The Futurist

22/06/2020

FOX has outdone itself with its newest reality show, which began airing at the end of May. Labor of Love is a game show where men compete for the privilege of impregnating a woman. Yes, you read that right. As if 2020 hasn’t already proven society is on the verge of collapse, TV execs decided America needed a dating show that sounds creepily reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Remember when Love Is Blind was the most extreme reality TV show anyone could envisage? Getting engaged sight-unseen was just crazy and hardcore enough to make cringey and absolutely addicting entertainment… Well, FOX has outdone itself with its…

17/06/2020

Suck it, non-believers. A team of researchers with the University of Nottingham published a new study in The Astrophysical Journal that provides an estimate on just how many potential alien civilizations possessing the ability to communicate with us could be out there. The answer is 36.

The raid on Area 51 never happened, but astronomers are still working hard to figure out whether or not we’re all alone on this big blue rock. Today, a team of researchers with the University of Nottingham published a new study in The Astrophysical…

11/06/2020

Imagine the most disgusting home you’ve ever been to. Your beer-can littered college dorm room? Your stoner friend’s apartment, who slept on a smelly, stained mattress on the floor, no box spring or bed frame in sight? No matter what you’re thinking of, giant larvaceans’ homes probably top it — these transparent marine invertebrates live inside balloon-like, three-foot-wide webs of mucus that they create themselves. https://bit.ly/2MT6PlG

Imagine the grossest home you’ve ever been to. Your beer-can littered college dorm room? The apartment of an ex-boyfriend who slept on a smelly, stained mattress on the floor? No matter what you’re thinking of, giant larvaceans’ homes probably top it.

08/06/2020

Whenever The Sim 4 has an update, there's always a few interesting bugs. There aren't too many other games where you have to ban Santa from clubbing. In the latest update for the Eco Lifestyle expansion, the game now has a bug so good we hope it never goes away. For some people, Sims who p*e standing up now p*e fire. https://bit.ly/37c4R9z

This is frankly just a superior way to p*e.

07/05/2020

If you’re looking to support local businesses during the quarantine, you might be overlooking an important venue — your neighborhood strip club. Sure, the masked and gloved dancers make things feel like a cyberpunk dystopia, but hey, maybe that works for you. https://bit.ly/35Gku8o

"We’ve just been able to create this niche and it worked."

05/05/2020

Futurist fun fact of the day: Fred Bauer, the Procter & Gamble employee who devised the idea of stacking Pringles into cans, asked his family to bury him in one of his signature cans upon his passing.

04/05/2020

Coronavirus isn’t stopping people from dating — it’s just changing how they do it. On March 29, there were more swipes on Tinder than any day in the app’s history: 3 billion. Sure, mindlessly swiping while stuck at home makes sense, but where do you take it from there? https://bit.ly/2Syb7T6

In the absence of physical contact, COVID-19 is enabling new forms of connection. Enter the virtual date, and the virtual hook-up.

01/05/2020

Futurist fun fact of the day: The oldest shark alive (the Greenland shark) is likely nearly 400 years old. How tf does anyone know that? Because they very conveniently grow one centimeter each year, making it insanely easy to track their age.

30/04/2020

Futurist fun fact of the day: There's only one Blockbuster still standing, and it's located in Bend, Oregon. Nostalgia road trip, anyone?

30/04/2020

Because, apparently, playing Sheriff Woody, Mr. Rogers, and Forrest Gump isn’t enough, Tom Hanks had to go and cast himself in the role of “savior to humanity.” https://bit.ly/3bVAea6

Tom Hanks became the celebrity face of coronavirus when he and his wife, Rita Wilson, were the first majorly famous people to test positive for coronavirus in early March. The couple hunkered down in Australia, where Hanks had been filming a…