A paperweight made from every 'collectible' element on Earth
Is your paperweight made of too few elements? Do you even have a paperweight? (No, not this.) We'd excuse you if you didn't, frankly. If you're in the market, though, the Element Cube is likely the one you want. As the name suggests, this is no vanilla flowers-in-glass affair. The maker claims it contains every "collectible" element on the planet (not the same as the 90-plus "natural" ones, many aren't available in practical quantities). That's 62 in total, distilled into an alloy.
The project is the brainchild of Cillian McMinn, a self-proclaimed entrepreneur from Belfast, UK. McMinn explains that while aluminum might be present in higher quantities than many of the rarer materials, this abundant element also has a practical purpose of making the cube structurally sound (titanium, for example, being too dense for a cube of this size). Each paperweight comes with a material analysis report from an independent firm, confirming the presence of each of the 62 elements. If a large chunk of "iums" isn't calling out to you, there are bracelet and pendent versions of the same alloy, too.
The as-yet-named (and non-radioactive) material is made with a process called powder metallurgy, a technique for making alloys that can't be formed through traditional methods. The Element Cube is already funded on Kickstarter, but will cost £50 (around $75) if the collector in you is twitching. Want to know what's actually in it? We have a handy guide below.
Kidding, not all of those are in the Element Cube (though see if you can pick out the ones that are, which are listed in the graphic below).
