Modern jet fighters are loud enough – especially when they put their afterburners on – but have you ever been startled by the thunderous boom of a plane breaking the sound barrier? This is the noisy result of some super-speed physics that engineers are now looking to quieten down.
In flight, an aircraft disrupts the air around it, creating sound waves that push ahead of the vehicle. These pressure waves travel at around 767 miles per hour – the speed of sound – and, as a result, are evenly spaced
