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PODCAST

Entropy Rising

Jacob and Lucas | Space Exploration & Speculative Fiction

Entropy Rising is a science fiction podcast and futurism podcast that explores the real science behind the future of humanity.Hosted by Jacob Hyatt and Lucas, this sci-fi podcast breaks down topics like space exploration, Dyson swarms, interstellar travel, AI, and advanced civilizations using real engineering and physics.If you’re looking for a science fiction podcast that goes beyond stories and asks what’s actually possible, this show connects speculative ideas to real-world science.Each episode

science physics

All Episodes

32:53

Colonizing Venus Is Crazy… Or Is It?

Entropy Rising ·

2026/04/20

Venus isn’t just a dead planet. It might actually be one of the most overlooked places humans could live. In this episode of Entropy Rising, we break down the reality of colonizing and terraforming Venus. From floating cloud cities in the upper atmosphere to the insane engineering required to strip away its crushing carbon dioxide atmosphere, this is what it would actually take to turn Earth’s hottest neighbor into a second home. A lot of people assume Mars is the obvious choice. The reality ...

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31:51

Are Humans Actually Special in the Universe?

Entropy Rising ·

2026/04/06

Humanity, at the center of the galaxy… or just another average species? In this episode of Entropy Rising, we break down the popular sci-fi idea behind “Humanity, F*** Yeah” (HFY)—the belief that humans would dominate any galactic civilization through sheer willpower, creativity, or grit. It’s a fun concept. It makes for great stories. But how well does it actually hold up when you look at it through the lens of real science? We explore the assumptions these stories rely on: Are humans unique...

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42:41

The Ugly Truth About Realistic Spaceship Design

Entropy Rising ·

2026/03/23

Most science fiction shows sleek, elegant starships—but real spaceships would look very different. In this episode of Entropy Rising, we break down what realistic spacecraft design might actually look like using real physics and engineering constraints. From massive radiators needed to dump heat into the vacuum of space, to radiation shielding, propulsion limits, and the surprising advantages of long, narrow ship designs, we explore the practical challenges that would shape future spacecraft....

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32:11

Are Hive Minds Inevitable?

Entropy Rising ·

2026/03/09

Hive minds are not just a sci fi trope. They might be a natural outcome of evolution. In this episode of Entropy Rising, we explore whether hive minds could realistically evolve in nature and whether advanced civilizations might choose to become networked intelligences. Are the Borg pure fantasy, or is there a biologically plausible path to collective consciousness? Could something like the Conjoiners from Revelation Space represent a more realistic future? We break down the difference betwee...

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38:02

Planetary Invasion: If They Can Reach Us, We’re Done

Entropy Rising ·

2026/02/23

If a civilization can cross interstellar space, the war is already decided. In this episode of Entropy Rising, we examine planetary invasion through the lens of real physics. No cinematic dogfights. No convenient alien weaknesses. Just propulsion energy, orbital mechanics, and strategic reality. Any ship capable of traveling between stars already carries extinction-level energy. Once an invading force controls orbit, they don’t need to land troops. They can freeze a planet with solar shades, ...

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35:10

Colonizing Earth’s Orbit Is the First Real Step Into...

Entropy Rising ·

2026/02/09

We often talk about the future of space as if it starts on Mars, in the asteroid belt, or among the stars. Giant habitats and interstellar travel dominate the conversation. Those ideas are exciting, but they skip over a much closer and more practical question. What happens first. In this episode of Entropy Rising, we focus on the place where humanity is most likely to learn how to actually live in space: Earth’s orbit. This is not an episode about distant megastructures or speculative technol...

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44:31

Ring Worlds, Spin Gravity, and the Limits of...

Entropy Rising ·

2026/01/26

Planets are a historical accident. Ring worlds are what you build once you understand physics well enough to stop settling for spheres. In this episode of Entropy Rising, we break down rotating space habitats from the near term to the absurdly large. We start with practical designs like Stanford tori and early ring stations, then scale up through Bishop rings and Banks orbitals, all the way to full Niven style ring worlds that rival planetary orbits. We dig into how spin gravity actually work...

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33:37

The Great Filters That Explain the Fermi Paradox

Entropy Rising ·

2026/01/12

Why don’t we see aliens, even in a universe this big? In this episode of Entropy Rising, we break down the Great Filters and how they help explain the Fermi Paradox. The idea is simple but unsettling. Somewhere between dead matter and galaxy spanning civilizations, most life gets stopped. We walk through the full chain. From the origin of life, to complex cells, multicellular organisms, intelligence, and finally technological civilizations that should be detectable. Some filters may be behind...

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41:30

The Future of Weapons, From Drones to Dyson Swarms

Entropy Rising ·

2025/12/29

In this episode of Entropy Rising, we explore how weapons evolve as technology and energy scale up, starting with systems already reshaping modern battlefields and extending into the kinds of weapons only advanced civilizations could realistically build. We begin with near-term developments like drone warfare, autonomous systems, and anti-drone countermeasures, looking at why these technologies are changing conflict faster than almost anything else in modern military history. From there, we e...

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33:14

Solar Shades, Cloud Seeding, and the Future of...

Entropy Rising ·

2025/12/15

What if cooling the planet isn’t just about cutting emissions, but about reshaping the environment itself? In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas break down the real science behind climate engineering — from solar shades positioned at L1 to sulfur aerosols, cloud seeding, carbon capture, ocean fertilization, and even the far-future idea of nudging Earth’s orbit with gravity tractors. They explore what’s actually feasible, what’s risky, and how these technologies could shape not on...

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33:48

Robots vs Humans: Who Should Actually Explore Space?

Entropy Rising ·

2025/12/01

Automated probes can mine asteroids, build infrastructure in zero-gravity, and push deeper into the solar system than any astronaut ever could. So the real question becomes: if machines can explore space more safely, cheaply, and efficiently, what role is left for humans? In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas break down the future of space exploration through a lens most people never think about: the competition between biological explorers and automated systems. They talk throug...

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39:26

Augmented Reality: A Beautiful Trap?

Entropy Rising ·

2025/11/17

Augmented reality isn’t science fiction anymore—it’s quietly reshaping how we see the world. In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas explore how AR could blur the line between the digital and the physical, creating a world where reality itself becomes optional. They break down the tech behind waveguides and adaptive lenses, how glasses could merge with AI, and what happens when virtual layers start to define our daily lives. From accessibility breakthroughs like live transcription ...

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41:00

Dedicated Planets: How Forge Worlds and Agri Worlds...

Entropy Rising ·

2025/11/03

What would it take to turn an entire planet into a factory, a farm, or a fortress? In this episode, Jacob and Lucas explore the concept of dedicated planets—worlds that serve a single purpose within a vast interstellar civilization. From the toxic, molten surfaces of forge worlds that produce endless streams of metal, to the idyllic agri worlds that feed billions, we examine how these ideas from Star Wars, Warhammer 40K, and classic sci-fi might hold up under the laws of physics. Could Mercur...

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33:17

The Myth of a Galactic Empire

Entropy Rising ·

2025/10/20

In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas ask a simple question: could a galactic empire actually work without faster-than-light travel? The answer isn’t pretty. They break down why distance, communication delays, and logistics make ruling across the stars nearly impossible. From the futility of interstellar trade to the idea of technocratic influence and AI-controlled colonies, they explore how any attempt at a “galactic empire” would crumble under the speed of light itself. They al...

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40:04

Trantor, Coruscant, and Beyond: The Science of...

Entropy Rising ·

2025/10/06

What happens when a city doesn’t just sprawl across continents but covers an entire planet? In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas explore the concept of the ecumenopolis—a world completely urbanized from pole to pole. From the classic depictions of Coruscant in Star Wars and Trantor in Foundation, to the grim hive cities of Warhammer 40K, we dig into the science and engineering challenges of building a planet-wide metropolis. We break down population math, vertical megastructures...

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40:18

Post-Scarcity: When Nothing Is Rare, What Matters?

Entropy Rising ·

2025/09/22

What happens when scarcity disappears? In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas explore the idea of a post-scarcity civilization — a future where food, energy, and even housing are so abundant they stop being economic factors. But does abundance guarantee happiness, or does it create new problems? We break down the levels of post-scarcity (from basic survival to simulated utopia), question whether inequality and control still exist in an age of abundance, and debate the biggest para...

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43:47

Farming Black Holes: The Ultimate Power Source of the...

Entropy Rising ·

2025/09/08

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/EntropyRising?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Book The Receiver :https://www.amazon.com/Receiver-Sci-Fi-First-Contact-Techno-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0FDCLRVZ3/?maas=maas_adg_E4E6F6D9397B531ABBCC7F5A5B49CE8F_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas Black holes aren’t just cosmic monsters — they might be the ultimate power plants of the universe. In this episode of Entropy Rising, ...

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41:05

Von Neumann Probes: The Self-Replicating Robots That...

Entropy Rising ·

2025/08/25

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/EntropyRising?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Follow us on treads: https://www.threads.net/@entropyrisingpodcast Website: https://www.entropy-rising.com/ What happens when machines can build more of themselves—and never stop? In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas unravel the strange, fascinating world of von Neumann probes: self-replicating systems that could mi...

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33:58

Beyond the Kardashev Scale: Unpacking Civilizations,...

Entropy Rising ·

2025/08/11

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/EntropyRising?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Follow us on treads: https://www.threads.net/@entropyrisingpodcast Website: https://www.entropy-rising.com/ In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas take a hard look at the Kardashev scale – a framework that ranks civilizations by the amount of energy they can harness – and ask whether it still serves as a meaningful tool...

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49:09

Star Lifting & Stellar Engines: The Engineering Power...

Entropy Rising ·

2025/07/28

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/EntropyRising?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Follow us on treads: https://www.threads.net/@entropyrisingpodcast Website: https://www.entropy-rising.com/ What if we could mine the Sun? What if we didn’t just build around stars, but engineered them? In this episode of Entropy Rising, we explore two of the most mind-bending concepts in astrophysics: star lifting and stellar en...

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