The engine has no moving parts other than ions traveling in a vacuum line, trapped inside electric and magnetic fields.

Their new demonstrations show that it converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency a performance better than steam turbines.

NASA engineer, David Burns, produced an engine concept that, he says, could theoretically accelerate to 99 percent of the speed of light.

When it comes to space, there's a problem with our human drive to go all the places and see all things. A big problem. It's, well, space.

The heat engine converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of traditional steam turbines.

Engineers at MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have designed a heat engine with no moving parts.

Researchers from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas created the first ever solid-state optical nanomotor.