They didn't use macroscopic magnets to form the alternate pattern or the swirls, and they are stable. If you have a link to a YouTube Channel with a similar result, it would be nice to see it.
Also, do you have a link to the arxiv post of 2021? It's a lot of time. This article looks like studing how to "see" the pattern. Perhaps the old one was about the material and general properties.
I was actually thinking of the engineering-minded people who experiment with permanent magnet electric motors out of intuition. The bit about free energy was hyperbole of mine.
I'm trying to decide if we are intentionally 'translating' these ideas from pure imagination down into technological applications through intermediate 'realms' of quasi-reality, or if building stuff with just intuition can still be accepted in the 21st century. The BS is just piled too high for me and my trust in technology is not great. Sometimes I wonder if we are just having a mass psychosis in a field of mud.
IIUC the new article is about taking a "photograph" of the magnetiation in a real sample, and the old article is a theoretical prediction. Perhaps the new article should be presented as a confirmation instead of a discovery, but press releas are full of omisions and overhype.
Also, do you have a link to the arxiv post of 2021? It's a lot of time. This article looks like studing how to "see" the pattern. Perhaps the old one was about the material and general properties.