10 Incredible Inventions Which Could Change The Future Of The Planet

5. Hypersonic Aircraft

When the Wright brothers first took to the skies in their flying machine, the world took a step back and gasped as they witnessed someone achieve the impossible. Ever since Leonardo Da Vinci scribbled a plan for a helicopter, the idea of taking flight like a bird had been one of mankind's dreams. Nowadays flying has become such a common thing to do that we're more often concerned with moaning about the in-flight food than we are marvelling at the fact we're 20,000 feet in the sky. The next level is to go as fast as possible, and hypersonic aircraft will be the way forwards. Rocket planes and space jets have already passed the Mach 5.5 point required for hypersonic travel, and while current research and development is predictably confined to the air force, it's only a matter of time before getting on a plane in London and arriving in New York less than an hour later becomes a reality.