Having already re-engineered vacuum cleaners and fans from the ground up, Dyson has now applied its expertise at moving air to an appliance you probably use every day, and despise doing so. The Dyson Supersonic wants to replace the hair dryer in your bathroom with a lighter, safer, and quieter alternative.
Meet the Aerion AS2. It’s the first supersonic private jet in the world and it just got a 20-unit order from Flexjet, a private air company. It’s going to change the way some people (rich people!) fly because it can hit speeds of Mach 1.5 thus shaving down the hours needed to travel across the world. For example,…
The first time I saw this image I thought of an inter-dimensional portal of evil sucking in reality. It's actually the test of the Nammo hybrid rocket engine that will power the Bloodhound. If everything goes as planned, the Bloodhound will be the first supersonic car to reach 1000mph (1,609.34 km/h).
When you're trying to build the fastest car in human history, like the guys making the Bloodhound SSC, you have to make wheels that basically re-invent the wheel. To reach 1000mph and go supersonic, the wheels they're using weigh over 230 pounds, nearly 3 feet wide and spin four times faster than a F1 car.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s, aviation engineers struggled to overcome an important issue: That planes became increasingly difficult to control, the closer they got to the sound barrier. It wasn't until NASA strapped a pair of custom-made wings onto this fighter that supersonic flight became not just feasible, but…
Windows are kind of a drag for airplanes—literally. They add extra weight, weaken the body, and generally slow the aircraft down. That's why the new Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet won't have any. Instead, passengers get to enjoy their sky-high surroundings on real-time, panoramic video screens.
SpaceShipTwo just finished its third rocket-powered test and reached the highest altitude its ever been at 71,000 feet by hitting a maximum velocity of Mach 1.4. You can see the new reflective coating on the rocket plane's tail booms which perfectly reflects the flame and our Earth. Lovely. Cant wait to book my ticket!
Delivering a nuclear strike is only the first phase of a mission. Next comes the most important part: hightailing it out of there before the entire area turns to glass. And for crews aboard America's first supersonic bomber, getting the heck out of Dodge was done at twice the speed of sound.
The ability to drop bombs on targets a continent away can be a huge tactical advantage (even if it is just saber-rattling). Doing so at supersonic speeds, nearly automatically, is even better. That's why the UK has spent the better part of a decade developing the Taranis, one of the biggest and fastest UAV in…
Recently, a group of students at Purdue University used a simple device to make a ping-pong ball break the speed of sound. But that's not the coolest part. The device they used, called a de Laval nozzle, is actually centuries old. It's no exaggeration to call this the gadget that made the industrial revolution…
NASA and its partners keep making progress in their quest to design a new passenger airliner that can fly supersonic without making a lot of noise, one of the main problems with the Concorde. And that progress looks space-age awesome.
Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking supersonic jump was an amazing feat of human endeavour. But getting Felix to break the speed of sound caused Red Bull Stratos technical project director Art Thompson some engineering headaches. Here's how he solved them.
This is unforgivable. With all the hoopla about yesterday's crazy supersonic space jump, we didn't celebrate yesterday's 65th anniversary of the first man to go faster than the speed of sound, a true American hero: the now retired Brigadier General Chuck Yeager.
Skydiver Felix Baumgartner wasn't able to attempt his record-setting jump last week on account of the weather. He tries again today, and you can follow his mission live on YouTube. His capsule was expected to launch at 11 AM ET (Update: Doors have opened and he's preparing to jump!), so keep your eyes and ears on…
If you're tuned into Brazilian national politics, maybe there's some sort of metaphor here. But for the rest of us, awesome video of sonic boom resulting in massive destruction!—these fighters just ruined Brazil's Supreme Court.
When you think of super sonic flight, you probably first think of the Concorde. But that wasn't the first super sonic transporter and it certainly wasn't the first commercial plane break the sound barrier. Those honors belong to the Tupolev TU-144, the USSR's only super sonic transport.
The Concorde became the premiere transport across the Atlantic in part because it was precluded from flying over populated areas due to the sonic boom it creates. A new two-wing design, however, may hold the secret to silently breaking the sound barrier. Guile does not approve.
The Concorde was birthed as a symbol. It was a symbol of diplomacy (the result of a treaty between France and England) and a symbol of progress (the first commercial supersonic airliner). But it died a symbol of failure.
This is the supersonic wind tunnel located on Tennessee's Arnold Air Force Base. It is used to test "advanced hypersonic technologies such as wave-rider-type vehicles, scramjets and transatmospheric space planes." And it appears terrifying. Just look at the full-sized image.
