In normal circumstances, particles will follow well-established random motions as they diffuse through liquids and gases. Yet in some types of system, this behavior can be disrupted—meaning the diffusion motions of particles are no longer influenced by the outcomes of chains of previous events. Through research published in EPJ E, Bernhard Mitterwallner, a Ph.D. student in the team of Roland Netz at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, has developed new theories detailing how these unusual dynamics can be reproduced in generalized mathematical models.