Retro is a concept we're all familiar with. Interior design, fonts, electronics, homewares, and fashion all pay homage to the trends of the past and constantly recycle old concepts into new ideas. So why not reinvent old-fashioned cars? That's exactly what Mercedes Benz did, reimagining the Mercedes Simplex car from 1902 into it's modern equivalent. And we must admit, it's very cool.
future
For the first time in history, a surgeon performed heart surgery without actually being in the room. Or building. Or town. The surgeon was 20 miles away from their patient, and the surgery was done with the assistance of a robot. Yes, we are officially living in the future.
Robots are no longer a fantasy of the future. For centuries, humans have been hypothesizing about robots. Now, technology is advancing at such a fast rate that our fantasies (or nightmares) are becoming true. Robots are, whether or not we like it, going to continue to be more involved in our lives. So we might as well welcome our robotic overlords. Here are twelve GIFs of some very cool robots that exist today.
Suddenly, Black Mirror doesn't seem so crazy.
We get a little bit closer to that dystopian future of our dreams everyday, and sometimes an advertisement notices how close we are.
A subway billboard in Beijing has done just that.
The advertisement is for a sports haze mask and features a female running with a face mask that looks like a souvenir from Fury Road. A sports haze mask is for people attempting to exercise in heavy smog areas, like Beijing.
Twitter reacted, as it's wont to do, welcoming the new oncoming dystopia.
Via SpiralCellars
The only thing better than owning a wine cellar is having a wine cellar that makes you feel like a James Bond villain.
SpiralCellars offer just that advantage. These underground cellars are capable of storing 1,900 bottles and at least one international man of mystery.
via xxxdarkheartedboixxx's channel
Earlier today, Mashable posted a video of these modern marvels. You don't even need a secret layer housed in the side of a mountain or something. You can install them in your house, and they’re completely hidden or encased by a circular glassdoor. Both offer their own kind of Bond villain-esque experience.
Made from a circular concrete, each cellar takes about nine days to install and is climate controlled. That means it keeps your wine or super spy in perfect hibernation, before you decide what you want to do with them.
Check out the video below and think about what this can do for your whole fight against her majesty’s secret service.
Via Junave IP-SNG
This is a step in the right direction toward self-driving trucks. This is part of the European Truck Platooning Challenge where trucks follow each other, connected by Wifi, to get to their destination. Unlike with human drivers, these trucks can stay much closer to each other on the road and it actually saves a lot of money in gas.
Via QuentinDOR
This man was seen casually flying over River Liffey, in Dublin, Ireland. According to Metro News it was probably a PR stunt organized by Samsung, judging by the giant Galaxy S7 platform he landed on.
The important thing to take away from this is how easy that looked. It's a clear sign that we live in the future and everyone will be taking jet packs to work very soon!
Okay... maybe not that soon.
Via beforeitsnews
'Idiocracy' is everyone's favorite movie about a dystopian future in which everyone has become really, really stupid. The movie's writer, Etan Cohen, seems disappointed in how close he seems to have hit the mark.
via @etanjc
'Idiocracy' is a cultural touchstone that everyone likes to use to point to how ridiculous modern life has become. Even Terry Crews (AKA President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho) used the premise to poke fun at the current election cycle. 
via @terrycrews
Future President Camacho is right guys, can't we all just crack open a Brawndo and chill?
Future President Camacho is right guys, can't we all just crack open a Brawndo and chill?
Via Short Fimls
Japanese artist Nobumichi Asai created this effect by projecting images onto faces in real time. The features of the user's faces are mapped and tracked and then the 'new face' is projected onto that in a 3D pattern that gives them such a realistic look.
This kind of 3D projection has also been used to make videos like this one:
Via Max Braun
The 'Internet of Things' is a phrase people keep bringing up that references the real life trend toward a world where all your things have become working props in a science fiction movie. Kind of like this:
Let's be honest, so far this neat idea has mostly translated into putting a touchscreen on everything. That's why Max Braun got crafty and made his own futuristic mirror using Google's Android system. So far it automatically shows the weather, the time and the day's headlines but he hopes to include more. He's also made a diagram showing what makes the mirror tick. 
If you could ask your future self anything, what would it be?
When Peter "Stoney" Emshwiller was 18, way back in 1977, he captured footage of himself asking questions to his invisible future self. He planned on combining footage in the future and getting some answers.
The short clip below shows the 56-year-old man reflecting on his successes and failures. It is surprisingly heartwarming.
Emshwiller plans on releasing a full-length version of the interview he'll call Later That Same Life, which is currently being funded.
Here's what the filmmaker had to say about the project:
A recent health scare (happily a false alarm) made me realize I ain't gonna live forever, and that it's time to finish this project. So I'm finally going to (gulp) face my younger self and record the other half of the conversation. Then I'll edit all the footage together. The final illusion should be a humorous, touching, sometimes combative, always revealing, totally impossible conversation between a bright-eyed teen and his own middle-aged self.
Via Smarty Ring
Smarty Ring is stainless steel with an LED screen that can connect to your smart phone via Bluetooth 4.0. It can reject, accept phone calls, control music and camera, as well as notify the wearer when the ring is separated from your phone by more than 30 feet. Smarty Ring is still in concept phase of development and is currently seeking funding.
