We explained the 2016 Nobel Physics Prize. Meet Tess. She relies on technology throughout her day, which simplifies her life. She knows that innovations in technology rely on our abilities to understand the materials that create them, and that physics is one way to uncover these insights. So she is curious to learn more about the Nobel laureates who discovered a new set of regularities in the way matter behaves. Tess learns that David Tholis, Duncan Hall-Dane, and Michael Costa-Litz, made new discoveries in physics using concepts found in a branch of mathematics called topology. Topology describes properties that are preserved under deformations and manipulations. In topology, an integral number called a topological invariant can be assigned to all objects that share the same properties. One example of a topological invariant is the number of holes an object has, an orange, a ball, and a muffin all have zero holes, so they can all be assigned the topological invariant n equals zero. In contrast, a coffee cup and a bagel each have one hole, and can be assigned the topological invariant n equals one. Objects can't transform from one topology class to another, unless a significant force is applied to them, like cutting, gluing, or telling them. Their topological properties are protected against small changes. This was noteworthy to scientists because microscopic objects are usually observed as being fragile. They typically can only survive in very specific conditions, but physicists observed some objects that had surprisingly robust properties. They were puzzled by these exceptions. This year's Nobel laureates discovered that the robust properties were caused by the topological nature of electrons in those objects. From this realization, Tholus used topology to explain the famous quantum-haul effect experiment. This experiment showed that in very thin layers, and in the presence of high magnetic fields, electrons behave in such a way that the conductance through the system is robust against disorder, and can only change in steps as the magnetic field is increased. Tholus was able to explain this behavior by assigning an integral n to each of the conductance steps observed. Later, all-dane predicted that a similar effect was possible without having a magnetic field. Before, scientists believe phase transitions could not occur in extremely thin layers of matter. However, Costa Litz and Tholus found that it was possible for fortices to appear in some 2D materials. Because of their topological nature, they found that each vortex could be assigned an integral number, determined by the number of times it turns. At low temperatures, the vortices are always seen in tight pairs that stay together. These pairs influence the electriconductivity of the matter, but when the temperature is raised, the vortex pairs break away from each other. This is a completely new kind of phase transition. Finally, all-dane studied one-dimensional chains of atomic magnets. He found another example of topological order, a different type of topological object called a skirman, explained the change from conducting to insulating behavior of the chain. Tess is excited to hear that the ideas developed by the Nobel laureates have sparked revolutions in many other fields. Scientists hope these discoveries can be applied to the development of new materials used for electronics. Tess thinks that's pretty cool, and wonders what the future may hold.