New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aircraft

An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. A first division by design among aircraft is between lighter-than-air, aerostat, and heavier-than-air aircraft, aerodyne. Examples of lighter-than-air aircraft include non-steerable balloons, such as hot air balloons and gas balloons, and steerable airships (sometimes called dirigible balloons) such as blimps (that have non-rigid construction) and rigid airships that have an internal frame. In heavier-than-air aircraft, there are two ways to produce lift: aerodynamic lift and engine lift. In the case of aerodynamic lift, the aircraft is kept in the air by wings or rotors (see aerodynamics). With engine lift, the aircraft defeats gravity by use of vertical thrust. Examples of engine lift aircraft are rockets, and VTOL aircraft such as the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier. Among aerodynamically lifted aircraft, most fall in the category of fixed-wing aircraft, where horizontal airfoils produce lift, by profiting from airflow patterns determined by Bernoulli's equation and, to some extent, the Coanda effect.

Related Stories
 


Matter & Energy News

May 3, 2026

In a striking glimpse into extreme physics, scientists have captured the split-second chaos that unfolds when powerful laser flashes blast matter into a superheated plasma. By combining two cutting-edge lasers, researchers were able to track how ...
Scientists have created a powerful new way to control quantum systems, achieving the first-ever demonstration of quadsqueezing—an elusive fourth-order quantum effect. By combining simple forces in ...
A team at King’s College London has created a powerful new aluminum compound capable of doing the work of expensive rare metals. Its unique triangular structure gives it remarkable stability and reactivity, allowing it to drive chemical reactions ...
Scientists have pulled off a first: teleporting a photon’s state between two separate quantum dots. This was done over a 270-meter open-air link, proving quantum information can travel between independent devices. The achievement marks a key step ...
Quantum physics once shocked scientists by revealing that particles can behave like waves—and now, that strange behavior has been pushed even further. For the first time, researchers have observed ...
Researchers have, for the first time, directly visualized how electronic patterns known as charge density waves evolve across a phase transition. Using cutting-edge microscopy, they found these ...
A group of undergraduate students pulled off something remarkable: they built their own dark matter detector and used it to probe one of physics’ biggest mysteries. Working with limited resources but plenty of creativity, they designed a ...
In a breakthrough experiment, scientists directly imaged how particles pair up in a system that mimics superconductors. Instead of behaving independently, the pairs moved in a synchronized, ...
Scientists have created tiny “optical tornadoes” — swirling beams of light that twist like miniature whirlwinds — using a surprisingly simple setup based on liquid crystals. Instead of relying on complex nanotechnology, the team used ...
Physicists have taken a major step toward using AI not just to analyze data, but to uncover entirely new laws of nature. By combining a specially designed neural network with precise 3D tracking of particles in a dusty plasma—a strange “fourth ...
A light-sensitive crystal is opening the door to a new era of “light-written” technology. Arsenic trisulfide can be reshaped and permanently altered using simple light, creating ultra-fine optical patterns without expensive manufacturing tools. ...
Scientists have unveiled a breakthrough imaging method that can capture the hidden details of events unfolding in trillionths of a second. This new technique doesn’t just track how bright something is—it also reveals subtle structural changes ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET