<ul><li>Worms move faster in a disordered environment with randomly-placed obstacles than in empty space.</li><li>Physicists at the University of Amsterdam model worms as polymer-like 'active matter', applying the concept to the development of robots for biomedical applications.</li><li>In disordered environments, worms spread faster as crowding increases, while in ordered environments, more obstacles slow them down.</li><li>The study could have implications for soil aeration, fertility treatments, and optimization of other biomedical applications.</li></ul>

Speedy worms behave like active polymers in disordered mazes

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