The Information Entropy Podcast

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode speaks openly and consistently about the topic of death, including medical procedures used to ascertain death in humans.

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! It is inevitable, woven into every human culture, leaves no person untouched, taboo for some and celebrated by others… This week, we discuss death. The boys start with a bit of a musical tangent (naturally) before exploring the...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! This week we are continuing to explore the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (insofar as large language models, ChatGPT, Claude etc.). Will it be humankinds greatest achievement or are we Icarus about to soar too close to the Sun? The boys explore some ethical questions around the use of AI in the workplace including academia and whether they should be credited accordingly...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! This week we continue our exploration of the Dead Internet Theory, trying to understand just how much of the internet is made up of generative AI, AI agents, and "bad bots." The boys explore the impact of increasing AI content online, meaning AI risks entering recursive training loops where its own output becomes the very data that fuels its future training. Perhaps this has also bee...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! This week we are starting a series investigating whether the internet is made up of more AI agents and content that actual humans.  In this first episode the boys start by discussing the use of AI in life and in the scientific world and the consensus that could be arrived at with the publication of work using AI’s help. We then discuss the internet: what is it anyway and h...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! This week we are continuing our examination of drugs. Tom explores the different types of drugs that exist, from depressants to stimulants, what effects do they have on the body. Mitch takes us through a step-by-step process of how ibuprofen works and the boys pontificate the human experience of reversing evolution’s healing process. Tom tries to understand the difference betwe...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! This week we are taking a closer look at drugs! The boys start off the show recounting the awful week of celebrity deaths before cracking on with drugs themselves. They explore the drug known as Krokodil and the disastrous effect it can have on your life expectancy as well as what is it that actually makes drugs addictive in the first place. We explore how ibuprofen works in the body...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! This week we are continuing our exploration of moons in the solar system, what secrets are hidden in the atmosphere of Titan, what mysteries lie within the volcanism of IO, and does life persist in the oceans of Europa? The boys start the show with a new segment called “Is Mitch wrong” where they discuss goings on in the world. When back on track the boys discuss their ex...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast. This week we are heading straight to the Moon! On the way we are going to find out just what a moon is and how important our Luna is to fundamental forces that shape our very existence on Earth. The boys explore the recent eclipse that passed over Europe, safe viewing techniques, and the sudden surge in people googling “eyes hurt” on the day of an eclipse. With enough ram...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast! In this episode, we explore what happens when sound goes from useful information to physical stress, exploring how hearing systems become overloaded and causes temporary and permanent hearing loss. Putting this into the perspective of anthropogenic noise in the ocean, Tom explore the impacts this has on marine life and how companies are regulated to mitigate as much impact as possibl...

Desertification is one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time—but what is it, and why should we care?

In this solo episode of Information Entropy, Mitchell explores the science behind desertification, explaining why it isn't simply deserts expanding but the gradual degradation of once-productive land. Discover how climate change, overgrazing, deforestation, unsus...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast. This week we are finishing our exploration of the deserts… but first: The boys relive their MagicCon Amsterdam experience, so if you’ve ever been tempted to go to a convention but unsure whether it would be your jam or not… this is your chance to find out! When back on track the boys look into the specialisms of the animals which call the desert home: sidewinding ...

In this episode of The Information Entropy Podcast, we ask: How do we study animal sounds? Welcome to the world of bioacoustics! In previous solo episodes Dr. Tom Jenks has taken you through his behaviour and cognition research and their relation to animal vocalisations. This time he takes you through side of his research where physics and biology intersect. Covering the core of bioacoustics and why we study animal vocalisations to...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast where this week we are exploring deserts in The Shadow of the Sand! When we are not theorising about possible book trilogies the boys explore what deserts are (not just sand and heat) and how they form around the equator due to Hadley Cell air circulation. The boys explore the different types of deserts and the geological conditions leading to their existence. Mitch and Tom round out ...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast where this week explore the all-encompassing emergent property that is friction. No matter what we do in our lives, friction probably has some part to play whether we realise it or not… but what actually is it and how is it studied? Find out about friction types, spontaneous “welding” of metals in space, bearings, ‘Superlubricity’, knee joints, and much ...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast where this week we continue our exploration into the electromagnetic spectrum. Given the extreme heat (transmitted through infrared radiation… see its relevant ramble!) the boys start the episode exploring heat waves, heat domes, British summer heat, and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation events and what that even is. After that, attention turns to microwaves… ovens ...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast where this week we aimed to speak about the electromagnetic spectrum! But before that we had a deep and impromptu dive about books we are reading and weighed in on the debate of reading books vs listening to them as audiobooks… or both at the same time! When we finally get back on track, we explore what electromagnetic radiation actually is. Particles or waves that do not requi...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast where this week we are buzzing at you about electricity! What even is electricity in the first place and how does it interact with magnetism? One of the four fundamental forces of nature we break it down for you here today. The boys dive into the fundamental physics of electricity, explaining electron movement, currents, metal lattices, and electrical resistance. Mitch then explores t...

Welcome back to the Information Entropy Podcast where this week we are back to our regular two-host shenanigans and we are exploring the different ways that people perceive the world. Hyperphantasia is the enhanced ability to visualise things in your mind’s eye, Mitch conducts the “Cube Test” on Tom to test hist ability, come and try it out yourself! Tom looks at face blindness and asks why specifically encoding i...

In this episode of The Information Entropy Podcast, we ask: Do animals experience emotions? We are right in the middle of Tom’s area of work and interest so today he is going to explore how the field of emotion seeks to answer one of the biggest questions we have about animals. Tom first starts with what emotion is and the philosopher’s dilemma known as “the problem of other minds”. From there Tom explores t...