Physicists have succeeded in creating a quantum material that theorists predicted more than ten years ago.
For much of that time, the material existed only as equations on paper.
Turning that mathematical prediction into a real, physical sample proved remarkably challenging.
Eventually, a dedicated research team overcame the obstacles and produced it in the laboratory.
Once made, the material displayed the unusual behaviour that theory had promised.
Such exotic properties are precisely what make it so valuable to researchers.
One exciting possibility is that it could enable faster and more efficient electronics.
Beyond that, it may contribute to the long-term quest to build practical quantum computers.