If anyone doesn't know what to get my for my birthday
fun fact, we use these (ring laser gyros) to keep airplanes perfectly level. they’re solid state (aesthetically pleasing) and have a drift of 1/100th of a degree per hour. they’re the most reliable and precise component out there for inertial navigation.
they work by splitting a beam of light in opposite directions, when they meet again their coherent waves interfere and recombine, and the change in phase reflects the change in angular velocity
and really, they just look so cool.