Okay, maybe I’m more of a geek than I’d like to admit. I stumbled across this website and actually found a few things I’d like to have.
Klein Bottle: Don’t know what I’d do with one, but how many people can say they own a bottle without an inside or outside? A Moebius bottle, as it were. Of course it wouldn’t be a real Klein bottle, but I have enough trouble existing in three dimensions. I don’t need four. I can hear it now: “Does this dimension make my butt look fat?”
If you want to give a mathematician something to envelop their head around, a Klein bottle is a good place to start. A real Klein bottle is an item with no inside and no outside and can only subsist in four dimensions. These glass models subsist in three, which means that dissimilar from the real thing, they can in fact hold liquid.
Miracle Berries: I might want to try them once. But I don’t know about a second trip to the buffet. You never know what the fried okra might taste like, and I really like fried okra. I mean, if the okra came out tasting like boogers or something, I might have problems eating it again.
The miracle berries themselves does not have the taste. The only reason people eat them is because they contain a chemical called miraculin. The miraculin tends to bind the sweet taste receptors on our tongue, shaping them in order to respond towards sour and acidic foods. The effect is extraordinarily different. For example, Straight Tabasco sauce tastes like donut glaze. Guinness tastes like chocolate malt. Goat cheese tastes like cheesecake.
Gallium: A metal that, unlike a certain candy, melts in your hand has to be fun for at least five minutes. But then what?
Aerogel: I’ve always been fascinated by aerogels. Not sure what I’d do with a piece of aerogel, but it would be interesting to have, and a great conversation starter. For example, “You may be worried about second hand smoke, but how about the frozen variety?”