When you rotate the particles of a normal crystal, what was once a stable structure can spontaneously fall apart into whorl-like patches.

Continuing the efforts made towards understanding liquids of spinning particles in the Irvine Lab at the University of Chicago, we examined the dynamics of the solid phase. Combining experiments, simulations, and theory, we discovered that these crystals actually blur the line between solid and liquid, constantly kneading themselves due to a zipping network of active dislocations, or little bits of crystalline fracture. You can see the details here, or watch a short video summary here.

E. S. Bililign, F. Balboa Usabiaga, Y. A. Ganan, A. Poncet, V. Soni, S. Magkiriadou, M. J. Shelley, D. Bartolo, W. T. M. Irvine. Motile dislocations knead odd crystals into whorls, Nature Physics 18 (2022).