Unusual Gifts: Science That Surprises

Choosing by the effect you want

Surprising physics

Here, the wonder comes from a law of physics you can watch at work. The Magic Spinner ($29.99), in aluminum and stainless steel, shows a sphere that seems to levitate inside a helical cradle as it spins. The Kinetic Art Sculpture ($38.99) is shaped with your fingertips: lift one bead, and a whole web of beads rises with it. The Magnetic Stress Balls ($29.99) each have their own texture (spikes, facets or waves), and they snap together or push apart under the pull of their magnets.

Things that float

With magnetic levitation, every visitor looks for the string that isn't there. The Levitating Light Bulb ($163.99) holds a glass bulb about half an inch above its base, with no cable or wire in sight. With no magnet at all this time, the Strobe Fountain ($227.99) fools the eye with a strobe light: its water drops look frozen, sometimes even rising, and a digital clock completes the picture. Back to magnets with the Modern Floating Succulent ($149.99): its hexagonal vase hovers an inch or so above a natural wood base and turns slowly, to show off a succulent from every side (plant not included).

Something for their desk

Set next to a screen, an unusual gift quickly becomes the talk of the team. The Magnetic Perpetual Calendar ($38.99) shows the month, the date and the weekday with three magnetic spheres set on wood. Placed by a glass of water, the Drinking Bird Toy ($19.99) drinks without end: when its head cools, the pressure drops and the colored liquid climbs the tube. With the two magnets supplied, the Ferrofluid In A Bottle ($22.99) makes the magnetic liquid rise into spikes and droplets, enough to intrigue a whole meeting. In a shared office, favor objects that stay silent and run on their own: the bird needs only water, the calendar nothing at all.

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Making the surprise land

A good unusual gift works in two steps: amazement when it's unwrapped, then the urge to understand. Most ideas on this page rest on a real principle (magnets, mirrors, strobe light, the warmth of a hand), so you'll have an answer when someone asks "but how does it stay up?" Skip the joke that ends up at the back of a drawer, and choose an object that stays on display, in the living room or on the desk. That's what sets these weird gifts apart from a gag: the surprise comes back every time a visitor sees them.

To see the whole range, browse all our quirky gadgets. If the person really has everything, our selection for someone who has everything focuses on things people don't buy for themselves, and our gifts for geeks lean toward tech and puzzles.