Gift Ideas for Nerds who are a pain to shop for- strangely satisfying spinners <$30
If you’re in my family, stop watching
This fidget spinner is a double pendulum– a chaotic system, according to physics, because the tiniest change in starting location totally shifts how it will move. But trying to do so tickles my brain, so I’ve spent hours playing with this in the last week. And it’s a satisfying weight to hold.
Next is the spinner on a pendulum- this moves COMPLETELY differently than the last one, and for me its all about seeing which cool shapes i can produce. It’s very satisfying in a different sort of way.
This rattleback spins smoothly in one direction, but try the other and it stops and reverses itself. Try challenging your friends to explain it.
This dense cube looks super cool and is really nice to hold
This metal desk spinner makes it seem like the ball is floating
And these tops are precision engineered to spin for up to 10 minutes on the right surface. They’ve been going for the last 5. And upside down. If you get multiples you can challenge your friends to a spin off
Check’m all out here:
Gifts for Nerds
I bought most of these on Amazon, expecting to return them, buuuut they ended up being too much fun (either for myself or my guests), so now I just have an interesting coffee table.
Some of the non-Amazon items were sent to me by brands that are small businesses run by usually just one or two nerds like myself. If you want to support them (and me), make sure to buy from them directly–through my link or using my discount code!
Arc Lighter
Why use a match or lighter when you can use thousands of volts of rechargeable electricity instead?
Magic Chain Wine Holder
Exactly as it looks. Well made and super cool looking! The perfect table centerpiece.
Gyroscope
Well-made and inexpensive, this is a lot of fun to play with–and great for teaching some cool physics!
CMY Color Cubes
A translucent acrylic cube with cyan, magenta, and yellow on each surface. Rotating it in different ways is a really cool way to teach color theory!
3-D Mirascope
This produces a fun optical illusion where, when viewed at the right angle, it looks like there’s a hologram of whatever small object you put in it. Great for teaching optics!
FerroFluid - Venom in a Bottle
This stuff is fascinating to play with, whether you’re 5 years old or 50. Also a cool way to teach electromagnetism. Also might be an alien parasite.
Satisfying Spinners Under $30
Double Pendulum Spinner
Chaos in action! The tiniest small motion completely changes the way that it will swing, but that doesn’t stop my brain from trying to predict it. I’ve spent hours playing with this thing.
Pendulum Spinner
This spinner works on a less cerebral, more kinesthetic level. It moves super smoothly and is very viscerally satisfying to play with, both from it’s density and it’s smooth motion. This is the one that people steal from me most often 🤣
Cube Spinner
This is solid metal, with the larger part spinning around the smaller axis in a manner similar to that of a normal fidget spinner. I like how decorative it looks when not in use.
Precision Spinning Tops
These feel very on-theme for Channukah season. I’ve gotten these to spin for more than 6 minutes, but some have gone higher than 8!
Kinetic Spinning Floaty Orb
👆The technical term for it I’m sure! This is a super cool desk decoration that, when you spin it, makes it look like the orb in the middle is hovering in mid-air.
Rattleback
This solid metal gadget spins smoothly counter-clockwise, but as soon as you try to spin it clockwise it quickly rattles to a stop and then (briefly) reverses its direction. The phenomena has been known for a long time, and is also called a Celtic Stone–I bet many folks throughout the years have been quite baffled by it.
High-End Gifts that are Totally Worth the $$
Periodic Table–With 83 ACTUAL ELEMENTS!
Each of these are handmade by the guys at Engineered Labs. It includes almost every element safe + possible to include, even ones like gold, platinum, all the gases (in little ampules), and even uranium!
This link should give you 10% off (and helps me a bit). Make sure to check out all of their other cool stuff!
Science Flask Tumblers
These are made of laboratory-grade borosilicate glass with colorful, non-slip silicone boots, and a stopper complete with a straw-hole for the included metallic straws. I love serving drinks to guests out of them
Using this link should give you a discount!
(Or use code “SCIENCE10”)
Floating Lightbulb
This is the coolest piece of decor in my living room right now. I may need to get another one for my work/studio area.
Novium Hoverpen
Precision engineering, luxury feel, super cool floating floatiness! Owning it automatically makes you feel rich. Buying it makes you feel poor 😉
Alfred Cutting Board
I’ve been gearing up for a Science-In-The-Kitchen series for a while now, and first step was for me to get a super high-end cutting board to use (and film on). I did a bunch of research and found a small family business out in LA that makes these beautiful walnut cutting boards, and were nice enough to send me one. You can use code SCIENCE10 to get 10% off!
(no links here are sponsored, but some are affiliate–ie if you use them to buy you help me out 😊)
Caption:
More coming soon!
Which was your favorite?
What other cool gifts for nerds have you seen? Let me know! 👇
#science #gifts #gifts2024 #giftsforhim