Bezoars

Trichobezoars are hairballs occasionally found in the stomachs of cows or other ruminants. Historically, they were thought to be antidotes for poisoning. Other types of bezoar, formed by ingestion of other kinds of objects, more closely resemble stones. The word is derived from the Persian pād-zahr (anitidote). Anne Garner of the New York Academy of Medicine Library explains in an Atlas Obscura video.

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Extreme Lion Dancing

At Malaysia’s Genting World Lion Dance Championship, traditional lion dancing has become an exteme sport.

More:

“Malaysia Has Turned Lion Dancing Into a Gravity-Defying Extreme Sport,” Marina Wang, Atlas Obscura

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Old Tech

Meet a collector of old tech, Steve Erenberg, The Radio Guy. An Atlas Obscura video.

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The Vibrator Museum

“Shaking Things Up at the Antique Vibrator Museum,” an Atlas Obscura video featuring Dr. Carol Queen, curator of the Good Vibrations Antique Vibrator Museum in San Francisco.

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The Largest Egg in the World

The largest egg in the world is in the ornithology collection of Chicago’s Field Museum. Curator John Bates explains in this Atlas Obscura video. It was laid by a 9 foot tall, 1600 lb. Aepyornis maximus or Elephant Bird, now extinct.

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De humani corporis fabrica

in 1543, long before Gray’s Anatomy, Our Bodies Ourselves, or Dr. Oz, Andreas Vesalius had a best-selling medical book, De humani corporis fabrica (“Fabric of the Human Body”). While Amazon has the facsimile, Atlas Obscura visited the New York Academy of Medicine to look at an original edition:

Bird Watching

Dr. Miyoko Chu, an ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, observed the behavior of Angry Birds and other mobile game avifauna at the behest of writer Jess Zimmerman. It turns out that real birds and swine are in conflict in Hawaii and Texas as well as in Angry Birds, more than 200 million birds a year are killed by US vehicles as in Crossy Road, and birds face challenges with the man-made environment like in Flappy Bird.

Naturally Ms. Zimmerman asked Dr. Chu why chickens cross roads. Her reply:

“I assure you, ornithologists don’t know the answer to that question, any more than they know the answer to why humans spend hours getting chickens to cross the road on our phones.”

More:

“We asked an Ornithologist to Factcheck Angry Birds — And the Results Might Surprise You,” Jess Zimmerman, Atlas Obscura

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Image (“Field Guide to Angry Birds”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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