Scientists from the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Vanderbilt University, City University of New York, University of Nebraska, and University of Iowa have just published new results on asymmetric light-matter waves in the journal Nature. They have uncovered that low-symmetry crystals can support a new type of wave enabled by optical "shear forces." The results offer new possibilities for compact optical technologies to enable new ways to guide light or to store information optically.