Egging the Equator

[ SKEPTICAL INQUIREE BENJAMIN RADFORD Benjamin Radford is a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and author or coauthor of nine books, including Bad Clowns. Egging the Equator I’ve heard that there are some special science tricks you can accomplish only at the equator, including balancing an egg on its end. Is that true? Q: —M. Favaro On a recent trip to itational force. The combined effect is Ecua dor, I spent a about 0.5 percent.) He then told us— : week at a jungle lodge incorrectly in my growing suspicion— near the borders of that this effect would be demonstrated A Colombia and Peru. by a simple science experiment involv- The only access is ing an egg. by boat on the Napo River, one of the Once he was satisfied that the stake major tributaries of the Amazon. The was perpendicular to the ground and protected preserve is home to several correctly aligned with the equator, our Indian tribes, and eco-tourism is popu- guide then placed an egg on top of the lar; the days are filled with jungle hikes, nail, and after about two minutes he kayaking, and watching monkeys, birds, stepped back so that we could all ad- and river dolphins. mire his achievement: the egg was in- Among the touristy things to do in deed standing upright atop the nail on Ecuador—a country named for its geo- the stake. It was impressive, and we all graphical location—is visit the equator. took turns photographing this apparent In the dozen or so countries though quirk of physics. which the equator passes, a small but I could not deny that it had been significant commercial industry has monument bearing a metal plaque de- done; I had no reason to suspect trick- emerged associated with it, including claring it “Monumento Mitad Del ery or legerdemain. When our guide equator tours, T-shirts, and hats (an Mundo,” or the monument at the mid- removed the egg and handed it to me impressive feat for an imaginary line). dle of the world. After obligatory tourist to try it for myself, I confirmed that it was indeed a genuine raw egg. (I at- There are several claims about inter- photos were taken, our guide offered esting or unusual natural phenomena tempted to duplicate the feat but gave to show us an amazing sight. From a said to happen only at the equator. up in under a minute, passing the egg backpack at his feet, he produced an Perhaps the most famous is that water to someone else whose patience was re- egg and a wooden stake. The stake was goes down a drain in opposite directions warded with another success, resulting about eighteen inches long and had a above and below the equator due to the in another ovulation-related ovation.) Coriolis Effect. Though this nugget of nail hammered partway in at the top. However, there seemed no logical curiosa appears in many trivia books, it He carefully centered the stake about or scientific connection between the is dubious. While it is true that given a two feet in front of the monument and claimed principle and effect: Assum- large enough body of water and a per- drove it into the moist earth. As he did, ing an egg did in fact weigh less at that fectly symmetrical basin and drain spout he announced, correctly, that we weigh particular spot than another only a few the water would empty in different di- slightly less at the equator due to the meters or miles away, it wasn’t clear why rections, as a practical matter the curve centrifugal force of Earth’s rotation. (A that would allow it to stand on its end. of the container has a far greater influ- second effect is that Earth’s slightly flat- The mass of the egg was the same, and ence on which way water drains (Bobick tened shape means a person standing at thus presumably the center of gravity and Balaban 2003, 6). the equator is slightly farther from the over the nail head was the same regard- One day during a jungle hike, my center of the Earth than he would be less of its location. Did that mean that a companions and I paused at a concrete at the poles, slightly reducing the grav- lighter egg would more easily balance on 28 Volume 40 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer a nail? And if so, why? If anything, I as- back to our camp and headed toward As for why our guide believed it, sumed that the more an egg weighed the our cabins to relax before dinner. As we Martin Gardner, writing in SKEPTI- easier it would be to balance on a nail, disembarked, I noticed that our guide CAL INQUIRER about the myth that egg having more mass than a lighter one. still carried the stake with the nail on balancing can be done only on the first On the trip, our guide was very it. I asked him if I could borrow the day of spring (a tradition he traces back knowledgeable, finding and identifying stake and the egg, as I wanted to try to ancient China), explains that “Such hundreds of birds, fish, insects, mam- the “egg-speriment” again. He grinned self-deception is not hard to understand. mals, and plants in the jungle. His abil- and happily supplied both before retir- If you are convinced that an egg will ity to locate seemingly invisible tracks ing to a shaded porch for a cold Coke. balance more easily on a certain day you and burrows was astonishing, and his I wandered over to a grassy area and sat will try a little harder, be more patient, information about the area was both down to see if I could balance the egg. and use steadier hands. If you believe firsthand (he grew up in the area) and I shouldn’t be able to, since we were that eggs won’t balance on other days, encyclopedic. Thus, we had every reason at least a mile away from the equator. this belief is transmitted subconsciously to assume that he was right about the Though it wasn’t clear exactly how to your hands. It’s the old Ouija-board egg balancing; it wasn’t presented with wide the equator was considered to be phenomenon” (Gardner 1996, 9). Since a wink and a nod but as a simple scien- for egg-balancing purposes (how wide our guide assumed it could be done only tific fact, as obvious and irrefutable as is an imaginary line?), it was obvious on the equator, it made sense that he’d photosynthesis or symbiosis. (This was that our guide believed that attempting never tried it elsewhere—because what’s not the first myth I encountered while it anywhere other than in front of the the point if you “know” it won’t work? in the jungle; in Costa Rica I heard— Monumento Mitad Del Mundo would The fact that he (and others) had made and promptly researched and then soon be a fool’s errand since the egg’s normal the egg stand on the nail at the equator debunked—the legend of the so-called weight would make it unbalanceable. hundreds of times for thousands of tour- “walking tree”; see Radford 2009.) So it was that I spent several long ists over the years at the Monumento Not wanting to embarrass our minutes trying to balance the same Mitad Del Mundo confirmed his biases guide—but also not wanting to let egg on the same stake and nail. As a and expectations. There was no need to apparent pseudoscience pass unre- few companions watched with beer- test the hypothesis because its outcome marked—I politely but pointedly asked enhanced bemusement, I tried to make was both assumed and self-evident. him if he’d ever tried to balance the the egg balance, but it kept falling I’d tried diligently to avoid doing any egg anywhere else except in that area. off into my hand. Two, then three, skeptical work or investigations while on He said no, it only worked at this lo- then nearly five minutes of trial and vacation, but in the end I couldn’t resist. cation on the exact equator. That of error finally resulted in balancing the My inclination to research an extraordi- course didn’t answer my question; if egg atop the stake. I gingerly stepped nary claim overcame my potent desire he had never tried to balance the egg back, revealing the achievement to to lie in a hammock and nurse a cold away from the equator, then he had no the small crowd who offered some pilsner beer. I assume our guide is still way of knowing whether or not it could scattered enthusiastic applause. I took doing the egg trick, though perhaps he be done there. From a research design some photos in case a stiff wind (or and the others in my group got an indi- point of view what was missing from one of the feral three-foot lizards that rect caution (and maybe a humorous an- 1 this “experiment” was a control. freely roamed the area) knocked it ecdote) about believing what you’re told ■ I made a mental note to test it when over. I left it there for others to see, and about how to test a hypothesis. I got back home, but I realized that even and about twenty minutes later when if I got an egg to stand on a nail in the we assembled for dinner, one of my Note United States my experiment may be companions called our guide over to the 1.

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