Some interesting commentary from the lead researcher: Kang stresses that the new ability to measure the quantum geometry of materials "comes from the close coo

Some interesting commentary from the lead researcher: Kang stresses that the new ability to measure the quantum geometry of materials "comes from the close cooperation between theorists and experimentalists." The COVID pandemic, too, had an impact. Kang, who is from South Korea, was based in that country during the pandemic. "That facilitated a collaboration with theorists in South Korea," says Kang, an experimentalist. The pandemic also led to an unusual opportunity for Comin. He traveled to Italy to help run the ARPES experiments at the Italian Light Source Elettra, a national laboratory. The lab was closed during the pandemic, but was starting to reopen when Comin arrived. He found himself alone, however, when Kang tested positive for COVID and couldn't join him. So he inadvertently ran the experiments himself with the support of local scientists. "As a professor, I lead projects but students and postdocs actually carry out the work. So this is basically the last study where I actually contributed to the experiments themselves," he says.