How loud would the sun be measured on Earth if its soundwaves could propagate through space? The answer might surprise you, as solar physicists estimate that the solar surface noise would be approximately 100dB by the time it reaches Earth! The enormity of the sun’s surface paired with its capability of generating of tens of thousands of watts of sound energy per meter makes the sun astronomically loud.
Much of the focus of the Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aid Act of 2017 (S.670 and H.R.1652) has been on improving accessibility and affordability to hearing aids by providing a “do-it-yourself” (DIY) distribution channel for patients who are comfortable with self-assessment and fitting of hearing aids.
Do you wish your work meetings were more productive? Maybe it is time to leave the confines of the traditional conference room behind and take the meeting outdoors?
Angel Chelick's article on the American Council of Exercise's website suggests that outdoor walking meetings improve creativity and facilitate conversation between co-workers. As an added bonus, we all know walking has cardiovascular health benefits (not to mention the added steps you will get on your fitness tracker).
A recent commission from "The Lancet" focused on dementia. In this review, the authors outline nine potentially modifiable health and lifestyle factors from different phases of life that, if eliminated, might prevent or at least delay dementia. The authors stress that dementia, much like hearing loss, is not an inevitable consequence of aging, rather it is multifaceted and potentially 1/3 of cases preventable.
A recent study suggests that recovery from TBI (traumatic brain injury) may be different between males and female subjects. Historically, TBI studies have used predominately male subjects, whether they be mice or men. However, investigating the effects of injury, disease, and pharmacological treatments in both male and female subjects has led to significant changes to clinical practice across numerous disciplines.
Until recently, no studies have examined vocabulary outcomes of children with hearing loss that have met all three components of the EHDI guidelines:
You’ve been on the hunt for a new job. You’ve gone on the interview and have been offered the job. Now what? Should you accept?
If you find yourself in this situation, you may want to check out Rebecca Knight's article, “How to Evaluate, Accept, Reject, or Negotiate a Job Offer,” in Harvard Business Review. This article provides the reader with job-offer consideration, potential negotiation strategies, and, if appropriate, how to turn down the job offer. She even provides two case study examples.
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As audiologists, we know firsthand the impact that hearing loss has on communication. Before we begin speaking, we look at our patients and provide an unobstructed view of our face. As soon as patients walk into our office, we adjust the volume, pitch, and tempo of our speech to ensure that they can hear and understand us. We hope that other health-care providers, including physicians, are also attuned to their patients’ hearing needs particularly when helping older adults where a prevalence of hearing loss is high.
It is so very interesting how one can know two different facts very well but not connect them. For example, I have known from the very first days of studying audiology that the peripheral auditory structure is mature in the human by the third trimester of prenatal life. I have also known for a while that the incidence of hearing loss is higher in babies born prematurely, compared to those delivered after a full-term pregnancy. And when I say higher, I mean alarmingly higher.
Jason Moon of the New Hampshire Public Radio, reports that researchers at the University of New Hampshire are studying communication strategies of American Burying Beetles.
NPR featured a piece on “All Things Considered,” considering how to improve speech understanding in noisy environments. The segment focused on an ongoing study by Frank Russo, the director of the Science of Music, Auditory Research, and Technology Lab (SMART Lab) at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Understanding and reducing falls in the elderly is an important cornerstone in vestibular and balance rehabilitation, and there may be a new tool on the horizon that could change the way our patients achieve this, namely, exoskeleton technology. Previously, the use of exoskeletons assistance has been limited. Initial prototypes were cumbersome and designed for those with significant motor-control impairment, which left most of the control to the device itself.
Imagine traveling thousands of miles with your newborn in search of food. Now imagine doing this in almost complete darkness. This is exactly what humpback whales and their newborns do as a matter of routine. The journey to the food-rich Antarctic or Arctic waters from their tropical breeding grounds can be thousands of miles. The mother and calf swim in deep ocean waters where light is scarce and therefore vision is not very useful. The pair has to depend on sound to keep track of each other. But broadcasting their presence to killer whales can be fatal.
Got plans to visit Canada anytime soon? The Museum London in London, Ontario, will be hosting the exhibit “Sounds Assembling: Communication and the Art of Noise.” The artwork includes glass panels etched with waveforms corresponding to spoken word (Artist: James Joynes) and a hand-cranked musical device that plays notes corresponding to the noise of insects (Artist: Kevin Curtis Norcross).
In 2015, the President’s Council on Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) issued recommendations intended to improve hearing health- care delivery. Subsequently, the FDA and other federal agencies and consumer advocacy groups sponsored a study published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in June 2016. Further considerations have been discussed in an FDA (April 2016) and FTC (April 2017) workshops. A common issue discussed in each of these reports and workshops is the high cost of hearing aids as a primary factor in adoption rates.
