Insulator or a metal? When a metal is cooled to low temperatures and placed in an external magnetic field, its resistivity may oscillate as the magnitude of the field is varied. Seeing these so-called quantum oscillations in an insulating material would be very unusual. Xiang et al. report such findings in the insulator ytterbium dodecaboride (YbB ₁₂ ) (see the Perspective by Ong). In addition to oscillations in resistivity, the authors observed oscillations in the magnetic torque. The results present a challenge to theories that aim to explain the insulating state of YbB ₁₂ . Science , this issue p. 65 ; see also p. 32