The SAX-40 is a proposed jetliner that replaces the existing tube-with-wings design, instead a using wedge-shaped flying wing that makes the wings and body into one thing. The engines are on top of the plane, instead of under the wing, which makes for a quiet ride.

Researchers have unveiled design plans for a passenger plane they claim will be no louder than a washing machine and will use 25 percent less fuel than current jetliners. Some environmentalists and aviation enthusiasts are hailing the futuristic jet as the most important commercial aviation development in the last half century, but don't book your tickets yet -- it could be decades before this plane takes flight....

"It's not likely to happen in my lifetime," says [Les Blomberg, director of the anti-noise advocacy group the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse.] "By the time this plane becomes a reality, most of us will be deaf or dead."