My younger daughter wants a pogo stick for her birthday. I hadn't even thought about pogo sticks since I was her age, and I never owned one. Pogo sticks have been around almost a hundred years, but of course, there have been improvements made on the basic model of my childhood. A pogo stick gives a mechanical boost to your hopping motion via kinetic energy stored in the spring. The best pogo sticks lifted you an extra foot. Building a better spring means the newer pogo sticks can jump higher than... READ ON

As I was researching another article, I was struck by the many different Rubik's cubes there are. Some are designed to be nerdy cool, some are pretty, and some are designed to drive you up a wall. But no matter how difficult you make a puzzle, there will always be someone who's up for the challenge. The classic Rubik's cube is available in different configurations, such as 2x2 pocket cube, the standard 3x3, and the more difficult 4x4 Rubik's revenge, and the 5x5... READ ON

In 1992, a cargo of 29,000 plastic (not rubber) ducks, turtles, and frogs was swept overboard from a container ship. The ship was bound for Seattle, carrying a cargo of toys manufactured in China. When the toys' containers fell overboard, they broke open, releasing the toys to the ocean currents. Since their voyage began in 1992, the ducks have been floating around the world's oceans, turning up on beaches across the globe. Retired Oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer has been tracking the toys on... READ ON

Ah, Beanie Babies. Back in their heyday, my little sister took to collecting them with disturbing zeal. Suddenly, there was commercial interest not just from her Nerds Rope-addled matrix of grade school associates, but from adult neighbors with disposable cash and a house flipping gene. There were times I'd enter her room just to observe their impeccably organized assemblage...I stared at them and they stared back. Of course, those were the times my sister would rush in with three new... READ ON