We present a 16-vertex
tetrahedralization of S
3 (the 3-sphere) for which no topological
bistellar flip other than a 1-to-4 flip (i.e., a vertex
insertion) is possible. This answers a question of Altshuler
et al. which asked if any two n-vertex tetrahedralizations of
S
3 are connected by a sequence of 2-to-3 and 3-to-2
flips. The corresponding geometric question is whether two
tetrahedralizations of a finite point set S in
3 in

general
position

are always related via a sequence of geometric 2-to-3
and 3-to-2 flips. Unfortunately, we show that this
topologically unflippable complex and others with its properties
cannot be geometrically realized in
3.