The Particle Zoo

It's been a couple of weeks since I appreciated the hell out of some fine geeky craftsmanship, and no one is more deserving of it than The Particle Zoo!

Julie Peasley brings physics adorably to life with her cuddly, handmade collection of subatomic particles!

Having a self proclaimed lifelong interest in cosmology, Julie embarked on bringing her vision of these elusive subatomic building blocks to life after a visit to a craft fair turned her interest towards creating more physical art - an aside from her usual occupation of graphic design.

With a veritable rainbow of particles on offer - even the elusive Higgs Boson - and every creation lovingly rooted in accurate science (Julie even lists some of her advisors here), The Particle Zoo is my first stop when searching for the ideal geeky gift. Even the weights of the particles vary according to their properties!

Last Christmas I ordered the Up and Down Quarks and sent the Up to a friend of mine - to act as a sort of geeky friendship bracelet. They arrived with a lovely little hand signed note from Julie and a list of even more particles to tempt me!

As solo zookeeper, Julie makes everything herself, so larger orders do take time, but individual particles are ready quite quickly and it all has a wonderfully personal touch. We had a very amusing email conversation when I managed to fill in the wrong country for shipping (I had just moved! This is my defense!).

Each plushie comes with a sewn name tag and an attached cardboard label detailing its information and whether it is a light or heavy particle!

My Down Quark has a great big smile that I love waking up to each morning! I've got my eye on Strange and Charm next - I will eventually complete my Quark collection! Although owning the Universe is also quite tempting...

You can buy from The Particle Zoo online and Julie can be contacted here if you have any questions about a large order, whether London is actually in the UK or life in general!

Is it wrong that I used to add Earth, The Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy to all addresses when I was writing letters as a kid? :S