In a paper published today in 

Nature, a team led by Steven Barrett from the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT) described how they created a so-called electroaerodynamic-
powered plane, one that uses solid-state propulsion, meaning no propellers or jet engines
with expendable fuel.
“The future of flight shouldn’t be things with propellers and turbines,” Barrett says in the
video below. “[It] should be more like what you see in Star Trek, with a kind of blue glow and
something that silently glides through the air.”

This breakthrough has not been possible before because our technology simply wasn’t
advanced enough. As far back as 1921, scientists have been unsuccessful in trying to
develop something similar, once mistaken for anti-gravity technology. But now the team say
that key technology advances have enabled this to happen.

In a paper published today in Nature, a team led by Steven Barrett from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) described how they created a so-called electroaerodynamic-
powered plane, one that uses solid-state propulsion, meaning no propellers or jet engines
with expendable fuel.
“The future of flight shouldn’t be things with propellers and turbines,” Barrett says in the
video below. “[It] should be more like what you see in Star Trek, with a kind of blue glow and
something that silently glides through the air.”

This breakthrough has not been possible before because our technology simply wasn’t
advanced enough. As far back as 1921, scientists have been unsuccessful in trying to
develop something similar, once mistaken for anti-gravity technology. But now the team say
that key technology advances have enabled this to happen.

In a paper published today in Nature, a team led by Steven Barrett from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) described how they created a so-called electroaerodynamic-
powered plane, one that uses solid-state propulsion, meaning no propellers or jet engines
with expendable fuel.
“The future of flight shouldn’t be things with propellers and turbines,” Barrett says in the
video below. “[It] should be more like what you see in Star Trek, with a kind of blue glow and
something that silently glides through the air.”

This breakthrough has not been possible before because our technology simply wasn’t
advanced enough. As far back as 1921, scientists have been unsuccessful in trying to
develop something similar, once mistaken for anti-gravity technology. But now the team say
that key technology advances have enabled this to happen.

In a paper published today in Nature, a team led by Steven Barrett from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) described how they created a so-called electroaerodynamic-
powered plane, one that uses solid-state propulsion, meaning no propellers or jet engines
with expendable fuel.
“The future of flight shouldn’t be things with propellers and turbines,” Barrett says in the
video below. “[It] should be more like what you see in Star Trek, with a kind of blue glow and
something that silently glides through the air.”
This breakthrough has not been possible before because our technology simply wasn’t
advanced enough. As far back as 1921, scientists have been unsuccessful in trying to
develop something similar, once mistaken for anti-gravity technology. But now the team say
that key technology advances have enabled this to happen.