Fact: There was once a man famous for making beautiful sounds with his butt

Mornin',

As you all are quite aware, I try every weekend to post something that touches on my love for either science, art, music or poetry. This week I am proud to be able to touch on three of these topics in one post.

Allow me to introduce to you, Le Pétomane--the French flatulist who became the highest paid performer in all of France.

Pujol was at the beach on the fateful day he realized he could suck water into (and shoot it out of) his rear end. But eventually he realized that he could suck in air and change both the volume and pitch of the release--the expulsions wouldn't smell (since they didn't contain the normal gases of a fart).

Pujol came to be known as Le Pétomane, which roughly translates to a fartiste or fartomaniac. He perfected his work and was instantly hired at the world-famous Moulin Rouge after his audition. And Le Pétomane was only able to do his act thanks to basic physics. He would cover his nose and mouth and contract his diaphragm, creating a small vacuum within his gut. Gas would normally rush in through the nose or mouth, but because Pujol had blocked those, the only way gas was able to fill the void was through his anus.

To learn more, listen to the podcast, here: https://soundcloud.com/delete-this-w...mossachusettes

Fact: Tesla was probably in love with a pigeon

The famed inventor was known for caring for many pigeons during his time living in New York, especially as he grew older and ever-more eccentric and introverted. But one stood out among his feathery flock of friends. Here's a quote that allegedly came from a gathering between Tesla and several science writers:

"I have been feeding pigeons, thousands of them for years. But there was one, a beautiful bird, pure white with light grey tips on its wings; that one was different. It was a female. I had only to wish and call her and she would come flying to me. I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was purpose to my life."

Whether or not he ever said those exact (rather lovely) words about his favorite pigeon, he definitely told a magazine reporter that one injured bird--possibly the same one--cost him over $2,000 to rehabilitate.

We'll probably never know exactly how Tesla felt about his beloved birds, but it does seem clear he wasn't interested in sex as a general concept. He spoke openly on the belief that his abstinence gave him superior intellectual powers. Note: There is no evidence that this is the case.