A plane with no moving parts

That is, no propeller, no turbines, no elevators, etc. Nada. Zilch.

OK. You and I have made airplanes like that: paper airplanes. But what about a plane that is self-powered, but still doesn’t have any moving parts? Well, MIT made such a thing, and it doesn’t even need black magic.

They use high voltage wires in front of and behind the wings to strip electrons off of nearby air molecules, and then pull those molecules to the rear. This “ionic wind” generates enough thrust to power the aircraft.

Granted, the plane itself only weighs 5 pounds, and didn’t fly far, but this is a pretty groundbreaking achievement.