  We propose to use a correlated noise bath to drive an optically trapped
Brownian particle that mimics active biological matter. Thanks to the
flexibility and precision of our setup, we are able to control the different
parameters that drive the stochastic motion of the particle with unprecedented
accuracy, thus reaching strongly correlated regimes that are not easily
accessible with real active matter. In particular, by using the correlation
time (i.e., the "color") of the noise as a control parameter, we can trigger
transitions between two non-equilibrium steady states with no expended work,
but only a calorific cost. Remarkably, the measured heat production is directly
proportional to the spectral entropy of the correlated noise, in a fashion that
is reminiscent of Landauer's principle. Our procedure can be viewed as a method
for harvesting information from the active fluctuations.
