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Dear Cecil:
Recently during the occurrence of the vernal equinox I saw a
televised report that people had gathered in Central Park in New
York City to witness a remarkable sight: eggs that had been
balanced on end and then left to stand that way without apparent
support.
Supposedly this is possible only during the equinox. Is
this true? Why? --Philip Simon, Washington, D.C.
Dear Philip:
This is a
perfect example of the difference between the tough, two-fisted
Straight Dope approach to scientific research and the limp-wristed
methods practiced by the daily press--e.g., the New York
Times.
The Times is not a bad little newspaper in
some ways. But when it comes to things like egg balancing, it is
out of its depth.
When asked about this matter some years ago, the
paper's "Q&A" column copped out by quoting some expert to the
effect that hey, maybe it was possible, but only under certain
conditions (i.e., at the equator, which the sun crosses during the
equinox), although (hedge, hedge) if it was possible during the
equinox, it was probably possible at other times too. A classic
case of frantic BS in action.
Now for the Straight Dope
method. We started out with a brutal cross-country manhunt for
equinoctial egg balancers and found someone who had actually
performed the experiment. His name is Ken Gray, and he is chairman
of the art department at the University of Alaska at Anchorage.
During the 1985 vernal equinox, Gray and his friends managed to
balance 17 dozen eggs on end. No lie.
Admittedly, the experiment was not conducted under ideal scientific
conditions. Ken is more into the aesthetics of the egg experience
than the technical side.
Evidently something of a free spirit (his colleagues occasionally
have less charitable descriptions), he regularly sponsors art
happenings to coincide with the equinoxes, solstices, and other
cosmic events.
The spring '85 number was called "Egg Zen Trick." (Get it?) The
equinox occurred at about 7 AM. At around 5, Ken managed to get the first egg
to stand on end.
At
6:45 he got two more, and then another and another until he and his
cohorts (about 20 art department groupies) got all 17 dozen
upright.
The eggs were all the ordinary fresh hen variety. Several types of
surface were used, ranging from a glass platform to a short-napped
rug.
Ken reports that balancing the eggs took no special dexterity. You
just carefully placed the egg in a vertical position, took your
hand away, and it remained standing--in some cases for as long as
four days. Some even balanced on the short end.
Leaving nothing to chance, I talked to a couple of Gray's fellow
faculty members, both of whom are scientists. They confirmed the
story and said as far as they could tell the whole thing was legit.
They did not, however, examine the eggs closely.
So that settles it, right? Hardly. Cecil has been warning the
Teeming Millions for years about their gullible ways, and Cecil
means it.
After another international manhunt (I had a minion casually
mention on a radio talk show that I was interested in eggs), I
turned up one Jeff Hartness of Carol Stream, Illinois.
This daring pioneer of science called up the radio station and
volunteered to drive in and demonstrate that he could stand eggs on
end at will.
He was as good as his word. It was a great moment in radio--five
minutes of deathly science--as we all watched breathlessly while
Jeff went to work. To our amazement, he succeeded. This was the
middle of May, you understand.
Seeing the evidence before their eyes, the rest of the
people in the studio promptly began standing eggs on end too.
Later, in the seclusion of his private laboratory, using the
strictest scientific procedures, Cecil was able to duplicate
Professor Hartness's achievement with his own hands.
Moral: you can stand an egg on end any old time. All it takes is
very steady hands.
Also, it seems to work better if you shake up the egg first. This
breaks the yolk loose from the bands (chalazae) that keep it
suspended in the center of the egg, lowering the egg's center of
gravity. But that's cheating.
You guys at the Times get stumped again, you just give me a call.
--CECIL ADAMS
The Straight Dope / Questions or
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