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'Star Wars' M.C. Escher Lego model a perfect geek storm

Paul Vermeesch is my kind of geek. The longtime Lego tinkerer has captured nerd lightning in a bottle with an elaborate Lego diorama featuring "Star Wars" characters battling it out in a 3D version of M.C. Escher's famous "Relativity" print. Be still my beating heart!

The model presents pretty much the entire original "Star Wars" trilogy. You could easily spend hours staring at the staircases and reenacting the movie scenes in your mind with the help of Vermeesch's strategically placed Lego minifigures.

Vermeesch even thought through how the colors reflect the particular film scenes he chose. The delight is in the details. Oh look, there's Luke's detached hand, still clinging to his lightsaber. … Read more

Gravity-defying balls channel M.C. Escher

If you think your eyes have played tricks on you before, check out this video. It shows four little wooden balls that seem to defy gravity by rolling uphill on four slopes built of cardboard. The balls seem drawn to the slopes' peaks, as if by magnetism. That's why this bizarre creation, by Kokichi Sugihara of the Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences in Kawasaki, Japan, won the 2010 Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest.

The illusion is entitled "Impossible Motion: Magnet-like Slopes." When turned around, it becomes apparent that the slopes are actually … Read more

Put the impossible on your desk

If you're famous at work for doing the impossible, it's time to deck out your desk with something fitting.

This limited-edition M.C. Escher Waterfall Sculpture is available on ThinkGeek for an impossible-to-believe price of $59.99. Only 500 of the sculptures exist, so you should act quickly if you want to get in on the fun.

The sculpture, based on the famous M.C. Escher woodcut, is just six inches tall. That puts it squarely in the running for the object with the most ability to blow your mind per square inch.

Alas, the water in the … Read more