A nearly silent, drone-sized aircraft has shown it can fly, thanks to a scientist who was inspired by watching "Star Trek" as a child.
With neither propellers nor jets, the airplane gets its thrust by applying a strong electric field to the air.
That general idea has been demonstrated at science fairs, but the new work shows it can power a free-flying airplane.
So can people look forward to travelling in planes that are almost silent and emit no air pollution?
He recalled thinking, "There should be a way things should fly without having propellers and (jet) turbines."
As an adult, he focused on that and came across a concept called "ionic wind."
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