Spin-polarized tunnelling data show that the breakdown of antiferromagnetic order and the collapse of the spectral gap are not correlated in Sr2IrO4. This indicates that short-range magnetic correlations are not behind the emergence of the pseudogap.

See Zeljkovic et al.

A chiral fluid comprising spinning colloidal magnets exhibits macroscopic dynamics reminiscent of the free surface flows of Newtonian fluids, together with unique features suggestive of Hall—or odd—viscosity.

See Irvine et al.

The Parker spiral – arising from the interaction between the Sun’s magnetic field and the solar wind – is recreated in the laboratory from a rapidly rotating plasma magnetosphere.

See Peterson et al.

The disorder present in monolayer NbSe2 is found to be able to enhance its superconductivity. A systematic study reveals the origin of this effect: disorder-induced multifractality of the electron wave functions strengthens the local interactions.

See Ji et al.

The Kondo effect — the screening of a magnetic impurity’s local moment by the electron Fermi sea in a metal — has been observed in a charge-insulating quantum spin liquid material, where the spinon excitations take the role of electrons.

See Zorko et al.

Droplet sequences in microfluidic networks are shown to form trains that oscillate between branches of the network. Control of this effect suggests a mechanism by which red blood cells might avoid certain pathologies by minimizing oscillations.

See Grzybowski et al.

Two-state micropatterns offer a unique platform to study cell migration. An equation of motion is inferred from a large ensemble of trajectories, revealing key differences in the nonlinear dynamics of healthy and cancerous cells.

See Broedersz et al.

The quantum Hall effect is thought to exist only in two-dimensional materials. Here, transport measurements show that thin graphite slabs have a 2.5-dimensional version, with a parity effect for samples with odd and even number of layers.

See Mishchenko et al.

Experiments on microtubule-based nematics, together with active gel theory, suggest that the length scale associated with active turbulence is selected at its onset—balancing activity with the stabilizing effects of nematic elasticity and geometry.

See Ignes-Mullol et al.

A quark–gluon plasma is produced in proton–gold, deuteron–gold and helium–gold collisions. Observing elliptic and triangular flow in this nearly inviscid fluid from these different initial geometries provides a unique benchmark for hydrodynamic models.

See Nagle et al.

Electrons are confined to an artificial Sierpiński triangle. Microscopy measurements show that their wavefunctions become self-similar and their quantum properties inherit a non-integer dimension between 1 and 2.

See Morais-Smith et al.

Neutron and X-ray scattering experiments show that the partially disordered material CsNiCrF6 supports multiple Coulomb phases with structural and magnetic properties dictated by the underlying local gauge symmetry.

See Fennell et al.