Mr Berezhkov was trained as an engineer but had an ear for languages and as a child had picked up English and German from his parents.

ECONOMIST: Valentin Berezhkov

The result is a work by someone who not only understands Homer's Greek, but who also has an ear for modern verse.

ECONOMIST: Homer��s ��Iliad��

Granted, Klipsch has that oval shape all sorts of locked down, but once you've used an ear tip that's actually engineered to fit in one's ear (hint: ear holes aren't perfect circles), you'll have a hard time using anything else.

ENGADGET: IRL: Logitech UE 900 headphones, Nokia Lumia 900 and the Galaxy Note II

But this time people will also be keeping an ear out for some crucial news from distant Britain.

BBC: Decision looms on future for British polar research

But most people are only listening with half an ear, and much of what they think they know is wrong.

FORBES: Americans get low grades on how green cars work

You wouldn't immediately think of the ear's cochlea as an energy source, but MIT knows that every mammal effectively has a pair of very small power plants because of the ionized environment.

ENGADGET: MIT ear-powered wireless sensor sustains its charge through sound

Such a simple trait, but one that makes all the difference, and this is where an over-ear design comes into its own.

ENGADGET: blogger-avatar

But when I looked at Lihn again there was an enthusiast with him, whispering something in his ear before leaving the booth to find his friends, who were scattered around the room.

NEWYORKER: Meeting with Enrique Lihn

But it will restore enough function to the damaged ear to allow her to hear things such as an approaching car, which obviously is important for safety.

CNN: Malala: 'I'm feeling better' after skull surgery

The engineers found a way to kick-start a radio-frequency device wirelessly using an external power source initially, but running the device afterward on the output of power generated by the inner ear.

WSJ: Harnessing Energy From the Body to Power Devices