posted on November 4, 2000 05:15:44 PM new
It's hard to believe that we are coming up to that time of year again. Does anyone know where I can find more information about the winter solstice phenomemon being discussed in this thread from last year?
Pinkhmr posted a picture of an egg sitting upright balancing on the narrow end. I remember doing this trick a long time ago. I'd really like to find out more about when the solstice will occur again this year.
Info anyone? Here is a link to last year's thread on the same topic.
posted on November 4, 2000 10:57:28 PM new
HCQ and all...
I was not her for the debate on this subject last fall, but I can verify that the Vernal (spring) equinox WORKS....
When I was in school at the Culinary Inst. of America, our "Experimental Kitchen" class happened to be during the equinox....we had 17 eggs standing on end for about 10 minutes, then they just tipped over (with NO outside influence)...from my PERSONAL experience, this is NOT an "urban legend"...I saw it, not "a friend of my cousins babysitter saw it".
Keith
I assume full responsibility for my actions, except
the ones that are someone else's fault.
I'm not surprised in the least at the report of your "phenomenon," since (as my pic shows), you can balance an egg on its end on ANY day.
There is no causal relationship between the Vernal Equinox and the eggs balancing. You didn't happen to try balancing an egg a week BEFORE or a month AFTER the equinox, did you?
Go read the site.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Nov 5, 2000 07:46 AM ]
posted on November 5, 2000 08:34:07 AM new
I thought the point was to balance it on the narrowest end? I always thought that meant the pointy side down.
[ edited by tegan on Nov 5, 2000 08:36 AM ]
posted on November 5, 2000 08:58:52 AM new
Where'd you come up with that? Any sources?
The truly hilarious part about this vernal-equinox-related "phenomenon" is that it's based entirely on error. In China, which is where this whole practice began, the first day of Spring is roughly six weeks before the vernal equinox (the date the West uses for the beginnng of Spring). Years later, the common belief is now that the "balancing day" is a month and a half LATER than the date the Chinese balance them on.
Now if Americans are balancing eggs on the Vernal Equinox, and the the Chinese are balancing eggs six weeks later....hmm. Could it possibly be that you can actually balance eggs on more than one day in the year???
Incidentally, ubie, if it's the equinox that makes it possible to balance an egg, how come not all of your group's eggs balanced? Were they somehow exempt from the "changed gravitational pull" supposedly in effect on this date? And how long does the "changed pull" last? Is it only on the very minute? (What do you do about time zone changes?) Or does it last 24 hours?
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Nov 5, 2000 09:12 AM ]
posted on November 5, 2000 10:39:02 AM new
You know, HCQ, your talents are wasted here at the Round Table. E-mail me if you would like a couple of links. I would love to see you butt heads with more "deserving" posters.
posted on November 5, 2000 11:03:46 AM new
Having wasted a good deal of time hanging around seedy dives, I've learned a few bar tricks (and bought more than a few rounds in the process).
There is a trick to balancing an egg that anyone can do. If you take a pinch of salt and form it into a tiny pile on a flat surface you can place the egg onto this pile and with a little careful positioning it will remain upright. You then softly blow away the salt that doesn't support the egg and it wil appear to balance on its own. Only a few invisible grains will remain to hold the egg in position.
I don't doubt that an egg can be balanced without using the aforementioned method but it must take some patience and a much steadier hand than my own.
posted on November 5, 2000 11:52:56 AM new
Trust me, xardon, it doesn't take salt, or much coordination (this from a person who desperately needs a tripod to take a clear picture). Just patience and determination. Oh yeah, and you gotta believe.
For this "phenomenon" to actually exist, we have to assume a couple things:
First, that the Chinese had it wrong all those years, and "Spring" begins on the vernal equinox and not 6 weeks before.
Second, that either:
This "equinoxial gravitational pull" applies only to eggs, which means that (at least on one day of the year) the laws of gravity apply differently to different things - an interesting approach to 21st century science. Raises all sorts of tantalizing questions, such as whether it's the egg shape that makes eggs balanceable - in which case, would alabaster eggs work? - or the stuff inside that counts - which would mean I could also balance an omelet or a lemon meringue pie or merely a measuring cup with a raw egg in it on edge, all of which I suggest, would be substantially more startling than just a plain old egg.
OR, if you assume that the "equinoxial pull" isn't limited to eggs, this would mean that, for example, during (and only during) the same period you could also balance, say a pencil on its eraser (or, assuming tegan's understanding is correct, on its point), and that DUI tests (walk a straight line heel to toe, stand on one leg with your eyes closed) are invalid during this time, since the "pull" would give equinoxial drunks an unfair advangate over those celebrating at other times.
Moreover, ALL eggs must balance on the Equinox; if one fails, the theory's invalid, unless of course the "pull" applies only to some eggs and not all.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Nov 5, 2000 11:57 AM ]
posted on November 5, 2000 12:30:06 PM new
Hey, xardon, I'm wobbly enough without benefit of over-the-counter "medication" (maybe it's the muscle relaxants that make it possible for me to balance the egg?) But I'm pretty good at biting folks on the ankles once I'm down on the floor...
No test, tegan. Just want to clear up this "legend".
But I'm pretty good at biting folks on the ankles once I'm down on the floor...