Instead of waiting for after the spring equinox, and all the news reporters and weatherpersons to run stories about standing an egg on end on the equinox, launch a preemptive effort, to derail any such nonsense before it starts.

It is preeminently important to have news and weather reports present real science and real truths, rather than promote myths and fantasy. We as a people must make intelligent decisions about science issues across the board, from genetic engineering of foods, to pesticide use, to nuclear power development, to whether global warming is a real danger, or whether killer asteroids are a real danger, to bird flu, to our daily use of washcloths and household water, and whether to use regular soap, or bactericide soap, which can enhance the development of super germs. If we continue to allow news reports and weatherstaff to promote mythology such as the stand an egg on its end during the equinox, how can we expect people in general to understand other scientific issues? We can not continue to countenance the dissemination of irrational falsehoods, especially in news reports and weather reports.

Call and write to the news directors, and weatherpersons at your local, regional and national news organizations - both radio, and television, and implore them to NOT run any stories about standing an egg on its end on the equinox.

Explain how it is important for the future of the country that our population understand real science. Explain how it is possible to stand an egg on its end on ANY day of the year, at any time, and it is possible for anyone to prove that to themselves with any sturdy table and any egg, at any time. If they want to run a stand an egg on its end story anyway, have them do it on some other day, just to prove it is possible at any time. Refer to this website. But please, implore them to not continue to promote falsehoods and mythology in the name of news.

Please write and call your news reporters and directors this week. The spring eqinox is only a few weeks away, and already news directors are planning egg standing stories, so act quickly and maybe we can nip this in the bud.

Excellent post, Spacedad, and welcome to BAUT. In a way you are "preaching to the choir" here, but people cannot be reminded too much that debunking all these falsehoods, urban legends, myths, etc. need to be dealt with on a daily basis that reaches people on a mass level...TV.

Personally, what I do in my little niche of the world is use email. I work with regular folk, some of who are fascinated by ghosts and such, and am barraged with emails that are falsehoods and old urban legends. I've taken to hitting "reply all" and using Snopes to counter some of the pervasive falsehoods that circulate; those who do not BCC (blind copy) give me the satisfaction of knowing that my responses are going back to many people. I am becoming a bit of a "wet rag" spoiling their fun, but what I do is turn around and send out real photos, say of that hilarious penguin hopping into the water, or something of interest that is real, enjoyable or medically useful. Some people say, "Thank you, so glad I didn't buy that star," so it's just my small way of doing what I can, but it's never enough. Good shows like Mythbusters, et al, are great, but it's still not enough. I work with two people who don't have cable and don't read books, and so don't have exposure to Mythbusters and the like.

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Sunset

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.

...does that mean no more Ground Hog Day, Valentine's Day, or Christmas Day? The number 7 isn't really a lucky number, no more making a wish and blowing out the candles on your birthday cake, or putting your tooth under your pillow for the Tooth Fairy, no more lunacy on full moon nights? It might make it a better world, but not near as interesting. Remove all the spice, and bland is what you get...

You're implying that without these customs, such as the Tooth Fairy, that life would be dull in some way. But don't forget, many of our customs, such as Christmas trees and such, were based on pagan celebrations related to nature...harvest, changing of seasons, etc. You think life would be bland without Santa Claus? My mother said I was fascinated with animals and stars at 4 years old. Maybe it was fun for kids' imaginations, but what purpose does it serve to herald the balancing of eggs on one day when one can balance them on 365 days?

We study and learn about the history of myths and their place in human history/development; we can appreciate them, but to perpetuate them as fact because they're fun is like keeping a child in a perpetual state of intellectual immaturity. Simply know what's fact and fiction. BTW, my co-worker is a Jehovah Witness and does not celebrate any of the customs you mention above - she would resent that you'd consider her child's life as bland. There's ALOT to make life interesting.

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Sunset

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.

One of the best reasons for continuing these traditions is that eventually the child wises up and realizes that people who were trusted were not telling the truth. That's one of the most important lessons of science--question authority.

I somewhat agree with you, but I think these things are more about customs and community celebrations that bind people together. I know some home-schooler parents who refused to tell their kids the Santa myth, because they didn't want lie to them. I do not totally agree with that, but understand their purpose, because when I discovered Santa was not real, I resented being lied to. My mother had to painstakingly explain customs/myths. Is that a necessary tool to learn to question authority? There's a difference between being lied to about Santa or egg-balancing (which is such an old myth) than believing so-and-so scientist hypothesizes that that the universe was created by the Big Bang. If the lesson is don't believe everything you're told, it's a roundabout way of going about it...feed the myth, then correct it.


Customs like the Tooth Fairy, for e.g. are short-lived in most kids' lives, but I'd kind of play the game because I got money under my pillow. But, if I had a child, I could see creating our own family customs with a similar reward-system. Perhaps, I could celebrate "solar eclipse days": say when a partial eclipse occurs, you get $5, a total eclipse $10, and so on. Boy, that kid would be on the computer calculating every solar eclipse for the next decade! Would it help the child's development to first propagate a myth about solar eclipses or just explain things such as that at one time people thought the sun revolved around us and now we know that's not true? Gee, science is not static if one keeps an open mind.

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Sunset

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.

I've a friend whose mother never lied to her about Santa Claus. She did, however, caution my friend that some parents did, and she shouldn't rat 'em out to their kids. (Actually, her mom had a pretty cool explanation for the whole Santa Claus thing that I plan to use on my kids.) And since I grew up Catholic, I learned about Saint Nicholas (whose feast day is my own birthday) at a very early age.

I really don't see how egg-balancing fits into "the wonder of childhood." I, for one, had never heard of it until I read Phil's book the first time, but I would argue that I had a childhood at least as full of wonder as those around me, and probably more so--I retained an imagination at the age when my classmates had developed Nintendo skills instead.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I've never heard a news report saying you could balance an egg on the equinox. I've never spoken to anyone who believes this can be done either.

In fact, the only time I've ever heard anything about equinox egg balancing is when people debunk it, as in this thread. A google for "egg balancing equinox" only provides me with websites debunking it, an no websites claiming that the equinox has some special powers that allow you to balance an egg. I didn't venture onto page 2 of the search results.

I don't exactly live a sheltered life. I watch and read a lot of news, and I've lived through 80 equinoxes, so why have I never heard of this egg balancing trick, except from the people wishing to debunk it? Maybe Bay Area media just isn't interested.

I agree with you that I don't see major media on the web promoting Equinox egg-balancing, but if you had looked into the thousands of hits you would have found, 1) people still asking if it is true, and 2) people still saying you can do it on the Equinox, but not mentioning every other day that you can. This is a good sign--that the Internet helps in debunking and that word has spread around that it's absolutely false. In my deeper search I read one page that referred to an AP article about it in 2000, so alot of this first-page-Google debunking isn't that new.

I see that it is mainly astrology, religious and "new-agey" sites that most recently comment on this balancing business. These are a few of many:

2000
http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/mid...kavinoruz.html

Kids site (rolls eyes).
http://www.sciensational.com/physics.php

Astrology Sept 2005.
http://www.astrologers-online.com/Sk...sept_2005.html

Some dude who has read Briane Greene's book but still sneaks to the fridge on March 20th.
Safe blog

A nutritional site that mentions it while they're recommending eating eggs.
http://www.benefitsofjuice.com/20708.php

An informative 2004 BBC article that mentions Phil Plait (aka BA) as one source.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2181377


Personally, I never encountered this myth either. My family has an Easter custom of breaking eachother's hardboiled eggs, and the one who has an uncracked end wins...alot of hardboiled eggs, lol. I think one would have to be in some serious denial or sheltered to believe this--but some legends die hard.

But, I'll tell you some urban legends I STILL hear of all the time--the biggest one being about pulling grey hairs. "No don't pull them, more will grow in its place!" I hear this so often it's mind boggling.
Discussed at Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/hairgrow.asp

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Sunset

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.

This legend was very popular just a few years ago, but I have noticed it appears to be on the decline. I have been aggressively attacking it for years, so it makes me wonder if I've had an effect, or is it just coincidence?

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Phil Plait
The Bad Astronomer
http://www.badastronomy.com
badastro@badastronomy.com

Which end, the head or... the other end?

I'm confused as to why someone would think that getting over these superstitions would mean that we couldn't have Groundhog Day any more. Just because we don't think the groundhog can predict the weather, does that mean we can't keep one as a pet, take it out one day a year, have a little party, and then all retire to the pub for a couple of cold ones?

I'm even more perplexed as to why someone would point out, in this context, that some current traditions like Christmas trees (and, a more seasonable example, Easter bunnies) are pre-Christian pagan symbols. While this may be true, are the pagans supposed to have been some scientific paragons of rationality and enlightenment?

By the by, for those of you who don't know the recommended method for balancing an egg on one end, here it is: secrete in the palm of your hand some grains of salt. Bet a friend that he can't stand an egg on end, and that you can. Surreptitiously sprinkle a few grains of salt on the table as you prepare to place the egg. (It may help to dampen the end of the egg so that the salt will adhere to it.) You should be able to balance the egg pretty easily. Your friend won't have as much luck with his.

You can do this any day of the year, but the sucker may be a little less tight with his purse strings on the vernal equinox, owing to the legend. Place any winnings in the bank, where they will earn enough interest to allow you to buy a round of drinks on the following February 2 when the large rodent of the marmot family, Marmota monax, comes out of his burrow. If I happen to be there, you can buy me a drink. I'll have a Guinness.

(Never bet more than you can afford to lose, nor bet so much with a friend that you risk losing that friend. The salt in this trick is a bigger, better version of the bumps on eggs mentioned in the BA articles on egg balancing.)

Welcome! Pointy end to the other person's pointy end; the rounder end to the other person's end--a light tap. Some ends don't crack. They are colored eggs, too.

I agree.

No, pagans are no paragons of rationality; Aries said, "does that mean no more Ground Hog Day, Valentine's Day, or Christmas Day?" He is saying life would be lacking spice without these holidays, but pagans were celebrating all sorts of nature-related things around these times, as other people, and life doesn't become dull just because you separate fact from fiction. I have no problem with hauling out the groundhog, though I'm not sure he likes it.

That's called cheating, lol. It works fine the honest way once you get in the flow of it. Or you can do what Lance did--frighten them until they stand up!

Egg Balancing with a Sadistic Twist

__________________
Sunset

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.

There's a difference between customs based in traditional celebration of parts of the year and customs used to teach science that is just plain wrong.

Balancing eggs on the spring equinox is just as valid a way of celebrating spring as standing in the snow with friends at sunset, eating roasted horsemeat and drinking immeasurable amounts of mead.
I prefer the latter but that's probably just me.

Using the eggbalancing to sprout gibberish about gravitational forces lining up is not and should be stopped.

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An emperor without enemies, a king without a kingdom, supported in life by the willing tribute of a free people.

Spaceweather.com has a bit today about egg balancing (slow day for auroras ). They do say it is nonsense and have a funny picture of eggs balanced in the snow. There is also a link to a BBC.com website about the folklore.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

Thank you Swift, you confirmed my "cat point" in the other egg-thread--they think they are curious toys. However, those eggs might still smell like chickens, too. That's funny. I'm wondering if he Photoshopped it, because the cat's licking his lips seems too lucky. I saved it anyway.
I agree, the point is just knowing what is what. I don't think you can drink mead and balance eggs at the same time. By today's standards, mead is pretty gross. Drink too much of it and you'd be seeing monsters eating people, too.

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Sunset

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.

Heck, at my Ostara party this evening, we'll be dyeing eggs. We may or may not try balancing them--I really don't want to clean up egg mess if anyone screws up too badly--but hand-in-hand with the fun will go the history. (To explain to the non-Pagans why Pagans can and do dye eggs, too. Or first, possibly, depending on who you believe.)

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

You seem to have a bunch fun theme-parties. [ envy]

I know a cool egg trick that involves physics. My boss taught it to me, and I got it to work on my first try. However, if you fail, it will be messy. I'll have to try to draw what it should look in my Photo Suite "thingy."

Well, we explain Greek myths here, so what's the deal with the egg-dyeing Pagans?

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Sunset

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.

Well, if you didn't live so dang far away, you could come, too! (Ten a year--eight Pagan holidays, my birthday, and the Oscars.) If you're ever in Washington at the right time, drop me a PM.

Well, the question of whether or not egg-dyeing is Pagan or not is still in dispute (stupid non-literate cultures, not writing stuff down), but the reason the egg is a symbol of Easter is from the Germanic goddess--wait for it--Ostara (or Eastre, or about six other spellings; see note above about non-literate cultures). This is Her feast, and She's a fertility goddess. Hence eggs and rabbits and things.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"