EXPLOSIONS while casting 250 kg of ant nests! Triple bull ant nest casting (80, 125 and 45 kg) Day 1
2023 ж. 6 Қаз.
1 654 112 Рет қаралды
Australian Ant Art™ is casting three bull ant nests for the Queensland Museum's Insect Agency Exhibition, opening September 2023. We used 250 of the 260 kg of aluminium we brought with us to complete the castings. Two of the nests exploded on us whilst we were casting them, testing our safety gear.
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Species cast:
Nest 1 - Myrmecia brevinoda
Nest 2 - Myrmecia brevinoda
Nest 3 - Myrmecia tarsata
Casting date: 28/6/2023
All music sourced from KZhead Creator Studio:
Savior - Telecasted
Sound effects obtained from www.zapsplat.com
Video shot and edited by Jim A. Barker, Twelve Points Photography. Find his work at twelvepoints.photography or Instagram.com/thejimclasshero.
So the explosions happen when the hot aluminum hits the armory/munition store of the ant bunker?
I thought the explosions began when the hot flood reached the ants corn stash, instantly popping it
You know nothing of ants. It was obviously hitting the waste water treatment plant of the ants. Shit blew up.
@@simontautorat1014 this. Cows the scape goat for big ant farts
😂😂😂@@doodlegassum6959
Don’t be silly. It is the ant’s fireworks depot for their New Year’s Eve celebration. Ants can’t shoot firearms… everyone knows this.
Good thing ants don't have social media. They would probably say bad things about you guys to the ant community at large.
Lol
Ant live matter
Free ant Palestine
Some woke genius will get on to this issue.
@@woodrow60 some "woke people" are just idiots on one too many hallucinogens.
14:19 Here's an interesting thing about metal being used as mirrors: Some telescopes use a metal like gallium that can liquefy at room temperature as a lense because you can change the focal point simply by spinning the metal faster or slower. Since it's liquid, it makes a near perfect disk and is considerably cheaper than a glass lense.
That's freaking cool
Hey I just learned that after visiting the nasa visitor center in Houston.
@@restezlamemeI was gonna say that!
“They’re an amazing creature. They do an amazing amount of work.” *Proceeds to flood their homes with molten metal*
25 and 30 year old nests of amazing creatures and you wipe out the colonies and burn them to death. How cruel! No piece of art or museum exhibit justifies that.
@@arlenewitt248 perfect exemple of immorality
I'm sure you lot treat cockroaches, mosquitoes, and spiders with the same reverence you showed for this nest of bull ants.
Cruel. And shameful.
Absolute cruelty
So they killed a nest of ants to make a casting for an exhibition showcasing how ants are beneficial for the ecosystem? Now that's interesting...
Something sad about destroying nests that have been used and maintained by ants for 20 & 25 years. Instead of marveling in the fact that creatures this small can do this.
You do know how fast they reproduce? Their life span isn’t great.
A 20+ year old nest too. No doubt a staple of the local ecosystem. This is the same level of stupid and selfish as trophy hunting - "admiring" impressive wild animals by killing them
I’m sure they would gladly relocate them to your residence
@@5302Stang This is the sort of attitude that has brought the humankind to where we are now.
I think this is the first time I've seen guys doing this and actually using safety gear. Kudos for doing so and for publicly showing WHY.
Lol, except the kid in no safety gear right up on the pouring operation.
And giving the ants 48hours evacuation notices 😂😂😂
Using safety gear but didn't rake the dry grass away from the area and almost loosing control of random fires 🙄😳🤔🫣
Your avatar says everything!
@@Texas240 It is okay. The kid is a non-productive member of society. He was expendable.
AntsCanada would be really devastated to see this
You guys better reverse the way you are wearing your gloves. Sleeves outside or one of these days it’s going to burp and you’ll run molten aluminum down inside your glove. Hot slag hand warmer. Not going to be fun.
I shoot professional fireworks displays and I couldn't agree more. I even duct tape my sleeves over the bells of my gloves.
As someone who occasionally welds i strongly agree
I love that everyone is wearing safety gear... well everyone except the kid who's standing a few feet away from it all. He's lucky he wasn't trying to stamp out a fire in that last one the same as he did the first.
No joking, and if that was irresponsible during the first fill, its just criminal stupid after they had the first explosion to let him hang around unprotected at the following fills.
You can always make more kids
Asinine to even allow that kid on site. 21:30 He is literally stomping on fires that were lit by the explosion.
I'm actually yelling at the screen for the kid to get back !!
Actually one of the stupidest things I've seen in a while.
"If you do this, wear safety gear please..." as an unprotected child dances around aimlessly within a few feet of the same danger the protected adults are close to. I get it, the whole family is out there, but tell the kid to stay back or wrap him up like the adults, that will not end well.
Actually it appears to be quite unprofessional. Bickering about pouring and people participating who have to be constantly cided about standing up properly. If you have "people" in charge of fire protection, have them properly equipped. Bush league.
Big difference between standing over a hole full of molten metal and standing 5ft away from a hole full of molten metal
@@SizzleCorndog Not standing 5 feet away. Bouncing around like a monkey on crack and almost falling face first into the ant hill.
...As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
Commento troppo sottovalutato! ❤
Lucas's writing annoys me so much lol. The use of "suddenly" twice in a row in that sentence just feels off. I DON'T LIKE SAND.
@@G82Jesse it's to emphasize how very _sudden_ it was. can't really overstate the suddenness of that event.
@@G82JesseSpock said it first i believe
And nothing of value was lost.😃
How does the aluminum flow into the ant nest when Australia is upside down? Wouldn't the metal flow into the air??
the sun is so strong it pushes the metal back into the holes
I think it did 😂
Your comments reminds me of the US Congressmen from the great State of Georgia in the US who once said that there were too many people on the Island of Guam and it was going to tilt over.
@@ronniekotler9265 That congressmen (sic) is a dumb idiot
Pressure differential
That kid is lucky he wasn't near the third nest. The fact he was jumping right where the crucible was diring the first nest pour was scary. And the explosion is proof he needs to stay much further back without safety gear. Someone get him a Super Soaker for Christmas so he can put out the grass frpm a distance!
Using a super soaker near molten aluminium is a great idea! If a spoonful of moisture creates that much of an explosion, just imagine how much destruction you can cause with 20 times more!
let his put it out with his beiber hair style. he shouldn't be there at all he gives off "special needs" a lil too much
Water is scarce there.
NO EXPLOSION, FOOL
It was scary that he put the fire out quickly?
I'd like to point out 4 grown men in safety gear and one minor in no safety gear at all! Just as close, stomping on fire granted but still vulnerable to splashing!!
i was hoping to see the metal when it was pulled out of the ground. i've seen it before and it looks super cool. little disappointed you didn't pull it out
they did tho..... in another video lol............. :0
This comment saved me 23 minutes. Thank you
You took the time to point out why it is so important to wear safety gear, yet that little kid ran around you with no safety gear at all.
I could understand it assuming the children are taught how to stay safe when the adults are working. But then they encouraged the children to put out the fire despite having no protection on and had one pouring right after the huge explosion (the height difference causing unsteady handling of the bucket and pouring, yikes!). It's probably a normal thing for everyone there and the kids will probably continue to help out and get better with age and experience but it still made me uneasy. :/
Setting the flaming buckets onto dry grass seems like a well thought out plan.
he has special need powers that shields him
He gon learn today
This popped up on my recommendations and that was quite a pour! My father used to work for ALCOA back in the day and molten aluminum is no joke- he's seen some rough accidents back then if you weren't careful near the stuff. Glad everyone was alright and 100% great advice on proper safety gear as well. Molten metal is friend to no one.
It seems particularly hostile to ants.
Even the 10 year old, running around in the background is wearing sunglasses for protection 8:10
Terminator model T-1000 enters the chat.
I worked for them in Maryville TN
Lol I used to work there in the 90's some guy dropped a soda in the extruder and boom 💥
Makes me imagine giant space aliens pouring billions of tons of molten metal into the NYC subway system. 😄
They should anyways to clean it out.
Free metal
Ants are not sapient. We are. Ants will steal your food, bite you, sting you. An alien could leave peacefully with us, in theory. Not comparable.
Have you guys ever looked into "vibrating" the ground around the nests, when you cast with resin? My thought was to use the vibratory tools they use when pouring concrete, inserted into pre-dug pilot holes drilled into the surrounding earth. Depending on the size of the nest, you might need 2 or more, but I bet even 1 would help to "shake out" bubbles that otherwise might compromise the casting.
Those are specifically designed to vibrate bubbles out of thick liquid. Honestly, a repeated-hammer-type vibrator would probably work better. That said, I think your idea about vibration to get the liquid to fill the holes better, is a good one.
I like your face. :)
Green sand or other sand molds are cold and the heat from the iron crates a minor geothermal "vibration" reaction if you will, settling into it's form cooling into a solid. Was a ladle crane operator for a few years.
@@user-cp1kk1rv4h That's an interesting dynamic to learn about. Thanks for sharing! However, I was thinking more for the resin pours, though, where bubbles and debris in the smaller passageways of the nest, combined with the lower density and higher viscosity of the resin, are more likely to cause clogs/stoppages, and large air pockets may never be displaced by resin at all.
@@alden1132 oh, I see now. Must have read it too fast. Lol
_No ants were harmed in the making of_ .... Oh, wait, nevermind 😂
Ants are bullies.
@@sirennoir258 And we're not?
@@sirennoir258 and a food source for the echidna.
What's a million ants out of gazillions? Legal mass murder?😂😂
All in the name of art.
You need too keep the young fella a few more steps away
or at the very least gear him up in PPE
Kid shouldn't have been there
@@dshe8637 It seems like pretty typical behavior for Aussies in general. "Eh, he'll be fine. What doesn't kill ya, makes ya smarter." I think another poster recommended a super-soaker. I recommend a liquid nitrogen sprayer.
@@FoxyfloofJumps But kids do die, or get life-changing injuries some times, don't they?
@@FoxyfloofJumpsyou not wrong it does come across like that 😊🫶🏻❤️🇦🇺
To answer why this happened: the molten metal hit the water table. You can tell it’s low in this area because at 1:50 you can see they’re about 20 yards from a pond at site 1, and site 3 is maybe 10 yards further out. Site 2 is much further from the pond and the ground is a bit higher, which is why there was no explosion even though it was a bigger pour.
ants were living under the water table?
You don't need water to achieve this effect, just trapped, expanding air will do the same.
No, I think what they meant was just that the hot aluminium got all the way down to the water table. @@noneck3099
@@dune7824 you do realize how many ants are in there right and the gas being released from them?
No I didn't get a count, did you?@@0minous187
I just wanted to see the castings!
The one ant coming back: "Yo, why did you guys build a giant mountain in front of the entran-OH MY GOD JIMMY IS COVERED IN MOLTEN ALUMINUM! "
RIP Jimmy 🙏🏻
You deserve more likes for this.
Aluminium
RIP me lol
That one made me spit out my drink! Kudos!
My worry was fire. A month ago we were in severe drought and total fire ban. I did not see any water used to put the fires out if it go away.
19:17 This is a great example of why we wear safety gear. No one went to the hospital. Great job.
It’s great that you guys considered full PPE 👍🏻 think the young lad should have full PPE, as he was involved in the operation, just a thought. Enjoyed your video thanks. 👍🏻👍🏻
Lol no-one cares about Joel
I think the explosions you had comes from the water content of the ants being practically vaporized and their remains charred beyond recognition. The biggest explosion in the third casting was probably because of the proximity to the tree's roots, which also vaporized the water in the roots and caused lots of gaseous emissions that vented through the hole with a spectacular explosion.
Hey, ants, welcome to... HELL !
@@rolandmeyer3729 oh man that comment made me laugh and feel bad at the same time 🤦♀️
@@All_Loves_Lostno fear. karma will strike back
noooooooooooo really?
Heeheehee.... "gaseous emissions".
Why is the kid, the only one not wearing protective gear? Lol
Мужчина это выживший мальчик.
non skilled, replaceable
Joel is expendable
I've heard about ant nest molds, but to see it in action is really cool. I'm glad you guys had on your PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) when that one pour exploded.
But the kid running around randomly was very unsafe
@@dshe8637she wasn't pouring
Seatbelts don't only protect the driver of the car but also passengers.
And there was *NO fire extinguisher on site.* That could have ended in a bush fire. Especially with the explosion
Who on Earth sets up in such a manner so that they have to walk half a football field to pour the molten aluminum?😂
Cardio, man.
Fascinating. That 'explosion' was intense. I first saw this sort of thing with fire ants in America and the nests were much more spindly and extensive so I was surprised to see how squat these nests were. A very interesting video. Thank you.
I have watched several aluminum ant castings and this is the biggest explosion I have seen. I am SO thankful that you are all okay! I have given scathing comments to some channels (accompanied by thumbs down) who call themselves professionals, yet they are wearing sneakers, using oven mitts and tongs to pour the molten aluminum. I commend you for showing the PROPER precautions when pouring these sculptures. Thank you!
SCATHING COMMENTS AND THUMBS DOWN??? How could you!!
@#sforiza69 if you saw the video that I saw, you would give the same response.
@@kimlindsey5178 I’m just messing with you hahaha
Yeah except the kid running around @9:19 with zero protective gear 😂
This would make for an amazing sequel to "A Bug's Life"
The safety gear on the person at the 21 minute mark is incredible. Good job!
This wasn't the Ant artic expedition I expected :)
I was glad to see that there is at least one group of ant casters who are willing to use proper protective gear. The big burps around 9:30 and 19:00 was proof of why it is needed.
As someone who has been bitten by a bull ant I can assure you, that protective gear isn't for all the molten metal flying around!
@@Myndale hmmmmm....... not convinced tbh lol........ :0
This is the first time I've thought 'poor ants'.
Imagine being an ant queen building an empire of ants for 20+ years and getting all of it destroyed in seconds . I just don't understand why they call this shit art.
pour ants
the landowner was going to get rid of them one way or another anyway lol......... :0
Same.
@@georgevasilopoulos5359 boo hoo?
Never mind protective gear for the kid standing right next to these guys!!!!
Seeing those ants walking on the side of the hill as their 20 year old home gets burned by giants was kinda heartbreaking.
Not really. Little demons
Cry me a fukin river mate!
That makes no sense
I'm thinking that your Fire Fighter might need just a little more protective clothing. Other than that, his tecnique is fun to watch. 😎
Goes on about being safe, has small child with no safety gear stompin' out fires right in the danger zone. Makes sense.
it's like a volcano in reverse!
fire ants only please -
Would putting a short steel barrel cutoff, say 2.5 feet tall, around the hole keep that exploding bit from spreading?
Makes me nervous how close the young one is to it all with no PPE
who cares
So much for safety and a well planned pour
WoW that's awesome! First time watcher and I'll be hooked. Thanks for teaching.
Casually setting the grass on fire on a windy day in a country known for being on fire instead of finding something to set hot things down on is an odd vibe
No water nearby to put out any fire that might start either.
They had a very capable firefighter on hand and he did a great job. Also I think the guys who do this for a living know better than the armchair commenters.
@@southeastcoastalphotography All I'm saying is you won't need to react to a fire before it gets out of hand if you set yourself up to not light fires you didn't need to light. My line of work has me running grinders and torches in some prime wildfire country. Even if it's something as simple as peeling the sod bad or scraping the duff to bare soil before you start work, you don't throw sparks or drop red-hot steel into something that could ignite. It's not like there wasn't time waiting for the furnace to get up to temperature to be planning a better strategy than tossing the crucibles into the grass. Yeah we always have something around to extinguish any fire that might start, but it's a better day when you don't have to use them. And even if it's not much of a fire that gets away from you, you're still pulling fire response resources away from possibly responding to something else.
I was intrigued, so I watched what you guys were doing. As you were putting on all of that safety gear I thought. Really, Why?? Then I saw Why. Glad you all had it on. Wow that moisture in the nest I assume caused the explosion of hot aluminum. Really loved the video
It’s Australia! Safety gear is essential
are the ants wearing safety gears too?
been watching your series. love it lots of time effort research has gone into everything. but this mega tank and eco system takes the cake. an avid viewer from Australia.
Jeez what a scary moment. That kid running around that close to it afterwards though isn't a great idea. Thankfully everyone was ok.
They broil ants for a living. This isn't going to be a brilliant community.
@@MavonEastlooks like someone pissed in your cheerios. Simmer down Karen it will be ok.
@@garrettmillsap Thanks for proving my point, Einstein. 😁💙
@@MavonEast you seem like you need a win, so I guess I will let you think you have it. Cheerio pip pip
@@garrettmillsap Good boy.
This is all very interesting, but why is that kid so close when everyone else is wearing protective gear?!?
Maybe cause kids are impulsive and most often put fun over safety
What a delicious looking cancermellow they had in the end. Really awesome to see the nests come out. Geat vid
Australians doing what Australians do best: treating the land and nature with absolute contempt.
Waaaaaaaaaaaa cry cry cry
Maybe you should try living with bull ants in your house and see if you change your mind
@@shanesauce7738 😃
Apparently natives, nature and land are their natural enemies.
Looking forward to the rest of this miniseries!
Glad you’re wearing safety gear but… I can’t believe you haven’t set up a jig to pour the bucket from a safer distance…! At the simplest, just two saw horses with a mount, and a bar with the bucket connected. Set up a pulley and a rope, and you can pour in safety from a distance
That's what I was thinking.
I love how the youth have parts suitable to their strength and ability
So…you mean they were tight AF?
@@holddline Clueless American here. I am not familiar with the term AF. I meant that their two children impressed me helping with the equipment set-up, post-pour clean-up, and fire stomping. I was giving a shout-out to the dad for including the kids in tasks for which they are strong enough to do. They will grow up with confidence and knowledge about dangerous work ... something their city-only peers may never ever experience.
Just waiting for the kid to pick up the molten aluminium with his hands
The kid was far too close, especially when the first one blew back.
I’m always so excited when y’all post!
So are we :)
Crazy! Never heard of this my entire life! Hoping to see the castings next...
21:02 Fire everywhere and a single fire extinguisher in sight 😮
12:31 that lone little ant returning from his foraging that day. "I dont remember this mountain being here. Wait.. what are those humans doi... OH MY GOD MY PEOPLE! YOU MONSTERS!!!"
"Wow!! They've sure upgraded the pla.... OH MY GOD!! NOOOO!!!"
Being ants have about 0.0000029% human brain capacity, it’s unlikely they can experience emotion.
I'm so happy to see you all again!! This was an absolute blast to watch (pun intended), I really hope you all continue to post more vids! I'm also happy to see no one hurt too badly from that steam explosion. That was pretty scary
It was pretty intense. We have a few more videos coming for these castings.
@@australianantart1376What did these ants do to you??? Why would you do this?
@@lovequeen7080 calm yourself, bruce.. they are vicious buggers that will, and do.. attack humans. The nests were getting closer to the abode..
@@andrewclayterman6230they tend to forget that 80% of the animals & bugs in Australia want to kill you for food hahaha, that's the problem with groing up in America they forgot we still live with Nature & not nature living with us. If they had to spent a week out there they'd DIE, from being stupid ,look at this cute little bugga, OUCH CHARLIE, NO BITE CHARLIE THAT HURT... 😂😂 LMFAO HAHA HAHA
No one except one million ants.
feel bad for those trees, something tells me they wont survive casting
it’d be cool to do at night with a thermal camera, you’d be able to see the outline in the ground heating up… just an idea
Don't need the night for that.
10+ years ago a similar ant nest pouring was done with somekind of cement mixture in Africa, and was dug up after the cement solidified. It must have been a nightmare removing the soil without breaking the branches.
I’ve see that one and it was massive
The sounds of Kookaburra's and Magpies in the background is insane.
I knew the explosion was coming but still jumped, good show.
I can’t believe how close the kid gets to the pour after the explosion
Imagine sleeping in ur house and all of a sudden tons and tons of molten metal is pumped into your house at extreme speed without warning and next thing you know your whole cul-de-sac or city is an art peice 😂
Pompeii. Italy. Just a few centuries ago (historians lie).
79 AD
*Happened to me once. All the food in the fridge was ruined.*
That's gonna be awesome.😂
pompei
Always so excited when you guys upload, glad everyone was wearing PPEs!
So were we
@@australianantart1376You guys deserve everything. This is really rude. These ants weren't hurting ypu.
@@lovequeen7080lol you serious?
@@Hawk7886 Dead serious.
@@lovequeen7080 dead like all the ants?
that job looks like a complete PITA!..so glad yas where suited up...and the kids where far enough away...
Yep! PPE is a must when working with molten metal. I got 2nd-degree burns on my foot from molten steel heated by an oxy-torch. Molten metal is no joke.
I've had a bubbling tar droplet land on my leg, I can't imagine molten aluminum.
It's been a while but I'm glad to see that you all are still producing content. I'm particularly interested in watching more clear resin castings. As the technique develops & improves, I'm certain we'll see the most spectacular displays of nature ever witnessed; like 4k in 3d frozen in time. Anyways, I'm also happy that no one was injured during that big explosion; too bad it wasn't 'radioactive' otherwise it could have given you 'super powers' (jking). Hot, molten metal. Heavy, cumbersome objects with sharp and/or jagged protrusions that need to be handled. Angry, large, aggressive, venomous ants. Sounds pretty safe to me... Can't wait to see the excavations!
Doomsday for the Ants…died in simmering heat …no lawyers involved
That’s what they deserve
I worked in a foundry, if the metal hit too much moisture in a mold it would explode, but not like that was more like an eruption.
I've seen one huge casting once.It was like a literal city city
WHAT? We will NOT SEE the actual casting in this video!
I feel sorry for those who live inside there.
We've all seen the intricacies of ant and termite nests by now from castings, so why ruin a vibrant colony in this manner. It's shameful, but 'they're only ants'
Seriously Karen???
@@terencejay8845that's right. They're only ants. Get a grip
@@nathandodge665 How far up the animal kingdom does your dismissive 'It's only...' go? When does it start to matter to you?
@@terencejay8845 oh the poor little ants. Next you'll be defending the cockroaches!!
Years ago I was doing a concreting job in Newman W.A. building a bund wall around some fuel tanks...., and the Bull ants where I had to build my formwork were fierce...., that feirce that we had to pour some petrol down the nest hole to get our job done (this was 30 years ago). I always wondered how amazing it would be to "see" how big their nest was. (there were thousands of ants everytime we went near the area...., and SUPER fierce). Wish I knew about this.., I would of tried to convinced BHP to take a cast of the nest. 🥰
Oh, we are the valiant infantry! We are the alpha team with passion and comraderie!
So glad you all had your safety equipment on.
So were we
That you don't use some blocks or something to protect the land around where you work is amazing to me. Hell, at least clear a patch of area so you don't end up starting a massive fire and burn someone's house down.
Holy shit! It’s Forrest Griffin, with an Australian accent!
What is the gear you’re wearing called, and where would you get it? I’d like to make some castings at about 1% of what you are doing.
Action starts at 8:00
You just saved 8 minutes of my life. Thanks!
Lol…..those ants are officially done aerating any soil…..lol. Cool looking art have seen them before. When lightning strikes the desert floor it can also make some amazing art.
Wow, I never knew all the dermatologists in pimple/ingrown youtube comment sections are also environmental entomologists AND CPS workers. All at the same time! Amazing how educated the comment sections are! 😉 The explosion in that third nest was really shocking! Reminds me of a young lad of 20 or so who would reach into the fringes of the bonfire for wrapped potatoes insisting "aluminum doesn't get hot." Quite the genius that one. We'd roast marshmallows, too!
This looks like the coolest volcano presentation ever i dont know if anyone else did this at school.
19:35 "thats why we wear safety gear guys!" Tell that to pink pants kid at 9:18, standing barely meters away from a smaller splatter.
Question, How do you estimate how big the nest is to calculate your materials?
Experience! 😅
This was cool. Like some others have said: When molten metal hits any water, it immediately turns to steam (expands greatly). Also, why not carry a water extinguisher with you for fires?
Perhaps your answer is written in your question.
19:45 good thing that kid with no safety gear wasn’t standing close as he was on the last pour.
The E A K, evil ant killers😂
As a former foundry worker, I approve of this video.
"Ants are amazing creatures that really help the soil. Now stand aside while I fill one of their nests with molten aluminium."
I'm glad I watched this video before I attempted to cast a nest; I would have went out in shorts and flip flops