Airplanes of the Future

One day, airline passengers may fly in planes with a transparent fuselage, allowing them 360-degree views of the stars and city lights. Here’s how it would work, according to Axel Krein, head of research and technology for European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, who helps develop ideas for aircraft of the future: The push of a button would send electricity flowing through the plane’s outer skin, which would be made of a transparent type of ceramic. Nanomaterials would enable seats to clean themselves, so “each passenger will feel he or she is sitting on a brand-new airplane about to take off on its maiden flight,” Krein says. It’ll take forty years to reach this pinnacle, though: Look for the planes at an airport near you in 2050.