Elon Musk may be trying to save the world, whether that's through electric cars or exploring outer space, but he's having fun while doing it. He takes whatever chance he gets to provide nods to some of his favorite science-fiction stories, videogames and old comedy movies, whether that's on Twitter or through a crazy Tesla easter egg.
Related: 23 Weird Things We've Learned About Elon Musk
Click through the slideshow to see examples of Musk showing off his nerdiness.
Did Musk accidentally tweet his phone number? Numerous news organizations seem to think so. In a now deleted tweet, Musk asked Oculus VR chief technology officer John Carmack to call a number. Website Jalopnik says confirmed the number is associated with Musk. But considering that when the number was called, it lead to a hidden message from the video game God of War, we think this may just be a prank.
At what point will Musk start having to pay royalties to Douglas Adams's estate? When it came time to name the first SpaceX vessel bound for Mars, of course Musk dipped into Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
“We’re thinking about names. The names thing is really hard,” Musk said in 2016. “And the name of the first ship that goes to Mars not the name of the whole ship line necessarily but the first ship that goes to Mars … my current favorite is Heart of Gold.”
Heart of Gold is the name of a ship in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy commandeered by a character named Zaphod Beeblebrox.
Musk has been a fan of James Bond films since he was young, so much so that he spent $866,000 to buy the Lotus Esprit submarine car from the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me. His love of this vehicle made its way into Tesla cars as well.
Owners of the Model S can hold down the "T" button and then input "007" into the technician log-in screen, which will transform the vehicle shown on the screen into submarine car.
Related: Elon Musk May Be Sending a Tesla Roadster to Space on a SpaceX Rocket
Not all of Musk's references are to science fiction. The names of Tesla's thee models are S, 3 and X, which spells out SEX if you're paying attention. The only reason why there's no Model E is that Ford threatened to sue Tesla if it pursued a trademark. Oh well. Apparently, there's also a Model Y coming.
Related: It Was Fun for a While, But Elon Musk Denies Theory He Created Bitcoin
SpaceX's rockets, including the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, are named after the iconic Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. While that vessel was piloted by the suave Han Solo, we bet SpaceX's astronauts are also pretty cool. Meanwhile, the Dragon capsule is named after the song "Puff the Magic Dragon."
