Matt Novak

Whopping $50,000 Reward Offered For Lost 1970 Time Capsule

Have you seen this big metal tube from 1970? It’s a time capsule. And there’s a $50,000 reward for anybody who can find it. The time capsule tube was interred in a foundation stone at Singapore’s National Stadium on February 23, 1970. But nobody knows where it is today. People have been searching for it…

All Your Favorite Brands Are Celebrating Presidents Day on Twitter For Some Reason

I’m of the opinion that only mattress companies should be able to celebrate Presidents Day. But that’s not particularly popular, given the swarm of Brands™ wishing us all a happy Presidents Day on Twitter. KFC definitely takes the cake for weirdness. Or drumstick. I don’t know. The year 2016 is just too weird for me…

That Viral Photo of The Martian DVD Next to Potatoes Is No Accident

This photo of a DVD of The Martian being sold next to potatoes has gone viral. If you’ve seen the movie, it seems like perfect cross-promotion, done perhaps by some clever person at a random grocery store. But it’s no accident. The Albert Bartlett potato company has an official deal with Twentieth Century Fox to…

That Time Eisenhower’s Presidential Motorcade Picked Up Two Hitchhikers

I was going through President Dwight Eisenhower’s daily schedule (as one does) and just noticed what might be the weirdest entry I’ve ever seen. On December 10, 1954 Eisenhower was on his way from the White House to Camp David, and he picked up two hitchhikers. Granted these weren’t your average hitchhikers. They were Marines…

This Kid Predicted What the Year 2016 Would Be Like in 1996, and He Was Adorably Wrong

Back in 1996 a young boy wrote a letter for school with predictions about the year 2016. Christopher Janitz was just nine years old and little did he know his mother would save that letter and present it to him on his 29th birthday. Here at Paleofuture we love to look at past visions of…

Tell Us Your Old Secrets About Technology, Utopian Communities, and the Machines of War

Do you have an old secret about the history of technology, a defunct cult, or a futuristic weapon that never made it off the drawing board? Would you like the world to know about it? Tell us. News outlets usually love scoops that involve breaking news. It’s right there in the name: News. But here…

American Scientists Advised Guards to Shoot at Nukes If There Was a Security Breach

Back in late 2014 the National Security Archive published a historical documentary produced in 2010 that went largely unnoticed. The film explores the history of nuclear weapons safety. And if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s pretty frightening. Titled Always Never: The Quest For Safety, Control and Survivability, the most terrifying story from the film…

Obama Calls Americans a Bunch of Nerds

Popular Science has a new interview with President Obama about science and technology. And with it, he has effectively helped kill the word “nerd.” The word hasn’t been a pejorative in roughly 30 years. But when the President of the United States acknowledges that, we can officially call it a meaningless term. PS: Do you…

These 1989 Stamps Showcased the Amazing Lies of Future Space Travel

Back in olden times, people used what were called “postage stamps” to send “letters” to “friends” and relatives. Back in olden times people also believed that the US space program would expand exponentially, returning humans to the moon. These stamps from 1989 survive as an artifact of that vision. Moon rovers, far-out space travel… these…

This Is the Drone That Iran Flew Over an American Aircraft Carrier

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a… yeti? Nope, you got it right the second time. According to the US Navy, this is the Iranian drone that flew over the USS Harry S. Truman on January 12, 2016. The Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get a…

You’ve Only Got 24 Hours to Buy These Donald Dumpty and Batty Bernie Garbage Pail Kids Cards

Last week people couldn’t get enough of the Garbage Pail Kids version of the presidential candidates. And now Topps has introduced nine brand new versions of their political cards, including Donald Dumpty, Batty Bernie, and “Texan” Ted. Donald appears to be building a wall on the Mexican border, while Bernie is locked in a padded…

Robot Fights Break Out in New Hampshire, Sparking Fears of a Robot Uprising

Fights broke out today in New Hampshire between anti-Marco Rubio robots and pro-Rubio humans. It could not yet be confirmed whether the robot uprising has begun, but someone needs to tell that woman that you can’t strangle a robot. It only makes them stronger. https://gizmodo.com/are-chinas-robot-restaurants-a-threat-to-american-natio-1706036651 It’s believed that the robots oppose Marco Rubio because the…

9 More Viral Photos That Are Completely Fake

The truth is out there. And by “out there” I mean anywhere but the internet. We see hundreds of images flash in front of our eyes every month. But these are the ones you might have seen recently that deserve a second look. Because they’re all fake. 1) Is this a real Yeti? Last week…

Drunk Uber Driver Blows .25 After Already Dropping Off Two or Three Fares

An Uber driver in Southern California was pulled over last night and blew three times the legal limit. He was reportedly on his way to pick up his third (or fourth) fare for the night. The 46-year-old Uber driver Robert Wing was pulled over by Simi Valley police around 1:40am. Wing had allegedly been partying…

Terrorist on Flight From Somalia Allegedly Hid Bomb in Laptop

The alleged terrorist who blew himself up on a Daallo Airlines plane last week hid his bomb inside a laptop, according to Somali officials. The man, identified as 55-year-old Abdullahi Abdisalam Borle, is believed to have been handed the laptop by two men posing as airline workers at the Mogadishu airport. The explosion in midair…

Bus Explosion Scares Londoners Who Don’t Know It’s a Movie Stunt

Yesterday Londoners got a fright when they saw a double-decker bus explode on a bridge over the Thames River. Some people immediately thought it was a terrorist attack. Thankfully it was just a scene for a new movie starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. Production crews attempted to give some residents in the area warning…

The British Are Coming (For Google and Facebook Data on American Servers)

The US and UK are currently holding secret meetings with the hopes of making it easier for police and spy agencies to access emails and other electronic data held by private companies on both sides of the Atlantic, the Washington Post reports. The agreement, which is still in very early stages of negotiation, would allow…

Print Your Digital Photos Right Now You Lazy Dunderhead

You need to print your digital photos. Not next year, not when you have more free time—right now. I don’t care if your favorite dank memes are playing at the picture showhouse tonight (or whatever the kids are doing for fun these days). Start your first photobook tonight. It’s now or never. Your future self…

1910: A painting by H.C. Ireland, pointing toward a new technologically advanced age. [Library of Congress]

Makes You Think

(Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)