Free Republic

Taking a plot point from the 1990 Sean Connery movie thriller The Hunt for Red October, DARPA is working on a super-silent submarine drive that has no moving parts and provides propulsion through the water using magnets and electricity. In Red October, the titular Soviet super-submarine was equipped with a fictional stealth drive that was based on a very real technology. Since the late 1950s, engineers have been interested in an exotic concept called magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). It's a very simple principle that produces a very simple propulsion mechanism. In an MHD drive, a fluid, like air or water, is given...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Flying saucers may soon be more fact than mere science fiction. University of Florida mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor Subrata Roy has submitted a patent application for a circular, spinning aircraft design reminiscent of the spaceships seen in countless Hollywood films. Roy, however, calls his design a “wingless electromagnetic air vehicle,” or WEAV. The proposed prototype is small – the aircraft will measure less than six inches across – and will be efficient enough to be powered by on-board batteries. Roy said the design can be scaled up and theoretically should work in a much larger...