Chinese scientists suggest they’re bringing space plasma thrusters down to Earth, with a new kind that performs as well in the atmosphere as others do in the vacuum of space. Using just air and ...

A Chinese team has demonstrated a prototype of a microwave plasma thruster capable of working in the Earth's atmosphere and producing thrust with an efficiency comparable to the jet engines you'd find ...

Assuming we hand-wave all of the scaling questions (!!), what this really looks like is a step towards real electrically-power airplanes. If I read this correctly, this system is considerably more ...

One of the great things about technology nowadays is how quickly an idea can get out there and take off. That’s because concepts are now able to get the funding they need in order to get their ...

A new plasma thruster could scale up to compete with traditional jet engines. The plasma is magnified by high-intensity microwaves and pressurized air. Researchers had to invent a way to measure the 1 ...

Assuming we hand-wave all of the scaling questions (!!), what this really looks like is a step towards real electrically-power airplanes. If I read this correctly, this system is considerably more ...