Here is material on a newly discovered active state of matter, called “swirlon.” This matter violates some classical laws of physics, and seems to be “alive” in some sense. What I wonder is if there could be some energy use made of this, for self-propelling particles? Or, could some use be made in transportation? Time will tell, but this is something we never considered in high school physics, well, at least in my school.
https://www.livescience.com/swirlonic-matter-unusual-behavor.html