An experiment at the cutting edge of condensed matter physics and materials science has revealed that the dream of more efficient energy usage can become reality. An international collaboration led by the scientists of Italy’s International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, Università Cattolica di Brescia and Politecnico di Milano used tailored laser pulses to snap the electronic interactions in a compound containing copper, oxygen and bismuth. They were thus able to identify the condition for which the electrons do not repel each other, that is an essential prerequisite for current to flow without resistance. This research opens new perspectives for the development of superconducting materials with applications in electronics, diagnostics and transport. The study has just been published in Nature Physics.