Every want to have a little critter that you could direct like a remote control car? Scientists at the University of Buffalo have put tiny nanoparticles into the worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans because nobody wants to pronounce “Caenorhabditis”). These particles can heat up different parts of the worm and cause them to recoil. The localized heating opens channels that permit calcium to flow into the cells and that causes the worms to react.