The Egg-straordinary Claims of the Vernal Equinox

Today is the Vernal Equinox, which somewhat literally translated from Latin (I think) means "spring equal night." In other words, it's that one day in the spring where there is as much daylight as there is darkness. Since days are short during the winter and long during the summer, it stands to reason there's some time in the spring where the day is just as long as the night. There's one of those days in the fall too (September 22 in 2008), and it's called, oddly enough, the Autumnal Equinox.

It's also true that on the vernal equinox you can balance an egg on its end. Here's the proof:


I did this during my free period today and snapped a quick picture. The egg is indeed standing on its fat end, and there are no tricks here (like salt or holes in the table). It didn't take me more than a few minutes to get this guy balanced, and after a few tries you develop an "egg sense" that will tell you if it's about ready to fall over.

So it is true that an egg can be balanced on its end on the vernal equinox. Actually it works on any day of the year by the way... stay tuned for more information.