This 3D-printed dino head will spice up any shower.
They print them to order with a MakerBot, so you can get any color you want — including glow-in-the-dark!
$24.99 on Etsy
These coasters of radioactive elements light up when you put your drink on them — batteries included!
A set of four has the elements radium, plutonium, uranium, and thorium, but don't emit real radiation, of course.
$19.99 on ThinkGeek
Sometimes you need to do look close — really, really close — at that leaf, bug, or piece of fabric.
This tiny extension magnifies your phone'scamera by 60X-100X, and it has a light so you can illuminate your specimens.
The product is compatible with iPhone 6/5, Samsung Galaxy S5/S4/S3, and Samsung Note 2/3/4. It even has a leather carrying case to store your mini microscope in style.
$11.99 on Amazon
This gold-plated DNA necklace turns the double helix into art.
There are several other iterations of this necklace out there, but we like this one best. It has matching earrings, too.
$55 on Etsy
These lollipops look almost too good to eat.
Each one has an image of outer space inside. They're made out of pure cane sugar, water, cream of tartar, and salt.
$15.50 for six on Etsy
Decorate with this butterfly wall art. The change your mind and move them around.
The removable wall stickers come in all different types, so you can choose which kind you want on your wall.
$4.95 for a set of 12 butterflies on Amazon
This company will take a swab of your DNA and turn it into the "world's most personalized art."
They process your genetic information and print the resulting bands that is you on canvases. They also do fingerprints.
$199 for a 12"X16" print of one person's DNA up to $1,029 for a 36"X48" print of four people's DNA
You're never too old to play with rockets.
This kit lets you build your own rockets and launch them over and over again. The Amazon rocket can fly 600 feet, while the Crossfire rocket can fly 1,150 feet.
Each has a parachute to gently float the rocket to the ground, so you can recover and launch either one again and again.
$26.82 on Amazon
This coffee mug has 10 different molecules found in your average cup of joe on it, including, of course, caffeine.
It's made out of glass and is both dishwasher and microwave safe.
$15 on Etsy
NeuroTribes, a book by journalist Steve Silberman, traces the history of the science on Autism, and follows the lives of people who are neurodiverse.
As the product description sums up — and we agree — the book "upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differently."
It's a smash hit that won the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.
$16.47 in hardcover on Amazon
Each coaster has a (fake) slice of the human brain on it.
If you stack them up, they form a full 3D version of the brain.
$23.99 for a set of 10 on Amazon
This paperweight contains the entire solar system.
It's made out of hand-blown glass, and harbors all of the planets. (Sorry, Pluto is not included.)
$39.98 on Amazon
This lamp uses magnets to make the shade levitate and twist in the air.
It requires a bit of set up, but there's a good how-to video.
$90.10 on Amazon
These curtains can bring gorgeous space images to your shower.
They have several different pictures to choose from, too.
$30 on Amazon
Snatoms are a magnetic molecular modeling kit from science YouTube star Derek Muller, who runs the channel Veritasium.
They snap together, unlike the lame ball-and-stick models from chemistry lab. The kit will allow you to build glucose with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but you can also build any other molecule that contains a combination of six carbon atoms, six oxygen atoms and twelve hydrogen atoms.
Muller's Kickstarter campaign blew by his $42,000 goal, and has raised over $223,000 so far. The campaign closes on December 23, so make sure you scoop these up before then.
$42 for a Snatoms kit on Kickstarter
Have you ever wanted to try to make the weird foods you see people make with molecular gastronomy, but didn't know where to start?
This kit contains pipettes, spoons, syringes, silicone tubes, and 20 packets of food additives to let you try your hand at food science. The food additives included are sodium alginate, xanthan gum, calcium lactate, soy lecithin, agar, so you can turn vegetables into gel beads or morph melted chocolate into strands.
Luckily, there's an instructional DVD that shows you how to do it, too.
$49.99 for the just the kit or $60 for the kit and a recipe book on Uncommon Goods
These unicellular eukaryotic organisms are under-appreciated.
Learn more about protozoa with these drink coasters, which feature vintage illustrations from 1920s textbooks.
$28 for a set of four on Etsy
Adam Rogers follows the history of alcohol in his book, "Proof: The Science of Booze."
“Rogers’s book has much the same effect as a good drink," said the glowing review in the Wall Street Journal. "You get a warm sensation, you want to engage with the wider world, and you feel smarter than you probably are. Above all, it makes you understand how deeply human it is to take a drink.”
$10.03 in paperback on Amazon
This steampunk-inspired key holder has gears that actually turn.
It's made out of laser-engraved plywood with brass and zinc accents.
$48 on UncommonGoods
If brewing your own beer isn't enough, you can now grow you own.
This terrarium kit lets you grow wheat, barley, and hops in your very own beer garden (haha get it?).
$17.69 on Amazon
This biology kit contains everything you need to run experiments to grow and culture the microbes living all around you, just like any college students in a microbiology lab.
You simply swab your surroundings — elevator buttons, behind your ear, the toilet — and wipe it on the provided petri dishes. Then grow the bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and try to figure out what they are.
The company that sells the kit even has PhDs on call so you can get real advice.
$19.99 on Amazon
No science gift guide is complete without a chemist's cocktail kit. Measure out your liquor in milliliters instead of silly "shots."
This one includes an Erlenmeyer flask decanter, test tubes, a glass stirring rod, a stainless steel shaker with strainer, and a steel rack to store everything.
Drink scientifically.
$47.88 on Amazon
If any of these cooking gifts inspire you and your loved ones to cook with science, then this is the cookbook you need this holiday season.
The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt walks through recipes and explains the science. It also has full step-by-step instructions illustrated in pictures so you know every step in your gastronomic experiments goes right.
$27.47 in hardcover on Amazon
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