Free Republic

Hearing loss is thought to affect as much as 15% of American adults, but hearing aids aren’t always easy to come by. A team of scientists exploring low-cost alternatives has turned to Apple’s AirPods as a potential solution, assessing them alongside conventional hearing aids to find they stack up surprisingly well. Not only are hearing aids expensive, obtaining them usually involves a series of medical exams, a prescription from an audiologist and then follow-up visits to ensure they are properly tuned. US authorities have made moves to improve access to these devices, with the FDA recently establishing a new category...

Small, snug, and unyoked from laptop or phone, AirPods are easy to wear for hours at a time, without a second thought. This, BuzzFeed News recently declared, is “Making Things Awkward for Everyone Else.” All-day AirPod wear can make social interactions clumsy and uncomfortable: Has the AirPod wearer hung up the call or turned off their music? The person on the other end of the interaction doesn’t know. Particularly in situations that require some sustained face-to-face communication—ordering coffee or crossing paths with a co-worker—wearing AirPods and ignoring others, intentionally or not, can be a jerk move, BuzzFeed News concludes. But...

Cancer from wireless tech including the trendy in-ear headphones In 2018, Apple sold 29 million pairs of AirPods The tiny wireless Bluetooth headphones fit into the ear canal The close proximity of AirPods to the brain and inner ear may raise cancer risks Apple's popular wireless AirPods headphones may pose cancer risks to wearers, according to a United Nations and World Health Organization petition. Some 250 have signed the petition, which warns against numerous devices that emit radiofrequency radiation, which is used in WiFi, cellular data and Bluetooth. AirPods in particular are concerning because they sit deeply enough within the...