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Video abstract for the article 'Ionic transport in mixed-alkali glasses: hop through the distinctly different conduction pathways of low dimensionality' by Young-Hoon Rim, Mac Kim, Jeong Eun Kim and Yong Suk Yang (Young-Hoon Rim et al 2013 New J. Phys. 15 023005). Read the full article in New Journal of Physics at http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/15/2/023005/article. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY Introduction and background. It is known empirically that the macroscopic behavior of the real part of conductivity for ion conducting materials, including single and mixed alkali glasses, can be well described by a power law. The dynamical origin of ionic conductivity in a glass state has been an unsolved problem for decays since Jonscher's power law was published in Nature in 1977. Main results. Based on the modified fractional Rayleigh equation we show that the ionic transport in both the single and mixed alkali glasses can be described including a repulsive interaction caused by a site mismatch effect and Coulomb blockade by the randomly distributed ions. From the power law exponent, we have found that the ions of the single and mixed alkali glasses are moving through the first and second branches of the fractal pathways, respectively. With the Arrhenius relation of hopping frequency and a mass dependent characteristic time, we verify that the local potential energy of the mixed alkali glasses is quite a lot deeper than one of the single alkali glasses. Wider implications. The understanding of ionic migration mechanisms in glasses is of fundamental importance and may be applicable to the design of new glasses