Now You Can Own A Levitating Bonsai Tree, Freak Out Your Friends And Cats

It's a new spin on a centuries-old art: Bonsai trees that literally float in the air.

Japanese inventors have not only created this surreal way of showing off bonsai, they're ready to bring these levitating trees to market. Naturally, they've taken their "Air Bonsai" to Kickstarter.

The kit includes a magnetic "energy base" that sits beneath the tree and a "little star" made of moss or lava.

Place a tree or plant weighing about 10.5 ounces or less into the little star, and it will float about seven-tenths of an inch above the base (upright, as seen above, or sideways, as shown below):

The cheapest package that includes everything needed to float a tree -- but not the tree itself -- costs $200. Kits with plants or trees start at $500, but due to agricultural regulations, will not include the ones in the images, which are from Japan. U.S. customers will receive American-grown trees such as pine.

The floating bonsai kits are expected to begin shipping in August.

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