NASA has unveiled a new aircraft that is supposed to be able to fly quietly at supersonic speeds without making sonic booms. They expect it will lead to supersonic passenger service.
The press video doesn't seem to explain how they did this, other than they invented a surface that prevents the sound waves from piling up on each other and making the boom sound. One interesting innovation is the removal of the front-facing windows and replacement with electronic screens for the pilots on the inside. My immediate first thought was, what if the screen loses power? I guess they figure they can make a sufficiently redundant screen system that that won't be a problem.
