P. Manuel

A pot of water on the stove: the hotter the burner, the faster ice turns to water, and water to steam. Heat destroys order. But sometimes nature pulls a trick, and heating makes a liquid freeze, like a puddle turning to ice on a frosty morning.

A row of soldiers turns in unison at the command. In magnetic materials, the soldiers are the spins of atoms — tiny magnetic arrows. In an ordinary magnet, they all point the same way, but in a triangular lattice, things are trickier: neighbors interfere with each other, leading to an intricate dance.