September 23, 2007

Thank you so much to all who contributed, your work is beautiful!

I look forward to responses to this current issue, and contributions for the next issue, out February 2008.

Stories about Milk & Eggs

When I was in middle school, we were given a science project: Wrap up an egg real good and drop it from the roof of the school building. Oh, yeah--and it had to be a RAW egg. I wrapped mine in a cardboard box, with a million tissues and rags. I don't remember whether mine made it, but I think it did and I was really happy. I became really attached to that egg. Try it--it's pretty fun!

Can you balance an egg at the time of the Equinox?

There is a rumor that surfaces twice a year at the time of the spring and fall equinoxes. Many people believe that since the equinox is a time of balance where the daylight hours and nighttime hours are equal, that -- by some mystical force -- one can balance eggs on their end on these days. Some believe that one can only balance an egg within a few hours before or after the exact time of the equinox.
*See note 19 below.

Philip Plait (a.k.a. the Bad Astronomer) writes: "Usually you cannot stand a raw egg because the inside of an egg is a very viscous (thick) liquid, and the yolk sits in this liquid. The yolk is usually a bit off-center and rides high in the egg, making it very difficult to balance. The egg falls over. However, with patience, you can usually make an egg stand up. It may take a lot of patience!" He has a photo on his web site that shows himself and three eggs standing on their end.
*See note 20 below.

Being able to stand an egg on its end is clearly determined by the internal structure of the egg, gravity, condition of the surface of the egg at its end, the condition of the surface that the egg is being balanced on, how level the surface is, etc. None of these factors have anything to do with the passage of the seasons. So, a person probably has as much luck standing an egg on its end on the equinox as on any other day of the year.

Plait reports that only a small percentage of eggs can be balanced. He believes that the successfully balanced eggs have small irregularities that act as miniature legs and prop up the egg.

Needless to say, balancing an egg on it stubby end is a lot easier than on its pointed end.

Notes:
19 Von Del Chamberlain, "Equinox Means Balanced Light, Not Balanced Eggs," at:
http://www.clarkfoundation.org
20 Philip Plait, "Standing an egg on end on the Spring Equinox," at:
http://www.badastronomy.com

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