Joseph H. Pham

In a field trap, scientists assembled a crystal — 150 ions at ultra-low temperature. Each ion behaves like a tiny magnet, capable of rotating in any direction. By controlling forces that depend on this rotation, physicists made all the magnets swirl into a common vortex called a skyrmion.

Hundreds of spinning tops sit on a carousel. Each one spins on its own, but the whole carousel also rotates. The challenge is to reach out and tilt the axis of any top as it whizzes by.