transportation

Navigon Offering Red Light Camera Warnings For GPS Devices

After announcing their partnership with Rand McNally yesterday, Navigon has announced more downloadable content for their GPS devices—including data on red light cameras. https://gizmodo.com/navigon-integrates-rand-mcnally-travel-guides-into-gps-5125067 NAVIGON Red Light Cameras give drivers the information they need by providing an advanced warning when the driver is approaching dangerous intersections monitored by traffic cameras. These alerts make the driver…

Tech News Sean Fallon Jan 8

Build Your Own Mr. Fusion and Gasify Your Car With Garbage

Ever since Doc Brown added a Mr. Fusion to the Delorean, many of us have longed to fuel our car with banana peels and beer. Now you can, thanks to the magic of gasification. Gasification is the use of heat to transform solid biomass, or other carbonaceous solids, into a synthetic “natural gas like” flammable…

Tech News Sean Fallon Jan 5

Horizontal Cities of 2031 (1931)

The December 6, 1931 Daily Capital News and Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, MO) ran a short blurb about Francis Keally’s predictions for the city of 2031. Keally (1889-1978) was an architect who worked on the Oregon state capitol building in Salem, which was completed in 1938. Francis Keally thinks that our future cities will spread out…

Tech News Matt Novak Jan 3

Smart Speed Bump Flattens When You’re Driving Slow

My car has a terrible suspension so I hate speed bumps. Even people with decent cars probably feel the same way. Wouldn’t it be awesome if the speed bump flattened when you were driving slow? https://gizmodo.com/the-ultimate-speed-bump-there-is-no-escape-5041619 Well, that is the idea behind this concept from designers Jae-yun Kim & Jong-Su Lee. According to the description,…

Tech News Sean Fallon Dec 11

10 Insane Bikes That No One Should Ever Ride

Designers with a deathwish are pushing the boundaries of bicycle design far beyond the realm of practicality into preposterous new worlds. The following 10 bikes are some of the most outrageous concepts to spring forth from this movement, and should only be operated in a controlled environment by stuntmen and circus folk.

Tech News Sean Fallon Dec 1

Airplanes of Future Will Travel 1,000 MPH (1939)

The January 29, 1939 Hammond Times (Hammond, IN) ran this piece about the super-fast airplanes of the future. The article quickly devolves into a debate about how trustworthy air speed indicators are. WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 — Airplanes capable of flying nearly 1,000 miles an hour – 300 miles an hour faster than the speed of…

Tech News Matt Novak Nov 25

See Saw Bicycle: Crashing is Only One of the Ways It Can Kill You

Once again, someone has taken absurd and dangerous bicycle design to another preposterous level. Thankfully, the See Saw bike is only in the prototype phase because if you didn’t flat out crash and burn trying to ride it (with someone of equal weight), you would surely go brain dead repeatedly head-butting your partner. [My Atomic…

Tech News Sean Fallon Nov 24

French Flying Machines (1890-1900)

These French cards, archived at the Library of Congress, were produced sometime between 1890 and 1900. Most of the cards illustrate important feats from ballooning history between 1795-1846, while card number two (pictured above) depicts futuristic visions of flight from the 1800s. It’s striking how similar these imagined flying machines are to those we looked…

Tech News Matt Novak Nov 19

10 Gadgets That Have No Business Using a Jet Engine

Ever since we started putting high-powered engines into jets, there has been a long line of skilled but misguided lunatics eager to rip them out to use in their stupid and dangerous contraptions. Simply put, we are fascinated by speed—whether it is the latest military super aircraft or a flaming toilet blazing down the road…

Gadgets Sean Fallon Nov 17

Commuting Will Be A Breeze (1957)

The October 22, 1957 Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune (Chillicothe, MO) ran this image of a flying bus of the future. Commuting will be a breeze in the future, according to a national science magazine, which envisions tomorrow’s workers traveling from home to business at 100 m.p.h. via a ducted-fan flying bus like the one above. The design,…

Tech News Matt Novak Nov 14

Google’s New Zip Line Yet Another Reason to Hate Your Office

They built a new building at Google’s Mountain View campus, but it happened to be separated from the building with the cafeteria in it by a ravine. While the logical solution would be to build a bridge, not at Google. No, they built a zip line. The insurance this company has must be great. Unfortunately,…

Tech News Adam Frucci Oct 28

Report From the Year 2050 (1984)

My interest in futurism can probably be credited to two things: Disney’s EPCOT Center and children’s science books of the 1980s and 90s. One of my earliest posts here at the Paleo-Future blog covered the EPCOT Center book, The Future World of Transportation. I vividly recall checking out the three books in this series from…

Tech News Matt Novak Oct 27

NYC Buses Testing Digital Ads That Change Depending on Location

Creative marketing minds have developed a plan to use GPS to deliver neighborhood-specific digital advertising on the side of buses in NYC. Apparently, the ads run like TV commercials and they have begun airing on a single Manhattan route with expansion to 200 buses planned for Q1 of next year. Obviously, targeted advertising is the…

Tech News Sean Fallon Oct 21

Action Mobil Globecruiser: Camper, Tank, Bombshelter

Sure, it costs $670,000 to buy plus an additional $800 to fill up, but the Globecruiser from Action Mobile is so worth the crippling financial burden and savage Eco-rape with its luxury interior, advanced navigation system and exterior that looks strong enough to withstand a ground zero nuke without spilling your coffee. Not surprisingly, hauling…

Tech News Sean Fallon Oct 17

DriveAssistT Saves Cellphone Addicts From Themselves

You know it’s wrong, but you just can’t help it. When your cellphone rings in the car you are compelled to answer it. New software called DriveAssistT (The extra “T” is…a silent nod to Mr. T?) aims to save you from yourself by automatically holding all of your calls when it detects that the phone…

Tech News Sean Fallon Oct 14

One-Person Maglev Car, Like Riding a 300MPH Roller Coaster to Work

It sure looks like a roller coaster, but this maglev (magnetic levitation) car is more likely in development for personal transportation. By Tyco and Gakken, the maglev system suspends the car 2-3 centimeters above the track, propelling the rider forward without friction. Since the fastest record for a full-blown maglev train is 361 mph, my…

Tech News Mark Wilson Oct 1

10 Segway-Killers That Don’t Make You Look Like a Complete Tool

The idea behind the Segway is a good one, but between the Presidential accidents, Polo games and supreme laziness, the Segway has developed a serious image problem. When people think “Segway” they think bike helmet-wearing super-nerds having an asthma attack while whizzing down the sidewalk at 12 mph. Not so with the following gadgets. Unlike…

Tech News Sean Fallon Sep 22

Question of the Day: How Do You Use Your Cellphone in the Car?

Yesterday’s news about the train incident in LA got me thinking. We all know about the dangers of using a cellphone in the car, but let’s face it—most of us do it anyway. So, this question isn’t meant to judge. I am simply curious to know how you use your phone in the car. In…

Tech News Sean Fallon Sep 16

Future Victim of Everest to Ride Down Mountain on a Unicycle

The words “extreme” and “unicycle” should never be uttered in the same breath—unless you are referring to British mountaineer Steve Colligan. Starting next week he will attempt to traverse a 600-mile stretch of the Himalayas from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal, via Everest base camp riding on a mountain unicycle. At 47 years…

Tech News Sean Fallon Sep 15

Di-Cycle: A Bike That Travels Over Land and Water

Right off the bat the Di-Cycle design is eye-catching. Imagine the looks you would get pedaling this down the road, smashing into cars and bumping old ladies off the sidewalk. Now imagine the looks you would get when you turn sharply toward the neighborhood pool, ride in and mow down all of the swimmers flailing…

Tech News Sean Fallon Sep 10

Navigon Offering Red Light Camera Warnings For GPS Devices

Build Your Own Mr. Fusion and Gasify Your Car With Garbage

Horizontal Cities of 2031 (1931)

Smart Speed Bump Flattens When You’re Driving Slow

10 Insane Bikes That No One Should Ever Ride

Airplanes of Future Will Travel 1,000 MPH (1939)

See Saw Bicycle: Crashing is Only One of the Ways It Can Kill You

French Flying Machines (1890-1900)

10 Gadgets That Have No Business Using a Jet Engine

Commuting Will Be A Breeze (1957)

Google’s New Zip Line Yet Another Reason to Hate Your Office

Report From the Year 2050 (1984)

NYC Buses Testing Digital Ads That Change Depending on Location

Action Mobil Globecruiser: Camper, Tank, Bombshelter

DriveAssistT Saves Cellphone Addicts From Themselves

One-Person Maglev Car, Like Riding a 300MPH Roller Coaster to Work

10 Segway-Killers That Don’t Make You Look Like a Complete Tool

Question of the Day: How Do You Use Your Cellphone in the Car?

Future Victim of Everest to Ride Down Mountain on a Unicycle

Di-Cycle: A Bike That Travels Over Land and Water

Marshall Acton III Home Speaker Drops to a Record Low, the Deal Countdown Has Already Started

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

I’m Worried About the Helpless AI Disruptors of the Future

Russia Allegedly Swung at VPNs but Accidentally Hit Its Own Banking Sector Instead

Ryan Coogler Is Shifting ‘Animorphs’ Into a Disney+ Show

No Fooling, ‘Spaceballs 2’ Will Hit Theaters April 2027

I Regret to Inform You That the Artemis II Astronauts Are Having Lots of Screen Time

The First ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ Reactions Are Most Solid

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

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