The electron spin-orbit interaction in condensed matter physics can be tuned via an
electric gate (in contrast to atomic physics). This opens up the unique possibility for
electric control of the intrinsically-magnetic degree of freedom of the electron ? its
?spin?. This was the major motivation behind Quantum Spintronics (e.g., spin field effect
transistor) and Quantum Computation (with spin qubits) over the last 10 ? 15 years. More
recently, however, there has been a renewed interest in the spin orbit interaction in
condensed matter as researchers realized that this interaction is a crucial ingredient
underlying newly discovered physical phenomena such as (i) topological insulating
behavior, (ii) novel persistent spin-density waves in non-interacting electron systems,
and (iii) the emergence of Majorana modes ? all of these in quantum wells, wires and
dots. In this colloquium I will first review the basics of the spin-orbit interaction in
solids and then present an overview of the novel phenomena in (i), (ii) and (iii) (+
underlying basics concepts), highlighting some recent developments on these three topics
in my research group in São Carlos.