Shine on, NV diamond: Real-colour photo of the lower half of the experimental setup. The diamond with nitrogen-vacancy centres is suspended via a graphite rod above a magnet. When the diamond is illuminated with a green laser, the spin state within the diamond shifts, pushing it towards the magnet. The diamond glows red due to electrons in the nitrogen-vacancy centres being excited to a higher energy state by the laser. (Courtesy: Cassondra George, OIST)

Physicists have moved a macroscopic sample of diamond using only the force from the sample’s own electron spins.…