Aviation - Less of a drag - Researchers may only need to look skin-deep to cut aircraft fuel

As part of the effort to reduce air fuel consumption, researchers are looking at how an aircraft interacts with the air around it as it flies, and the potential savings from managing this interaction using techniques including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and plasma jets. Using MEMS devices, researchers were able to selectively roughen the surface of the aircraft to prevent energy-sapping turbulent eddies from forming, thereby reducing skin friction and drag. Another alternative is to use plasma to control a process called separation, which helps force the airflow back over the surface of the wing. Plasma jets can also be used to reduce noise by altering the flow of air around the landing gear to make it less turbulent, which in turn reduces noise