Researchers from Skoltech, the University of Iceland, and the University of Southampton have demonstrated the formation of an odd never-before-seen entity from the realm of quantum physics: a cluster of optical vortices with periodic charge flipping. Fundamental studies of optical vortices hold the promise of applications in optical microscopy, quantum cryptography, enhanced-bandwidth optical communication, analog computation, and optical tweezers tech. The research was published in Physical Review Letters and featured on the issue cover.