"Turn 'em down and turn 'em off."

A Northwestern University audiologist is concerned that ear-bud style headphones might be significantly more dangerous to your hearing than old-fashioned "muff-style" headphones. He also worries that earbuds, combined with mp3 players - light to wear, with long battery life - have subtly changed our listening habits, and that we're listening to louder music, for longer, pumped directly into our ears, leading to audiologists "seeing the kind of hearing loss in younger people typically found in aging adults".

Switching to "muff-style" headphones is a very small and relatively inexpensive thing for y'all to do. And turn it down. Because take it from someone who knows - your hearing is a terrible thing to waste.

ronnie