New Atlas

Drones Audio available

Insect-inspired drone folds its arms for improved flight

Ben Coxworth April 16, 2019

Whereas quadcopter drones simply have four rigid propeller-bearing arms, flying insects are able to adjust the angle of their wings according to the situation. Inspired by that fact, scientists have created a drone that can fold its arms while in flight, allowing for better performance.

The folding-arm drone is claimed to be better than regular quadcopters at flying in the wind, ...

Aircraft

MetaFly is that flying robotic insect you've been looking for

Ben Coxworth March 6, 2019

Five years ago, French aeronautical engineer Edwin Van Ruymbeke successfully crowdfunded his Bionic Bird – it's a remote-control model that flies by flapping its wings, just like a real bird. Now he's back, with the insect-inspired MetaFly.

The MetaFly can be flown both indoors and outdoors (if the winds aren't too strong)

Military

RAF Typhoon fighters carry first Mach-4 Meteor missiles on intercept mission

David Szondy December 10, 2018

RAF Typhoon Eurofighters have taken off for the first time on an active mission armed with the latest-generation Meteor air-to-air missiles that are capable of flying at over Mach 4 (2,967 mph, 4,775 km/h).

An RAF Typhoon equipped with Meteor missiles takes off from RAF Lossiemout

Aircraft Audio available

Solid-state, ion-drive airplane silently flies with no fuel or moving parts

David Szondy November 21, 2018

A team of MIT engineers have flown what was long thought impossible – a heavier than air craft that needs no moving parts for achieving powered lift. The 5-lb (2.3-kg) does not use propellers, turbines, or fans, but relies on a silent stream of ionized air to maintain steady flight.

A new MIT plane is propelled via ionic wind

Aircraft Audio available

Virgin Orbit's "flying launchpad" completes first captive carry flight

David Szondy November 19, 2018

Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl took to the skies over Southern California on November 18, 2018 carrying a 70-ft-long (21-m) rocket for the first time. The specially modified 747-400 aircraft with the LauncherOne booster under its port wing took off from Victorville, California on an 80-min test flight.

Sunday's test flight was the first carrying LauncherOne

Science Audio available

Scientists unlock the secrets of flying dandelion seeds

James Holloway October 19, 2018

Carried by the wind, dandelion seeds can travel enormous distances of more than a kilometer (0.6 miles). Now, researchers at The University of Edinburgh have discovered that this is thanks to a remarkable form of flight never before seen in nature.

The researchers think the discovery could inform the design of tiny airborne drones

Aircraft

DelFly Nimble MAV is the closest thing yet to a robot fruit fly

Loz Blain September 13, 2018

For 13 years now, a Dutch research team has been building autonomous flying robots inspired by the humble fruit fly. Now, with the DelFly Nimble, they've achieved their closest mimic yet, with an incredibly agile fly-bot capable of multi-axis hovering and even turning flips.

The latest generation DelFly Nimble looks astonishingly like a fruit fly in flight, and can now ...

Aircraft Audio available

Could the Airfish-8 finally get the Wing In Ground Effect Vehicle up and running?

Loz Blain September 3, 2018

A Singaporean company is resurrecting a post-WW2 German design to commercialize a beautiful reverse-delta ground effect vehicle as a high-speed, high-efficiency ferry for 6-8 passengers. The Airfish 8 hovers serenely between 2 and 23 feet over the water and hits speeds of almost 120 mph.

Wigetworks' Airfish-8 is another incarnation of the ground effect vehicle hoping to find commercial success

Aircraft Audio available

Record-breaking Perlan 2 glider soars ever closer to the edge of space

Nick Lavars September 2, 2018

Airbus' Perlan 2 glider is continuing to push the limits of engineless flight, hitting a succession of record altitudes throughout the last week, culminating in a unprecedented 76,000-ft (23,000-m) climb on Sunday.

The Perlan 2 glider in action during a record-breaking flight last week

Drones

Flying sheepdogs: Herding birds away from planes with autonomous drones

Nick Lavars August 9, 2018

A lot has been made of the dangers of drones mixing with other aircraft, but one team of engineers is exploring how they can guard planes from threats rather than present new ones by developing drones that can shepherd birds away from flight paths like robotic aerial sheepdogs.

A new algorithm could allow drones to reduce collisions between birds and planes