what's a cool gift? (like an infinity mirror)
I think infinity mirror's are cool. I want to get a smart gift like that for a friend. But not an infinity mirror. What other cool gift can I order online that's AS COOL AS an infinity mirror? Preferably 20$ to 50$
Why no one has mentioned a lava lamp?
A useless machine
I once had an hour glass that instead of sand it had some sort of slime, it was very cool to watch the bubbles slowly rise up the column.
You say it's useless, but half of internet is running on that. Hint: Cloudflare
more like stumbling, recently
potæto, potáto
I love my Useless Box!
I bought myself a lava lamp because yes, they're cool. Takes an hour to warm up, though. I usually lose my focus on it before that.
Dichroic glass
Splits a beam of white light into different colours, and shines them out diffferent orthogonal faces of a cube.
Turn music down
Looks cool but I had to laugh at this:
I think I've found my new go to secret Santa gift
I'll do you one better, Dichroic Glass Dice
They are alluring. Agreed, those are better.
Any tips on which set is easy to read, and looks the best?
No clue, but the frosted looks easier to read to me
If you're wanting something that makes for a neat, mesmerising visual effect, maybe a plasma ball?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_globe
It looks like they're available on Amazon for the mid-to-low end of that price range.
I feel like the novelty of these things wears off almost immediately
X-Files Theme plays
Little piece of bismuth was a good gift I gave, small desk ornament or such
This thread just walked me back into Sharper Image circa 2003
I'll list a few that I like but with no links because I don't want to use Amazon and most results that I find are limited to EU based shops anyway so not sure if it helps you. But I am sure you'll be able to look them up
Sand pendulum. Basically a pendulum that draws patterns on very fine sand. If you see them you can probably make one yourself that is even cooler
Double Pendulum, pretty cool to look at
Gyroscopes.
Tensegrity models. Those floating style structures that actually hang
Decorations with magnetic sand or fluid
RGB LED strip kit. Can use as backlighting for a mirror or tv, and could later be used to make an infinity mirror.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_m0Lnqad
Euler’s Disc, along with the most solid glass mirror you can find.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Q8M3Il0Zv68
The drinking bird
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_bird
A desktop stirling engine makes for a fun kinetic sculpture. They're powered by temperature differential such as by setting it over your morning coffee/tea or just the warmth of the sunlight hitting it.
Here's a fun video talking about stirling engines
Those little parabola mirrors that make the toy seem to float above.
Newton's cradle
Good quality Rubik's cube
Prism color cube
Rock slings are incredibly fun, you can chuck rocks and balls so far people love to try it, especially kids
This is just a gateway drug to a trebuchet.
I bet you'd love it if we were all launching 90kg objects over 300m away.
Along a similar vein, my coworker keeps raving about a little toy salt shotgun that he uses to kill flies in his house.
I've always thought Galileo Thermometers were pretty cool.
Arc electric lighters
Magnetic sand hour glass
Socks.
Awesome, and you can get them in different colors, like grey, or black, or blue, or beige. Not white though. White socks are only for playing sports.
Gonna suggest a kinetic sand table. The tabletop is glass and underneath there's a bunch of sand and a metal ball that rolls around drawing patterns. They're pretty neat.
I built one of these (shoutout to V1Engineering) and a $20-$50 budget will get you maybe 10% of the way there.
If the recipient is technically inclined, then a kit for a mini tesla coil would be cool
I’ve always liked those magnetic levitating globes!
(You can also find magnetic levitating for a variety of tv shows and video games)