Go for a Spin With a Quark Top

Spinning tops haven’t changed all that much for a couple of thousand years. A flick of the wrist and these children’s toys will balance upright for a couple of minutes until their energy is depleted and they topple over.

Now there’s a top called Quark, which its manufacturer claims will happily twirl for 15 minutes on a single twist, longer even than those cool tops that spin while levitated in a magnetic field.

Our test Quark ran for more than eight minutes, and we weren’t even very serious about it.

For those who are serious, the Quark kit comes with a heavy top with small pockets on the edge, small weights for the pockets to perfectly balance the gizmo, a laser pointer to help you figure out where to put the weights, a glass mirror to put the top on while it goes through its paces and wooden shims to make sure the mirror is completely level.

The top is available in brass for $49.95, tungsten for $149.95, and, for the geek who has everything, solid 14K gold for $2,495. Check it out at the Micro Logic Web site, www.miclog com.

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Dave Wilson