The white gear in this object has only one set of teeth, because it has only one side: it's a Möbius gear. It's a real object, constructed with a 3-D printing process -- read all about how Aaron Hoover made it (check out the details in this PDF). You can rotate the silcone rubber white gear while the blue "planetary" gears allow it to move, but according to Wired "the blue gears pop out occasionally".
I can't imagine it has any practical purpose other than being awesomely cool. And it's still not as tasty as a Möbius Bagel.
Aaron M. Hoover: The Möbius Gear
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