Physicists at the University of Cologne have taken an important step forward in the pursuit of topological quantum computing by demonstrating the first-ever observation of Crossed Andreev Reflection (CAR) in topological insulator (TI) nanowires. This finding, published under the title ‘Long-range crossed Andreev reflection in topological insulator nanowires proximitized by a superconductor’ in Nature Physics, deepens our understanding of superconducting effects in these materials, which is essential for realizing robust quantum bits (qubits) based on Majorana zero-modes in the TI platform — a major goal of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Matter and Light for Quantum Computing’ (ML4Q).