Technologies that Were Ahead of Their Time

From vending machines to automatic weapons to hydraulic hammers, a lot of people figured out a lot of things surprisingly early.

MORE KNOWLEDGE

Filter

All Art Gym History Math Music Science Social Studies

History Science

The Kola Borehole

World’s Deepest Oceanic Trench

GI Joe PSA Parodies by FENSLERFILM

Early 70s Commercials

History Math Science

History of The Screw

The Turbo Encabulator

Mail-Order Nuclear Sub

Airplane Houses

Shatner Singing Sinatra to George Lucas

55,000 Years of Music

The Evolution of English

Classic Ali G

The Great D&D Moral Panic of the 1980s

Mountain Talk

The Girl from Ipanema

Video Dating Ads from the ‘80s

Audition Supercut with No Context

Consciousness: Being Sure that You are You

A Real Fake Placebo

Perfect Marco Polo

The Internet and Beyond

He Sucks That Dense Gas

Salvador Dali on “What’s My Line?”

Our Galaxy is Breaking Rules

Look Around You: Calcium

The Weirdest, Simplest, and Best ATV in the World

10-Minute University

A Movie Made by a Bot

History Science

The Auto-Icon, a.k.a., the Mummified Professor

The Edge of the Universe

(Relatively) Cheap Airplanes

Geometry Freaks

Troll Mirror

Tiger Woods and Fran Tarkenton

What 7x Gravity Does to Your Body

The Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station

Engineer vs Ninja Squirrel

250,000 Dominoes

Magnetic, Carnivorous Plants

Raccoon Party

Double Rainbow

Aubrey Plaza Making Things Awkward

Ye Ol’ Rocket Factory

Which One’s Pink?

Change for a Dollar

Ants Challenge Notions of Individuality

Relax in This Spaceship

Eddie Van Halen’s Greatest Guitar Solo

Things You Can Make Out of Old Laptops

World’s First Remote Control Flying Leaf Blower

Everything is OK Now

Andy Kaufman on the Dating Game

Otter Sees Cow For First Time

Art History Music

Thick as a Brick

Gym History Science

All Your Base Are Belong To Us

Art History Music

The Real Truth About JFK

Be Aggressive: A Role Play Story

History Science

The Entire History of Earth

Change Your Life with Zone Theory

Time is Actually Very Weird

History Math Science

How Real is Reality?

History Science

A History of Video Game Graphics

Drop Your Gun

Behold the Octopus

Spectacularly Terrible Inventions

Turning Random Internet Drama Into Song

You Can’t Count to One

Art History Science

The Worst Film Ever Made

Axe Cop: Written by a 5-year-old

Axe Cop: Episode 2

DIY Potato Launcher

Bagboy

6 Hours of Howling Winter Winds

Unlikely Animal Friendships: Merlin & Nola

Crows Are Really Smart

Objectively Speaking, the Worst Show in TV History

News From the Future

The Slug that Decapitates Itself and Grows a New Body

The Loneliest Road in America

DIY 200-watt Car-Mounted Laser

2,000 Marble Music Machin

The Kid Plays a Mean Fan

The Guitaridoo

Fungi Photographer

History Science

Spectacular Tech Fails

Star Trek Acid Party

Art History Science

Banned Episodes of Star Trek

Art Math Science

Relative Sizes of Fictional Spacecraft

The Bigness of Things

If Google Was a Guy

Cat Lawyer

Ancient Rome in 20 Minutes

John Denver as You’ve Never Heard Him Before

There’s a Giant Fucking Lake Underneath Antarctica

America’s Emperor

History Math Science

The Oldest Animals in the World

All 50 States as Depicted in Family Guy

History Science

Dead Whale Fail

Dirty Local News Bloopers

Animals Interfering in Sports

Ghost Towns for Sale

22 Earth-Saving Inventions

Rejected Commercials by Don Hertzfeldt

How to Make a Kick-Ass Paper Plane

Art Math Science

The Machine That Erases What It Creates

One of the Last Masters of Handmade Phyllo Dough

3D Printing a 3D Printer

3D Printing a House

The New Green Screen

Two Foxes Find a Trampoline

Alexei Sayle & Radical Posture on the Young Ones

Art History Music

Motorhead on The Young Ones

The Universe Cheats at Math

Solve This Math Problem for $1million

Your Life in a Nutshell

Math Has a Big Fucking Hole in It

A Soothing Walk on the Moon

Targus

Funeral FAQ

Jack Black on Jack Black

Finland’s Nuclear Power Breakthrough

Frying an Egg With a Skyscraper

The History of Atari

10 Minutes of Perfection

For-Profit Online University

Sleight of Hand

Fake Exhausts and Other Dumb Car Trends

Donkeys: Super Guardians of Agriculture

You Don’t Know It But You Know This Guy

Fingers made of salad – we think

The Art of Race Walking

Plant Feelings

Sculling: The Most Basic Form of Swimming

Art History Science

Random Star Trek Cameos

The Eternal God Salamander

No-Nonsense Lingual Learning

Swim in Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt

The Remarkably Progressive Mating Habits of the Leopard Slug

Spuddle: A Meditation

History Math Science

Falling from a Plane without a Parachute and Surviving

History Science

The Weirdest Audio Component in History

Brilliant Construction Techniques

Daytime Fireworks

The Least Visited Island in the World

Lava vs Bulletproof Glass

There’s a Giant Empty Pyramid in Memphis

History Science

An Electric Car from the Makers of the AK-47

The Platypus is Objectively the Best Animal in the World

History Science

The Abandoned, Homemade Submarine in Coney Island Creek

History Science

Technologies that Were Ahead of Their Time

The Facts of Life: More Complicated Than You Thought

Cilantro: The Most Polarizing Herb

History Science

The Best Cocaine Smuggler in History

Celebs in Commercials Before They Were Famous

How Jello Works

Watching People Clean is Oddly Satisfying

Rube Goldberg Pizza Maker

Art History Math Music Science

Richard Feynman Reflects on Ways to Think About the Nature of Existence

The Only Instrument You Play Without Touching

World’s Tallest Ghostscraper

If Educational Videos Were Shot Like Music Videos

History Music Science

The World’s Last Turntable Ferry

Lawsuits You Thought Were Ridiculous But Weren’t

7 Red Lines

Why Humans Suck at Randomness

Scuba Golf

How Long Does it Take to Collect 70,000 Golf Balls?

The Most Complex Pop Song Ever Recorded

History Science

A 101-Year Old Man Tells a Story About Microwaves

We Might be Living in Higher Dimensions

ASMR for White Liberals

The Guitaridoo

History Science

The True Story Behind The Men Who Stare at Goats

You Think You Know Grain Bins?

Parisians Struggling with English

Medieval Science with Neil DeGrasse Tyson

A Wind Powered Vehicle That’s Faster Than Wind?

Truth in Advertising

Dan Rather Interviews Geddy Lee

Gypsy Angels

How to Build a Party Kayak

Art History Science

The Space Giants

Giant Vibrators Could Save the Earth

Am I pegrent?

Cleetus Takes His El Dorado to a Wind Tunnel

Where Plywood Comes From

History Science

Chrysler Made a Turbine Engine Car in 1963

Most Honest Presidential Debate in History

History Science

The Real Nutty Professor

The Only Honest Lottery Ad

Swinging a Wrecking ball from a Helicopter

Kevn Kinney: Some Wisdom About Revolutions and a Song

Rotation Is Much Weirder Than You Think

The 5/4 Trick

Freakishly Lucky Moments in Sports

Robot Grocery Store

How to Make a Sugar Rocket

Putting Things in a Hydraulic Press

Crazy Eddie: Schlocky, Sloppy Fraud

History Math Science

The Pigeon Guided Missiles of WW2

Art History Science

Very Pretty Cement

History Science

Good Old Wood

Young Neil Young Singing “Old Man”

Ricky Gervais Talking to Richard Dawkins

History Science

Who is the Real You?

Aluminum + Mercury = WTF

The Greatest Action Story Ever Told

Miniature Howl’s Moving Castle Out of Junk

How to Season Steel

A Town of Earthships

Guerilla Grazing

The Future is Fungus

A Blistering Performance of Blister in the Sun

Nitinol, Gallium, and a Few Other Bizarre Substances

Odd Couple: Oscar and Benny

Strange and Satisfying Factory Tools

Airline Safety in Middle Earth

Don’t Fuck With This Rabbit

Valerie Justice

Worst Delivery of a Line in the History of Film

The Road That Plays Music, But Badly

History Science

Predicting the Internet in 1964

Chatting with Sophia

A Perfect 10 With 7 Music Changes in 2 Minutes

History Science

Sociotechnical Time Capsule: Steve Jobs, 1981

Captain Kirk’s First Gorn Encounter

How to Clear Snow Off Your Car

History Science

Buying a Computer in 1994

Meta-Retro: 1980s Clips Introducing the CD player

Eugene’s Dog Train

History Science

What Life Will be Like in 1999, According to 1961

Life Could Be a Dream

Art History Science

Manos: Hands of Fate 8-bit Video Game

Hendrix on Acoustic:

Hi, Bear

World’s Shortest Commercial Flight

Death Questions from Twitter Part 2

Watch Caitlin Get Embalmed

History Science

Vikings Were Really Intense, Often in Unpleasant Ways

An Adhesive Commercial

SUPERTRAIN: The Show that Almost Wrecked NBC

Squish

Empire Strikes Back – Behind the Scenes

Art History Science

Star Wars: Behind the Scenes Special Effects

Remixed Wrestling with Drums and Bass, Part 2

Godzilla vs. Siren Head in Real Life

How to Play the Cello With Only a Keyboard

Play Some Electronic Drums with Your Keyboard

Infinite Cringe

The Big Bagel Theory

24k Gold Vacuum

History Science

Tiny Airplanes You Could Fly Without a License

History Science

Teeny Tiny Airplanes

Art History Science

Land of the Lost

Relax in this Tunnel of Radioactive Gas

Get to Know Your Stratocruiser to Hawaii

Life in Infomercials: Constant Failure

How Stuff Gets Places: Not as Easy as it Looks

Launching Ships with Balloons

The Very Curious but Thankfully Cautious Cottonmouth:

The Brutal Sport of Cheese Rolling

Art Gym History Math Music Science

Bike Shop ASMR

Max Headroom: The Satire of All Satires, Which Most People Didn’t Even Realize Was Satire

The Time Bryan Cranston Met Charlie Manson

How 5 Classical Composers Would Have Played Happy Birthday

Making a Double Threaded, Bronze Bolt

Previous ProjectThe Facts of Life: More Complicated Than You Thought
Next ProjectThe Abandoned, Homemade Submarine in Coney Island Creek

2021 Smarty Plants, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Lic No. C11-0001214-LIC