This is a video of a kayaker demonstrating the right way to roll your kayak while minimizing the amount of beer spilled. I mean you were drinking in your kayak, right? Could I have done better? Of course I could have, because that beer would have already been empty before initializing the barrel roll. Possibly because I drank it all, but probably because I spilled it all trying to get into the kayak in the first place. Those things are slippery little devils, especially when you’ve already had six beers and two shots prior.

Thanks to JustA, who agrees where there’s a will, there’s a way.

This is a video from Youtuber Horace Zeng of a colony of fire ants using glass gravel to “pave” a piece of sticky tape so it can be walked across. Per Horace, who I’d like to believe isn’t just an ant torturer, because I saw those ants getting stuck to that tape and struggling to free themselves:

Another remarkable example of tool use in ants: fire ants “paving” sticky surfaces. I’ve seen signs of this behavior, but I didn’t expect it to be so robust until my friend told me about it (see more in Wen et al., 2021 Insect Science). You can try it yourself by putting a piece of paper with tape on a healthy fire ant mount (disturb them a little to make the process faster).

Yeah I’m not convinced they weren’t just making art. I mean they could walk around that piece of tape easisly, and ants aren’t that stupid. If you’re smart enough to ruin my picnic, I’m pretty sure you’re also smart enough to walk around a piece of tape instead of wasting a whole day bedazzling it first.

Because tie-dye will never — what’s the word I’m looking for — pass away, these are a couple videos from tie-dye master Austin Mackereth, who knows just how to twist and tie and apply dye to shirts to create unbelievably impressive patterns. And here I thought my Grateful Dead tie-dye shirt was sick! Well it still is, just for the record.

Keep going for a video of this shirt, as well one of two tapestries that he says each take around 6-8 hours to tie, and another 6-8 hours to apply the dye.

@dyesngoodvibes Medium Mega Multiverse #tiedye #handmade #artprocess #mushroom #multiverse #fyp #artistsoftiktok #artforyou ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

@dyesngoodvibes PT. 1 But worth watching 😁🙏 #tiedye #tapestry #artprocess #handmade #fyp #artforyou #artistsoftiktok ♬ original sound – Dyes N Good Vibes

These are several TikTok videos from Riley Hansen, who lives in an old school. Apparently he and several others bought the building and land for only $15,000 (a steal!) and have put about $100,000 into it so far making it more hospitable. I don’t know about you, but I would totally live in an old school. Or an old factory. Or church! Really anything beats the tiny shoebox apartment I live in now. FUN FACT: If I starfish in bed I can pee in the shower and cook an omelet on the stove at the same time.

Keep going for a brief tour, two videos highlighting the positives and negatives of living in an old school, and an explanation of how they bought it.

Thanks again to JustA, who I’m having a hard time convincing that we should buy a mid-century modern home.

@riley.lh

Yea I live here every day of my life

♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

@riley.lh

♬ FEEL THE GROOVE – Queens Road, Fabian Graetz

@riley.lh Reply to @luisaj77 ♬ Skate – Trees and Lucy

@riley.lh

♬ Sunroof – Nicky Youre & dazy

Thanks yet again to JustA, who, for three tips in a day, receives yet another gold star sticker to adorn her Trapper Keeper.

This is an absolutely stunning 4K timelapse of the aurora borealis above Fort Yukon, Alaska as captured by Vincent Ledvina over the course of eight nights and 8,000 photographs. Damn, I really need to go see those lights in person. AND convince my girlfriend it’s all a magic show I’m performing for her. Then maybe she’ll finally respect me as a magician, because right now I can tell she’s growing a little tired of the detachable thumb trick, despite the fact it remains the best trick ever performed and I can do it better than anyone.

This is a video from the rainforests of Costa Rica (let’s go see some poison dart frogs in situ!) of a ziplining kid accidentally hitting a sloth. Thankfully, he was able to brake before making contact, and the sloth was fine. They’re like tanks. Super slow-moving tanks that only come down out of the trees to poop once a week. What a life! *moves sloth to top of reincarnation wish list just below dragon*

Thanks to JustA, who agrees these two are probably still up there waiting for the sloth to get to the bottom.