ZF develops 9-speed auto transmission for improved efficiency

First application of the ZF 9 speed auto is in the Range Rover Evoque.
Credit: ZF/ Land Rover/ Green Car Reports

Not so much ridiculous to the sublime, more the ridiculous to to the ridiculouser!

One of the deficiencies of the internal combustion engine is the small range of engine speeds over which it's abysmal efficiency (less than 30%) reaches a maximum.  Solution: more gear ratios allow an engine to remain in its (relatively) efficient rpm range more of the time.  ZF is about to release a 9 speed auto at the Geneva Motor Show. First application is in the Range Rover Evoque, seen above.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082580_zf-develops-9-speed-auto-transmission-for-improved-efficiency

Crazy as 9 ratios sounds, during the late 60s, 50cc racing motor cycles had 15 to 20 gears. Mike Hailwood (multiple world champion on full size GP motorcycles) said that, "rubber ankles", were required to ride them. All those ratios were required because of the very narrow power band which accompanied 20hp at 20,000 rpm.     / internal combustion engine ICE gear box ratio gearbox ratio gears efficient engine speed range labouring laboring rev scream Grand Prix /

Max Virtual Cynaps Bluetooth bone conduction headset review

Portable music players & smartphones have made earphones ubiquitous.  But they are not without their shortcomings.  They fall out, ambient sound intrudes & some people find them uncomfortable.  Full size earphones have problems of their own.

Another alternative is bone conduction.  You hear you own voice partly by bone conduction.  This is why a recoding of your voice sounds so different than the way you normally hear it.  The recoded  version eliminates the bone conduction component.

Cynaps is a Bluetooth bone conduction headset which is fitted inside headwear, such as a cap or bicycle helmet.  Headwear can be supplied with the headset fitted, or you can buy a kit which you can fit to your own hat or helmet.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/02/27/cynaps-bluetooth-bone-conduction-headset-review/#more-123515     / baseball cap hat Max Virtual retrofitted it with. Their Cynaps system is a wireless Bluetooth bone-conduction headset integrated headgear listen to your music phone calls without wires or the need for anything in your ears bones skull compressional bone conduction high-pitched frequency sounds segments skull vibrate individually vibrations compression compressing compress bony case inner ear stimulate sensory cells perceiving sound waves in the air inertial bone conduction low-pitched low sounds vibrate the entire skull perception of sound just as if airborne compressional waves were moving those sensory parts while the skull was stationary /