of hearing loss due to prolonged and excessive exposure to loud sounds, including music they listen to through personal audio devices. Ahead of World Hearing Day (3 March), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have issued a new international standard for the manufacture and use of these devices, which include smartphones and audio players, to make them safer for listening.
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Source: Edmonton Journal
Edmonton's Keira Lintz is about to become one of the few deaf lawyers in the last decade called to the Alberta bar. "I've always wanted to be a lawyer, pretty much ever since elementary school," Lintz said. "Without my cochlear implant, I can't hear a thing whatsoever, so it's a big part of how I got here today." Twenty-six years ago, then two-year-old Lintz was one of the youngest children in Alberta to get the implant. Now, even children under a year old are considered candidates
Source: Audiology WorldNews
Three Ohio state government agencies have teamed up to find a way for deaf or hearing impaired Ohioans, who qualify for a federal hearing exemption waiver, to train and test to get commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
Source: Reuters
The well-preserved fossils of an ancient cetacean, dubbed Echovenator sandersi, are offering researchers clues about how prehistoric whales developed ultrasonic hearing and echolocation. Echovenator lived about 27 million years ago, and its ear has many features in common with modern whales that allow them to detect ultrasonic frequencies, according to a study published in Current Biology.
Source: Hearing Health Matters
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Global coffee giant, Starbucks, has announced that it will be opening a café in Malaysia that is dedicated to employing baristas who are Deaf or hard of hearing.The new café will be open to all customers, not just the Deaf and hard of hearing community.
Source: CBC News
The case of a deaf man who was unable to get a qualified sign language interpreter when he was rushed to the Saint John Regional Hospital with a suspected heart attack has highlighted the shortage of resources for the deaf and hard of hearing in New Brunswick, according to an advocate.
Source: ScienceDaily
Approximately one in 10 adults in the US have tinnitus, and durations of occupational and leisure time noise exposures are correlated with rates of tinnitus and are likely targetable risk factors, according to a study.
Source: TechCrunch
As President Obama approaches the end of his tenure in the White House, his team is launching a wireless networking research project that it hopes could be part of his wider legacy in the world of tech.
Source: ScienceDaily
According a recent study, teenagers are increasingly experiencing tinnitus, often a symptom of hearing loss, as a result of using ear buds to listen to music for long periods every day, as well as frequenting very noisy places like nightclubs, discos and rock concerts. The researchers observed that most of the teenagers who took part in the study reported risky listening habits, and those who reported experiencing tinnitus displayed less tolerance of loud sounds.
Source: ScienceDaily
Parts of the inner ear that process sounds such as speech and music seem to work differently than other parts of the inner ear, researchers have discovered.
