One unexpected side effect of climate change: a load of very high sheep. Following extreme flooding in Greece, a herd of sheep that had been struggling to find fresh grass made their way into a greenhouse where medical cannabis was being grown. According to local media, once they got inside, the sheep polished off around 100 kilos of weed. The greenhouse owner said that much of the crop had been damaged by Storm Daniel and a heatwave earlier in the year, before the sheep finished “what was left”. A shepherd reportedly noticed strange behaviour in the herd, but it’s not known exactly what that behaviour entailed. Guesses in the comments. The greenhouse owner said, “I don’t know if it’s for laughing or crying.”

You can create all sorts of images with AI – humanlike blunts with eyes and arms, smoking actual blunts; photo-realistic versions of 'South Park' characters; anime dragons popping an ollie down a five-set. If you're artist @john.kirk.art , you can also use AI to recreate the dull cell phone photos your aunt might upload to Facebook. “I noticed there was something about these rather mundane images that was both very appealing and eerie," he says. "They exist in this uncanny valley that feels both very humanistic yet alien, like looking into a different parallel world.” Take a look: the photos could be real (besides a few questionable hands and fingers – which have never been AI's strong suit). "The reality is these boring photorealistic techniques will eventually be used for negative purposes, like creating conspiracies and spreading misinformation on social media,” says Kelly. "Our current definitions of reality will not be able to handle what is to come along down the road."

In depressingly relatable news, the phrase "I am tired" is at its most googled point in the history of Google Trends. The search term's chart looks like a wildly successful stock, climbing steadily since Google Trends data began in 2004, and peaking in late August, with inhabitants of South Dakota and Utah searching for the phrase more than anyone else. So: why all the interest? Let's speculate. First suggestion: the change in season can make some people feel a bit sleepy. Shorter days disrupt sleep cycles, and lower levels of sunlight can affect your serotonin levels. But on a more existential level: a Gallup poll published last year found that the world was sadder and more stressed than ever before, thanks – of course – to the pandemic, but also economic uncertainty and the fact that bad news is more available than at any point in history, because of devices like the one you’re reading this on right now. To make matters worse, last year, a poll by Future Forum found that burnout from workplace stress is at an all-time high. Anyway, happy Tuesday!

Ibiza. The only short-haul European flight where passengers are warned that doing drugs is *not* allowed on board. Home to the clubbing institutions that changed the face of partying forever. The literal birthplace of the super club, all thanks to the cherry on top of the scene: Pacha. ⁠ ⁠ Pacha was the island’s first official club when it opened in 1973, and it’s since hosted resident DJs from David Guetta to Solomun, plus more iconique celebrity moments than you can shake an NDA at. To celebrate Pacha’s 50th birthday, we’re diving into its photo archive.⁠ ⁠ “I’ve seen some of the craziest things in my life at [Pacha],” says resident photographer Tatiana Chausovsky. She refuses to share specifics due to lame old “confidentiality”, but with star regulars from Mick Jagger to Leonardo DiCaprio you know the tales are as juicy as a ripe cherry.⁠ ⁠ “Since the very first day I stepped into Pacha, all I’ve heard is, ‘This is the only club on the island where you’ll breathe and live the authentic spirit of Ibiza,’” Chausovsky continues. “And they were genuinely right. As its founder, Ricardo Urgell, says: ‘Pacha is not just a place, it’s a mood and a philosophy.’”

Obviously, nobody wants to think the person in charge of keeping their grandma alive spent the night previous night crawling their way out from a k-hole. But the truth is, doctors do drugs just like everyone else. Lots and lots of drugs. They also know very well what those drugs can do to their bodies, AKA, they're experts, so they likely have a unique insight into how to sesh in a healthier way. Or do they? VICE spoke to some real-life doctors for a peak into the lifestyle. According to them, taking drugs is pretty common in the medical field, but people don’t talk about it as that would call into question the sacred status of the entire profession. Link in bio for the story.

TV presenter Kirsten Drysdale made headlines in Australia this week after she chose to name her newborn son “Methamphetamine Rules”. The point? To investigate whether New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages would accept the name, and to find out if there's anything you can't legally name your child in Australia. “I did this in the name of journalism,” said Drysdale. “We were just trying to find out what that process was, and we did ask them directly, but they didn’t tell us, so we thought we’re in the perfect position to find out.” The new mother said she was in “shock”, as she didn’t expect the name to be accepted. “Then I just had to laugh.” “There’s no lasting harm done,” Drysdale said. Mind you, she's still in the process of fixing her "journalistic whoopsy" and changing her baby's name to something less methy.

Two years ago, Danish artist Jens Haaning was lent $84,000 to recreate earlier works that represented average incomes as real banknotes. Instead, Haaning pocketed the money and presented empty glass frames, with the title "Take the Money and Run". Now, the museum is asking for the money back. The museum in question, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, did display the artworks – but when Haaning refused to return the money, it took legal action. At the time, Lasse Andersson, director of the Kunsten museum, said they were not a wealthy museum: “We have to think carefully about how we spend our funds, and we don’t spend more than we can afford.” Speaking to a Danish radio, Haaning said the work was simply that: “The work is that I have taken their money. It’s not theft. It is breach of contract, and breach of contract is part of the work.” Haaning added: “I encourage other people who have working conditions as miserable as mine to do the same. If they’re sitting in some shitty job and not getting paid, and are actually being asked to pay money to go to work, then grab what you can and beat it.”

Given how much a bag will set you back, it's a little shocking that cocaine hasn't always been Colombia's most lucrative export – but it's about to be. This week, economists predicted that the drug will overtake oil as the country’s top export. Why? Oil exports have dropped 30% in the first half of the year, while cocaine exports have consistently risen, according to 'Bloomberg' economist Felipe Hernandez. The Colombian government recently switched their drug war tactics – going after drug traffickers rather than coca farmers – but “that hasn’t prevented production from expanding”, said Hernandez. On Friday, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said cocaine had always been a top export for his country. “Cocaine has been Colombia’s first export product several times, and if not, the second," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "The sad reality of oil economies that neglect that production, and not extraction, is the source of wealth. We want a productive Colombia."

In molly-positive news, a new study has confirmed MDMA can do wonders in reducing symptoms of PTSD. Not only that—the researchers say they plan to seek approval to market the drug in the U.S as treatment for PTSD, when combined with talk therapy. Meaning the U.S might join Australia in therapeutic MDMA use. Researchers randomly assigned 104 people with PTSD to take either MDMA or a dummy pull during three talk therapy sessions, each a month apart. By the study’s end, 72% of the MDMA-treated group no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, compared to about 48% of the placebo group. Which is great news. Of course, before MDMA can actually be prescribed in the U.S., the drug would first need to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, then its classification would need to be changed by Drug Enforcement. Either way, “the results that they got are very exciting,” said Barbara Rothbaum, who directs the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program in Atlanta. No currently available treatment is “100% effective, so we absolutely need more options for treatment.”

In March, Berlin officially allowed *everyone* to be topless at the pool – including people with boobs. Before that, being topless wasn’t explicitly forbidden, but it wasn’t really allowed either. The change in rules happened after several women tried to go topless swimming in pools and staff caused a scene. One of them was 33-year-old Lotte Mies, who filed a successful case at the city’s department for justice, diversity and anti-discrimination. In August, VICE photographer @silkandsoulatelier went for a swim with her camera at the Neukölln outdoor pool, to document how women feel about the new rules.

Are we alone in the universe? That tantalizing question is hard to ignore these days, as the Pentagon openly discusses unexplained flying metal orbs and people report unidentified objects in the sky. @motherboardvice is exploring these mysterious events in a new four-part docuseries, Encounters, streaming on Netflix on September 27.

Turns out Facebook Marketplace is now essentially the dark web for your elderly aunt. And with over 1 billion active users and a cash-in-hand system, it’s really no surprise drug dealers and sex workers are increasingly turning to Facebook to advertise their services. If the listings are to be believed, these days a quick Facebook Marketplace search will bring up shrooms, live snacks, cocaine, used underwear, weed and Ozempic. Violent individuals have also used the platform to entrap their victims—Facebook made headlines in 2021 after 54-year-old Denise Williams from Pennsylvania was stabbed to death after meeting a man who claimed to be selling a secondhand fridge. We spoke to dealers and sex workers on Marketplace to unpack some of the the ins and outs of the business. Link in bio for the full story.