This week we dive into the wonderfully weird world of the Ig Nobel Prizes — celebrating research that makes you laugh, then think. But first, as always, we take the scenic route: detouring through music, coffee philosophy, and the art of the perfect cheese toastie before actually getting to the science.

We explore whether painted cows can really fend off flies, how physics explains why cacio e pepe sauce clumps, what happens when scientists get bats drunk on purpose, and how narcissists react when you tell them they’re geniuses (or not).

Between aviation, physics, psychology, and literature, this one’s equal parts silly and smart — the episode where science meets stupidity in the best possible way.

Music: HOME – AWAY

This week, Tom dives into the endlessly complex world of fractals, repeating patterns that appear everywhere from galaxies to your lungs. Tom explores how fractals shape the natural world, why measuring something as simple as a coastline turns out to be impossible, and what happens in the brain when people on psychedelics see fractal-like visions. That may not seem like science but LSD consumption and fractals have had a profound impact on our understanding of the brain and how we function. Music: HOME – AWAY

This week on The Information Entropy Podcast, we’re diving into the science behind the 2025 Nobel Prizes — the discoveries that shaped this year’s biggest scientific headlines.

Firstly, Tom apologises for his audio, we double checked everything but sadly audacity glitches strike again. But if you can bear it, it was a very fun episode!

In Physics, we explore how researchers made quantum mechanics go big, building superconducting circuits that behave like single quantum particles — the groundwork for quantum computers of the future. In Chemistry, it’s all about molecular architecture. The laureates designed metal–organic frameworks — crystalline structures so porous they can trap gases, harvest water from desert air, and maybe even help clean up the planet. And in Physiology or Medicine, we meet the immune system’s own peacekeepers: regulatory T cells. Their discovery revealed how the body prevents its defences from turning on itself, paving the way for new treatments in autoimmune disease, cancer, and organ transplantation. So join us as we unpack the science, the stories, and a bit of the chaos behind this year’s Nobel Prizes — with our usual mix of curiosity, tangents, and mild existential dread. Music: HOME – AWAY