Seems like another antisocial technology that offers neat feature (get somewhere far slightly faster) while destroying the commons everywhere it operates (noise pollution)
As I understand it the noise pollution stuff is due to really old tech. The new stuff should be much better performing to basically eliminate the sonic boom and the regulatory changes are reflecting that.
On a site like HN this kind of progress should be praised not denigrated as antisocial.
It's reflective of the gradual dawning that while technology is amazing and exciting and can help people, under current systems it's more likely to be used to benefit the thousand or so richest people in the world and fuck everyone else over. Could we make supersonic jets more quiet and less disruptive? Yeah, probably. But why would a single cent be spent on that? The people flying in them don't give a single shit. They would only get quieter as a side effect of an improvement that somehow increases return.
1. Better, real-time atmospheric data that allows use of boom-refraction flight profiles to prevent the boom reaching the ground. This is a trick that Concorde sometimes used when conditions were right, but only works up to about Mach 1.2. This is what Boom used for quieter flights.
2. Crazy 1950s-style airframe shaping with the X-59 that reduces boom but is impractical for an actual commercial transport. This is intended to establish a baseline for tolerable routine boom intensity, but we don't yet know how to make a commercial airframe with the same quietness.
I feel like HN is becoming increasingly more like Reddit, where every single technology-focused subreddit like /r/futurism became colonized by the most anti-progress, anti-technology people, including especially the mods. Hopefully it doesn’t become terminal like for Reddit.
Yep!!! It really has changed and has become exhausting. The most flippant, negative, cynical, and antagonistic replies nowadays, rather than genuine curiosity about the news or optimism.
Too bad because HN has been my “home” on the internet for 15 years.
moving fast and breaking things is a perfectly viable strategy when the things being broken aren't personally relevant. in fact this conversation moved so fast that within two comments we went from "external experience of this tech is not pleasant" to "hn is becoming reddit". how am I meant to believe that first guy is degenerating the conversation by sharing his perspective, when his replies do nothing but point at him?
Its called leftism and it will suffocate any community that will allow it to spread unchecked. Its just entropy, the opposite of progress, prosperity, civilization and technology. Instead of going to the moon, they will tell you it will be better to distribute the money to „starving children“ or whatever is the popular cause of the day. Its just this over and over again: https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/9ru62e/1969_...
Reddits owners are leftists, and I‘m afraid so is HN's.
The title of the article is misleading, there will still be booms:
> Several U.S. companies are working on a new generation of luxurious supersonic passenger aircraft with much quieter sonic booms and improved fuel efficiency
My parents immigrated to the US in the 80s. They didn't steal anyone's land. Can I complain about rich people wasting fuel, polluting the air, and creating peace-shattering sounds?
And about the stolen land, what should we do about it? Never complain about anything? Have no laws?
Give all of your stolen land back, make all the reparations you owe people, and then go back to lecturing people online.
Long before the earth turns into a smoking ruin, I will blame Boom Supersonic and others for making life miserable generally: no more skiing, endless smoke inhalation from wildfires, etc.
Supersonic aircraft emit more carbon than traditional jets, and carry far fewer people to boot.
Here is just a taste: World’s oceans break June heat record: EU monitor: “The world’s oceans just experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead as El Nino and climate change drive temperatures even higher, scientists said on July 1.” https://www.straitstimes.com/world/worlds-oceans-break-june-...
> no more skiing, endless smoke inhalation from wildfires, etc.
I wonder what our ancestors did, lets say 500 years back. Did they have wildfires? Skiing?
I get the point about humans causing unprecedented harm to the planet. However, the examples themselves are not perfect. I know skiing may be age old, but not as an activity enjoyed by millions, and the fact we build ski resorts may be contributing to some bad things, no?
0.11 pound per square foot is what is being proposed. That's 108 decibels. Which is between standing next to a lawn mower and standing next to a car horn. I don't see how anyone will tolerate that in practice.
It’s not accurate to convert .1 psf to dB because it’s an impulsive shape, not a continuous tone. And human loudness perception depends on how smooth (low frequency) the shape is
Given that I just read this comment after getting off a connecting flight that had me waiting on a fully boarded plane in 100 degree Phoenix weather for half an hour, it’s pretty poignant. I read an article earlier today about how Phoenix may not be inhabitable in twenty years, and I’m here to tell you that it’s already insufferable no matter how well the A/C was or was not working on that plane.
I don’t need a plane that flies faster. I need an airline that puts pure service before profit.
These things are indeed "The Devil's Hairdryer"
It's not the hearing damage, it's the psychological stress.
On a site like HN this kind of progress should be praised not denigrated as antisocial.
1. Better, real-time atmospheric data that allows use of boom-refraction flight profiles to prevent the boom reaching the ground. This is a trick that Concorde sometimes used when conditions were right, but only works up to about Mach 1.2. This is what Boom used for quieter flights.
2. Crazy 1950s-style airframe shaping with the X-59 that reduces boom but is impractical for an actual commercial transport. This is intended to establish a baseline for tolerable routine boom intensity, but we don't yet know how to make a commercial airframe with the same quietness.
Nothing is really new.
Too bad because HN has been my “home” on the internet for 15 years.
Reddits owners are leftists, and I‘m afraid so is HN's.
Go back to reddit to post your anti progress stuff. HN was supposed to be about tech and startups and improving the world.
It's basically unbearable at this point. Every single thread is full of this stuff. It's incredibly sad.
> Several U.S. companies are working on a new generation of luxurious supersonic passenger aircraft with much quieter sonic booms and improved fuel efficiency
And about the stolen land, what should we do about it? Never complain about anything? Have no laws?
Give all of your stolen land back, make all the reparations you owe people, and then go back to lecturing people online.
When people talk about this stuff, it isn't about apportioning blame.
I'm not big on the stolen land thing because it's turtles all the way down, but this idea of divvying up blame makes no sense. We are all citizens.
Calling this nimbyism is billionaire psyop lol
Of course that's the theory. The Trump Admin just allowed for a fairly audible boom.
Supersonic aircraft emit more carbon than traditional jets, and carry far fewer people to boot.
Here is just a taste: World’s oceans break June heat record: EU monitor: “The world’s oceans just experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead as El Nino and climate change drive temperatures even higher, scientists said on July 1.” https://www.straitstimes.com/world/worlds-oceans-break-june-...
I wonder what our ancestors did, lets say 500 years back. Did they have wildfires? Skiing?
I get the point about humans causing unprecedented harm to the planet. However, the examples themselves are not perfect. I know skiing may be age old, but not as an activity enjoyed by millions, and the fact we build ski resorts may be contributing to some bad things, no?
https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/db
Oh! Really?
https://earinc.com/gunfire-noise-level-reference-chart/
I don’t need a plane that flies faster. I need an airline that puts pure service before profit.
At this point, airlines make most of their actual profit from credit cards.
I forget who said it, but "airlines are banks that happen to fly planes" is true, at least profit wise.
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2025-releases/2025-12-09-0...