Transportation

A white and black vertical takeoff aircraft, marked "N302AX," flies against a clear blue sky with multiple propellers visible.

Flying cars are almost here — but who will actually fly them?

Air taxi services could launch soon, but only if regulators and developers can make operating eVTOLs appealing to prospective pilots.

Kristin Houser

A solar-powered car races along a highway surrounded by sparse vegetation under a clear blue sky.

Cars

Why aren’t there solar-powered cars?

There are a number of reasons why solar-powered cars aren’t an option for everyday travel, at least not yet.

Chen Liu

Black electric sedan in motion on a road with motion blur effect.

Transportation

Elon Musk: Tesla will unveil a “robotaxi” on 8/8

While denying reports that Tesla won’t be making a low-cost EV, CEO Elon Musk announced plans to unveil a “robotaxi” on August 8, 2024.

Kristin Houser

Hypersonic aircraft startup Hermeus' Quarterhorse Mk 1 on a runway

Aerospace

Hypersonic startup unveils its first aircraft

Hermeus just unveiled its first flight vehicle, putting it a major step closer to developing first-of-their-kind hypersonic aircraft.

Kristin Houser

Transportation

Boom’s supersonic jet flies for the first time

Boom Supersonic just flew its XB-1 supersonic jet for the first time, bringing it a step closer to revitalizing super-fast commercial travel.

Kristin Houser

An alaska airlines boeing 737 ascending against a clear blue sky.

Engineering

Expert explains why a nearly new Boeing 737 MAX 9 door flew off

A 60-pound “door plug” blew out from a nearly new Boeing 737 MAX 9 in flight at 16,000 feet, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage. Why?

Amy Fraher

An orange self-flying helicopter parked next to a white van.

Transportation

Safer skies with self-flying helicopters

Engineers start with an existing helicopter model and add control, sensing, and other software systems to make it autonomous.

Zach Winn | MIT News Office

Cars

This is the year you can finally buy a car on Amazon

Vivek Astvansh

Transportation

Meet the people transforming the shipping industry with wind

Jonny Thomson

Transportation

Archer’s flying taxi finishes first round of flight tests

Archer Aviation’s electric air taxi has completed its first phase of flight testing, bringing the eVTOL one step closer to commercial service.

Kristin Houser

Two electric trucks parked next to each other.

Transportation

Battery electric trucks offer emission cuts of 75-85% over their entire life cycle

A civil and environment engineer weighs in on whether electric trucks are our best bet to cut road transport emissions.

Robin Smit

A car equipped with a sign that says "please be patient" indicating that it is driven by a student driver undergoing autonomous car training.

Automation

How to train your self-driving car

From loading the car with sensors to teaching its AI to “think” like a human driver, there's more than one way to train an autonomous car.

Kristin Houser

A man using a jet suit to fly above the ground

Sports

First jet suit race is less than a month away

During the world’s first jet suit race, eight competitors will take flight over the water off the coast of Dubai.

Kristin Houser

Sections

Video

Freethink

We focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.