Tech
IEEE Considers Safety Guidelines for Neurotech Gadgets
Nonmedical devices that read brainwaves, such as smart headbands, headphones, and glasses, are becoming more popular among consumers. The products claim to make users more productive, creative, and healthier. IEEE Spectrum previewed several of these smart wearables that were introduced at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Since the wearable, noninvasive neurotech products aren’t medical devices, they are not subject to the same forms of regulation—which can lead to gaps in their safety and data privacy, as well as their effect on users’ brains.
UNESCO in November adopted the first global ethical standard for neurotechnologies, establishing guidelines to protect users’ mental privacy, freedom of thought, and human rights. In 2019 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development issued responsible-neurotechnology recommendations. But there are no socio-technical standards for manufacturers to follow.
In response, the IEEE Brain technical community is developing the IEEE P7700 standard: “Recommended Practice for the Responsible Design and Development of Neurotechnologies.”
The proposed standard is being designed to provide a uniform set of definitions and a methodology to assess the ethical and socio-technical considerations and practices regarding the design, development, and use of neurotechnologies including wearable neurodevices for the brain, says Laura Y. Cabrera, the standard’s working group chair. Cabrera, an IEEE senior member, is an associate professor in the engineering science and mechanics department at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. Her research focuses on the ethical and societal implications of neurotechnologies.
“IEEE P7700 addresses the unique characteristics of the technology and its impact on individuals and society, in particular, as it moves from therapeutic users to a wide variety of consumers,” she says.
The standard is sponsored by the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology.
Concern over long-term effects
The multilayered complexity of technologies that interface with the brain and nervous system presents considerations to those developing them, Cabrera says.
“There may be long-term consequences in our brains with these types of technologies,” she says. “Maybe if they were used for a short period of time, there might not be significant consequences. But what are the effects over time?”
Patients using approved brain-stimulation technology, for example, are told of its risks and benefits, but the long-term effects of headbands to improve students’ attention span aren’t known.
“IEEE P7700 addresses the unique characteristics of the technology and its impact on individuals and society, in particular, as it moves from therapeutic users to a wide variety of consumers.”
IEEE P7700 will address potential risks to individuals and possible negative impacts on society, Cabrera says. That includes creating guardrails to prevent harm, she adds.
The cultural implications of using neurotechnologies that interface with the brain also need to be considered, she says, because people have different views.
“The brain is considered the seed of the self and the organ that orchestrates all our thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and emotions,” she says. “The brain is really central to who we are.”
Developing an ethical framework
For the past five years, the IEEE Brain community’s neuroethics committee has been developing a framework to evaluate the ethical, legal, social, and cultural issues that could emerge from use of the technology. The document covers nine types of applications, including those used for wellness.
Because more devices kept entering the market, IEEE Brain decided in 2023 that it was time to begin drafting a standard.
Members of its working group come from Argentina, China, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. Participants include developers, engineers, ethicists, lawyers, and social science researchers.
The standard, Cabrera says, will be the first socio-technical standard aimed at fostering the ethical and responsible innovation of neurotechnology that meets societal and community values at an international level. P7700 will include a how-to guide, criteria for evaluating each suggested process, and case studies to help with the interpretation and practical use of the standard, she says.
“Our applied ethical approach uses a responsible research and innovation method to enable developers, researchers, users, and regulators to anticipate and address ethical and sociocultural implications of neurotechnologies, mitigating negative unintended consequences while increasing community support and engagement with innovators,” Cabrera says.
The working group is seeking additional participants to help refine the process, tools, and recommendations.
“There are a variety of people who can contribute their expertise,” she says, “including academics, data scientists, government program leaders, policymakers, lawyers, social scientists, and users.”
Cabrera says she anticipates the standard will be published early next year.
You can register to participate in the standard’s development here.
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Anker earbuds and headphones may not have the premium status of Apple, Bose and Sony, but the brand’s value-priced products have a loyal following. Anker aficionados have been waiting for the company to release the Pro version of its $100 Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds.
According to NotebookCheck, via leaker AnkerInsider, whose X account appears suspended, the release is near. Two versions of Anker’s new flagship earbuds are due to arrive in the coming months: The Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max. Both will feature a new AI chip called the Anker Thus to power the buds.
Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2026
The new models don’t look anything like the current Liberty 5 buds, which have a traditional stem design. Both new Pro models will feature upgraded noise canceling (Anker’s new Adaptive ANC 4.0), Bluetooth 6.1, an IP55 dust- and water-resistant rating, Dolby Atmos spatial audio, Bluetooth multipoint and an AI-powered audio upscaling feature.
While both the Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty Pro Max have a touchscreen built into their cases, the Max’s case also doubles as a voice recorder with built-in microphones. The recorder will reportedly be able to recognize your voice thanks to voiceprint recognition.
Anker has apparently developed its own AI chip for its flagship earbuds.
The upcoming buds are expected to be officially announced in late May, with the Liberty 5 Pro to be priced at $170, and the Liberty 5 Pro Max retailing for $230 (the Max already have a shell of listing on Best Buy that notes the voice recorder). Both have a battery life of around 6.5 hours with noise cancellation turned on.
AI voice recorders have been proliferating in recent months (you might have seen an ad for one on Facebook or Instagram). Anker is shipping its Soundcore Work coin-sized wearable Al note take/voice recorder for $129 with a $39-off coupon code. Presumably, some of the same technology found in the wearable recorder will make its way over to the Liberty 5 Pro Max.
The Liberty 5 Pro Max won’t be the first pair of earbuds to have a microphone in their case. Nothing’s Ear (3) flagship earbuds have a Super Mic in their case, which had me talking to my hand when making calls. It’s a clear sign that as earbud performance plateaus, brands are getting creative with extra features to help their products stand out from the pack.
Talking to the Nothing Ear (3) case while making a call in the streets of New York. More earbuds cases appear set to have built-in microphones.
A Background Security Improvement in iOS 26.3.1 fixes a WebKit issue in Safari that could break one of the web’s most important safety rules.
Apple has fixed a WebKit bug for Safari and other browsers
Apple released a Background Security Improvement on March 17 for iOS 26.3.1, iPadOS 26.3.1, macOS 26.3.1, and macOS 26.3.2. The update fixes a WebKit flaw that could let a malicious website bypass a key browser security rule.
The company said the issue was caused by a cross-origin problem in the Navigation API and assigned it CVE-2026-20643. Apple addressed the flaw by improving input validation to stop harmful web content from breaking the browser’s protections.
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The closures come nine years after the brand opened its first outlet here
Australian premium tea retailer T2 Tea is set to close all three of its outlets and exit Singapore, according to a report from The Business Times.
Its stores at 313@Somerset, Suntec City, and VivoCity are currently running clearance sales with discounts of up to 30%.
When the publication visited the Suntec City branch yesterday (Mar 16), most of its stock had been cleared from the shelves. The store is expected to cease operations on March 25.
Despite the closures, customers can still purchase products via T2 Tea’s online store.
T2 Tea closed all of its UK outlets in 2023
T2 Tea was founded in 1996 in Melbourne, with retail stores in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. As of June 2025, it reportedly had 62 stores across these markets.
In 2013, it was acquired by Unilever, and later sold to private equity group CVC Capital Partners for about S$6.6 billion in 2021.
T2 Tea entered Singapore in 2017 with a flagship outlet at 313@Somerset, marking its first expansion into Asia. The store offered more than 100 tea blends, ranging from classic options like English Breakfast to signature creations such as Melbourne Breakfast. It also launched a Singapore-exclusive blend inspired by kaya toast.
In recent years, however, the company has faced challenges.
In 2023, it exited the UK market, closing all stores and its online platform there, citing “unprecedented changes” at the time. It had said it would refocus on markets closer to home, including New Zealand and Singapore.
Vulcan Post has reached out to T2 Tea for more information.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Gemma Chin via Google Reviews/ T2 Tea Singapore via Instagram
It’s only been two years since Dune: Part Two but we already have a trailer for the third installment. The appropriately-named Dune: Part Three is an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah book from 1969.
Just like the book, the latest film takes place a number of years after Dune: Part Two. “If the first movie was contemplation, a boy exploring a new world, and the second one is a war movie, this one is a thriller,” . “It is action-packed and tense. More muscular.”
Despite the time jump, most primary actors are returning. This includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Javier Bardem. Anya Taylor-Joy, who briefly appeared in the second film, is also coming back. The same goes for Jason Momoa, despite his Duncan Idaho character dying in the first film. Book readers will likely understand what that means.
The trailer also highlights the antagonist Scytale, as portrayed by Robert Pattinson. He should be a more nuanced villain than Baron Harkonnen, though that’s not exactly a high bar.
The release date is coming up fast. Dune: Part Three hits theaters on December 18. That’s this year. Villeneuve had intended to take a break after making the second one to focus on a smaller and more personal film, but said that he kept “waking in the middle of the night” with potential images from the third installment.
Video StoreAge is a new company focused on creating physical releases of indie films. The startup aims to take a more authorial approach to distribution, using a patented encrypted USB drive to share its curated titles. Its ultimate goal is to disrupt algorithm-driven distribution in favor of communities and grassroots…
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OpenClaw took the tech industry by surprise earlier this year when an Austrian engineer created the first version in roughly an hour. This small project swept through the community like wildfire as the most open-source endeavor on record, allowing anyone to set up a personal AI agent to operate directly on their own PC and accomplish tasks like organizing files or pounding out code without sending any data off to who knows where. At GTC, NVIDIA introduced NemoClaw, a software add-on for OpenClaw that can be installed with a single command. This new layer includes the security features and privacy controls that transform these agents from fun little experiments to useful business solutions.
NemoClaw is simple to integrate into your existing setup since it introduces OpenShell, a runtime that isolates each agent in its own small bubble. Then you can create rules in plain text files that specify which folders the agent may browse, which networks it can connect to, and which external services it can access. Everything else, and we mean everything, is off limits, and every step they make leaves a clear paper trail for you to follow.
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NVIDIA is marrying this with some of their own open models known as Nemotron, which run locally on whatever hardware is available. You’re talking everything from RTX-powered laptops to entire workstations and dedicated AI systems. When you need a little more horsepower, you can utilize a privacy router to connect to more powerful cloud models while keeping all of your sensitive information in-house. The end result is a framework that allows your agents to work in a mix of local and remote resources while maintaining tight boundaries.
Companies are already putting these components to use in real-world situations. Cisco runs agents that detect security flaws, verify databases, map affected devices, and create a thorough remediation plan, all of which must be checked against the rules in real time. Box uses the same framework to handle invoices and contracts, using abilities that work well with existing access levels. NVIDIA has also partnered with Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and a few more large brands to achieve the same level of control across all of their technologies. OpenClaw agents run 24 hours a day, seven days a week on personal computers, professional workstations, and servers without interfering with anything else. If you have dedicated hardware, you can keep them up and running for hours, if not days, while they work.
It is currently available as an early preview through official sources, such as on Github. Users can begin testing right away, although NVIDIA says some rough edges must be ironed out before they are formally put into production. Developers have complete access to the toolkit, which includes sample models, runtimes, and guidance for creating their own agents. Jensen Huang referred to OpenClaw as the operating system for personal AI, indicating a trend toward software that can be instructed to do things. Peter Steinberger, the original creator of OpenClaw, sees this combination as a method for users to design and run their own secure assistants.
As electronics demand higher energy density, one component has proved challenging to shrink: the capacitor. Making a smaller capacitor usually requires thinning the dielectric layer or electrode surface area, which has often resulted in a reduction of power. A new polymer material could help change that.
In a study published 18 February in Nature, a Pennsylvania State University-led team reported a capacitor crafted from a polymer blend that can operate at temperatures up to 250 °C while storing roughly four times as much energy as conventional polymer capacitors. Today’s advanced polymer capacitors typically function only up to about 100 °C, meaning engineers often rely on bulky cooling systems in high-power electronics. The research team has filed a patent for the polymer capacitors and plans to bring them to market.
Capacitors deliver rapid bursts of energy and stabilize voltage in circuits, making them essential in applications ranging from electric vehicles and aerospace electronics to power-grid infrastructure and AI data centers. Yet while transistors have steadily shrunk with advances in semiconductor manufacturing, passive components such as capacitors and inductors have not scaled at the same pace.
“Capacitors can account for 30 to 40 percent of the volume in some power electronics systems,” says Qiming Zhang, an electrical engineering researcher at Penn State and study author, explaining why it’s important to make smaller capacitors.
A plastics blend more powerful than its parts
The research team combined two commercially available engineered plastics: polyetherimide (PEI), originally developed by General Electric and widely used in industrial equipment, and PBPDA, known for strong heat resistance and electrical insulation. When processed together under controlled conditions, the polymers self-assemble into nanoscale structures that form thin dielectric films inside capacitors. Those structures help suppress electrical leakage while allowing the material to polarize strongly in an electric field, allowing greater energy storage.
The resulting material exhibits an unusually high dielectric constant—a measure of how much electrical energy a material can store. Most polymer dielectrics have values around four, but the blended polymer dielectric in the new work had a value of 13.5.
“If you look at the literature up to now, no one has reached this level of dielectric constant in this type of polymer system,” Zhang says. “Putting two commonly used polymers together and seeing this kind of performance was a surprise to many people.”
Because the material can remain operational even at elevated temperatures—such as those from extreme environmental heat or hot spots in densely built components—capacitors built from this polymer could potentially store the same amount of energy in a smaller package.
“With this material, you can make the same device using about [one-fourth as much] material,” Zhang says. “Because the polymers themselves are inexpensive, the cost does not increase. At the same time, the component can become smaller and lighter.”
How the polymer mix improves capacitors
The researchers’ finding is “a big advancement,” says Alamgir Karim, a polymer research director at the University of Houston who was not involved in the Penn State development. “Normally when you mix polymers, you don’t expect the dielectric constant to increase.”
Karim says the effect likely arises from nanoscale interfaces created when the polymers partially separate. “At about a 50–50 mixture, the polymers don’t fully mix and instead create a very large interfacial area,” he says. “Those interfaces may be where the unusual electrical behavior comes from.”
If the material can be produced at scale, it could help address a key bottleneck in high-power electronics. Higher-temperature capacitors could reduce cooling requirements and allow engineers to pack more power into smaller systems—an advantage for aerospace platforms, electric vehicles, the electric grid, and other high-temperature environments.
But translating the concept from laboratory methods to commercial manufacturing may present challenges, says Zongliang Xie, a postdoctoral researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Penn State team is now producing small dielectric films, but industrial capacitor manufacturing typically requires continuous rolls of material that can extend for kilometers.
“Industry generally prefers extrusion-based processing because it’s easier and cheaper to control,” Xie says. “Scaling to produce great lengths of film while maintaining the same structure and performance could complicate matters. There’s potential, but it’s also challenging.”
Still, researchers say the discovery demonstrates that new performance limits may still be unlocked using familiar materials. “Developing the material is only the first step,” Zhang says. “But it shows people that this barrier can be broken.”
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Crowds flocked to the AMC Century City theater in Los Angeles this morning for a special IMAX event featuring the first look at the concluding chapter in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” saga. Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Javier Bardem, and Anya Taylor-Joy came out to meet the fans in person, while Timothée Chalamet sent in a video greeting via his phone. The energy in the room altered suddenly, as this plot picks up 17 years after the previous film finished and revolves around what happens when someone gains too much power.
The footage starts with Paul and Chani having a private conversation about what they could name their future child. Ghanima for a girl and Leto for a male, but even it felt tight, a result of how they’d begun to drift apart in the last film. Within seconds, the screen was filled with broader pictures of Paul and Stilgar exploring the cosmos on new planets, as their reach for the Atreides empire grew rapidly. Large sights of fleets of ships slicing across alien sky, as well as soldiers moving across rocky terrain far from Arrakis.
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Chani showed up shortly, this time fighting her way through a violent battle scene. A sandworm can be spotted in the midst of it all, balancing on its back before diving into the melee. Just as Chani was in the middle of it, Alia, now all grown up and played by Anya Taylor-Joy, stepped into several critical frames of her own.
Paul himself provides some of the low, echoing vocals that run under the music throughout, while Robert Pattinson appears as Scytale, the shape-shifter who is as slick as ever and whose loyalties are impossible to read. Jason Momoa has also returned, and Duncan Idaho was seen briefly. Returning cast members include Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica), Florence Pugh (Princess Irulan), and Javier Bardem (Stilgar), who join an already impressive group.
Villeneuve described this installment as a fast-paced thriller centered on action and pressure. Note how, even in the midst of all that upheaval, Paul and Chani’s link remains strong, as he describes it as a steady pulse that runs through everything, with a focus primarily on the two of them. He also emphasizes how the large jump in time allows Alia to become much more vital to the tale, which the previous films just hinted at. Also, it appears that Hans Zimmer has returned to the soundtrack. Fans who left the theater today are already counting down the days until December 18, 2026, when the film is released.
If your house is already lined with Sonos products, you may want a pair of over-ear headphones that know how to play nice with your other speakers. As it turns out, Sonos actually makes a pair of over-ear headphones, the Ace, and they’re currently just $299 on Amazon. That’s a great deal, and one that almost ties the all-time low price for these cans.
Not only do the Sonos Ace integrate with your existing Sonos setup via Bluetooth, they’re also great headphones in their own right. They have a crisp, flat audio profile, something Sonos is known for, and our reviewer Parker Hall specifically called out their ability to handle any song “with a good bass line.” They have great detail, with a dynamic sound that handles a variety of genres well.
They’re also one of the more comfortable headsets you can buy, largely thanks to their impressive lightness. At just 11 ounces, it’s easy to feel like you’re wearing nothing at all, and they have good clamping force on the side that helps take a lot of the pressure off the top of your head. If fit and finish are a top priority for your headset, the Sonos Ace have both by the truckload.
The ANC is right up there with the best headsets you can buy, and in particular handled low-frequency rumbles adeptly. Transparency mode is excellent too, with a clarity to conversations that doesn’t have you feeling like you’re talking to someone through a tin can. While they lack some of the convenience features found on other headsets, they make up for it with multipoint pairing, and you can adjust all the settings to your liking in the Sonos app.
While the Sonos Ace are available in multiple colors, I only spotted the black model marked down to the $300 sale price. As I write this, the white model is in stock at a slightly higher $365, which may or may not be worth it, depending on how much the aesthetics matter to you. If you’re not sold on the Sonos Ace, make sure to check out our full roundup of the best headphones, with hands-on testing from our team of audio experts.
After their dramatic falling-out, it doesn’t seem as though Anthropic and the Pentagon are getting back together.
Instead, the Pentagon is building tools to replace Anthropic’s AI, according to a Bloomberg conversation with Cameron Stanley, the chief digital and AI officer at the Pentagon.
“The Department is actively pursuing multiple LLMs into the appropriate government-owned environments,” he said. “Engineering work has begun on these LLMs, and we expect to have them available for operational use very soon.”
Anthropic’s $200 million contract with the Department of Defense (DOD) broke down over the last several weeks after the two parties failed to come to an agreement over the degree to which the military could obtain unrestricted access to Anthropic’s AI.
While Anthropic sought to include a contractual clause that prohibits the Pentagon from using its AI for mass surveillance of Americans or to deploy weapons that can fire without human intervention, the Pentagon didn’t budge. Instead, OpenAI swooped in and made its own agreement with the Pentagon. The Department of Defense — known under the Trump administration as the Department of War — also signed an agreement with Elon Musk’s xAI to use Grok in classified systems.
It makes sense, then, why the Pentagon would be working on phasing Anthropic’s technology out of its workflows. While some reports said there was a small possibility that Anthropic would reconcile with the Pentagon, this news suggests that the government is preparing to forge ahead without them.
In fact, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk, a designation usually reserved for foreign adversaries, which bars companies that work with the Pentagon from working with Anthropic as well. Anthropic is challenging this designation in court.
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