Glass Microbiology
Luke Jerram turns the world's deadliest diseases into works of art. The British artist's glass sculptures — which go on display in London in January — depict old standbys (smallpox, E. coli), flashes in the pan (avian flu, SARS), and scourges of the day (H1N1, shown, and HIV). His goal: to explore the tension between the viruses' devastating beauty and their devastating impact on humanity.
National Geographic Concise History of Science & Invention
Subtitled An Illustrated Time Line, this 352-page tome recounts everything cool that has ever happened, from prehistory to present. Don't miss the World at a Glance chronicles, which catalog contemporary milestones across four major geographical regions. While the Europeans were busy creating steam engines, seed drills, and jeweled clockworks, what were New Englanders up to? Producing liquor — lots of it.
Power-Button Ring
This adjustable finger jewelry is made by the Italian duo Vicolo Paglia Corta using actual power buttons from PCs. No need to journey to Europe to put a ring on it, though: They're available at Farfetch.com for $40.
Kraftwerk: The Catalogue
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of their groundbreaking Autobahn, the German electropop pioneers of Kraftwerk are releasing a box set of eight remastered discs. (Word auf der Strasse is that a new album is in the works. Wunderbar!)
Photo: Peter Bottcher
Alice
Syfy's latest reimagination of a classic: a futuristic take on Alice in Wonderland. In this miniseries, Alice is a twentysomething who stumbles through the looking glass into a Vegas-like Wonderland populated by Colm Meaney, Tim Curry, and Kathy Bates (how we've missed you!). Fingers crossed that this redo is as much cheesy fun as Syfy's riff on The Wizard of Oz.
Photo: James Dittiger
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
It's four times the Mario you remember: In this new version, you can play with three friends at once. You still run along, jump on evil Goombas, and try to avoid bottomless pits. But dodging turtle shells is a hell of a lot trickier when other players keep getting in the way.
Sarah Haskins on Current TV
Television shows "for women" usually make us want to hurl our flatscreens (sorry, Charm School). For sanity, we turn to Sarah Haskins' dead-on deadpan. Her "Target Women" segments on Current TV pillory drivel like The Cougar with a sass and aplomb not seen in fake news since Tina Fey declared, "Bitch is the new black."
Adult Swim in a Box
This 12-disc set of Adult Swim's most popular shows would be merely OK if not for the hidden gem: a bonus DVD containing five never-before-seen pilots for shows that didn't make the cut. With titles like Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge, we can't imagine why they never aired.
HowItShouldHaveEnded.com
Maybe John Connor could have saved the future by sending back a T-1000 to take out Doc Brown (who, after all, pioneered time travel in 1985). Or maybe Frodo should have flown to Mount Doom on an eagle instead of, you know, walking there. How It Should Have Ended skewers one unlucky flick a month with hilarious animations that imagine what could have been. It's a veritable Plot Holes 101 for screenwriters.
Perpetualkid.com
Early adopters can be tough to shop for — they already have what's hot. Fortunately, Perpetual Kid helps out stymied gifters. Amusing and occasionally useful items like corn-dog-flavored lip balm, a Robot Sniffle tissue holder, and a saw-shaped cake knife will neither break the bank nor duplicate what's already on the giftee's desk.
