Floating bonsai trees defy gravity through magnetic levitation - CNET

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Humans seem to be obsessed with things that float, like hoverboards, UFOs and levitating Bluetooth speakers. A Kickstarter project wants to extend that love for the defiance of gravity to plant life. Air Bonsai uses the power of magnetic levitation to float small trees grown and groomed through the Japanese art of bonsai.

Air Bonsai uses the same principle we've seen before in this floating chessboard and this UFO-inspired levitating speaker. Repelling magnets push away from each other, allowing the plant container to float above the base. The creators refer to the floating plants as "little stars."

The effect is magical. The tiny trees float gently and spin slowly like imaginative creations from an anime. Some of them look like dainty planets with cratered surfaces. Small pines are what most people are familiar with when it comes to bonsai, but the Air Bonsai can also be used to grow other flora like mosses and flowering plants.

Shipping live plants can be a challenge. Air Bonsai plans to use locally sourced plants for backers in the US. Backers in most other countries will have to provide their own bonsai.