Sure, the Newton's cradle reigns supreme as the world's most mesmerizing desktop toy. But if you're looking for a replacement, we've got options for you.
At a mere 18 inches long, the Da Vinci Trebuchet lets you lob a soft clay ball right into your officemate's coffee mug. Theoretically.
In 2004, veteran workplace creativity consultant Roger von Oech developed the Ball of Whacks, a 30-sided polyhedron assembled from 30 tiny magnetic pyramids. More than just a puzzle, the ball can be reassembled in myriad ways, spurring creativity.
Google has bought 7,000 Balls of Whacks for its programmers and developers.
You're looking at a piece of the Free Universal Construction Kit, a 3D-printed tool available via The Creative Home. Its function: allowing all of your construction sets (Legos, Tinker Toys) to talk to each other.
If that descriptor doesn't sell you, consider: It looks incredibly cool. And it's free.
An iron-rich fluid in a jar? Check. A magnet on the other side of the jar? Check. The effect? Concept Zero's jarred ferrofluid, which forms peaks and patterns reminiscent of the black oil in TheX-Files.
Glass bulb plus partial vacuum equals vanes that rotate when they come into contact with light ... even flat, fluorescent, office light. This Gerald Vogel version of a Crookes radiometer sells at the Museum of Modern Art online store.
Reminiscent of an old train scheduling board, this clock, available at Dot & Bo, updates via a flip action every 60 seconds and runs on a single D-cell battery.
John Edmark's desk toy -- nay, art -- works like this: twist the thin brass tube back and forth, and the 38 laser-cut wood pieces will swirl rhythmically into a pine cone shape.
Bosses love to keep employees waiting at their desks while they chat away on the phone. If you are this boss, consider leaving out this tongue-in-cheek guest book.
