h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Would people get so nostalgic about autumn (fall for those of you on the wrong side of the pond - <nonexistentcheekygrinsmiley&gt if the trees fell down and the leaves stayed up?

That might hurt a bit.

When boiling eggs- how does vinegar in the water prevent them from cracking?

I'm going to try this myself for breakfast because according to theory, it shouldn't work

Eggshells are almost entirely made up of chalk which isn't soluble in water but is dissolved by acid, and you can soften an egg's shell dramatically by leaving it in vinegar overnight, and the shell will dissolve completely after a couple of days. However, eggs usually crack because the gas inside them expands as soon as you put the eggs in boiling water and there should be no way a couple of teaspoons of vinegar in a pan of water could soften the shell enough to make any difference in a few seconds. What the vinegar definitely does do is to make albumen coagulate much more quickly (which is why it's used when poaching eggs), so if cracks do appear it's much less likely that blobs of egg white will start floating around the pan.

Then again, it maybe that something else is going on too and that vinegar does stop the shell from cracking after all . I'd guess that if this is the case then either the heat plays a part in accelerating things hugely or the vinegar is almost instantly breaking through any thin layer of grease or oil on the outside of the eggshell which might be impeding escaping gas.

From eperical observation I can confirm that vinegar plus heat very quickly causes eggshell to be slightly elastic. And if, as you say, cracks do appear, the eggwhite coagulates as soon as it hits the heated water/vinegar solution. Just as blood congeals and 'dries' when it hits the open air, although some might think that's purely evaporation, it is a chemical reaction.
For the same reasons, stones split most easily when freshly dug out of the ground. They are still wet (stones absorb moisture when buried in earth - chalk is a 'stone' I suppose) and there is a quickening occuring when exposed to air. The more a stone dries in the open air the less likely it will split cleanly; eventually it crumbles to dust.
peace
~jwf~

Oh dear ..do I lose points off for typos?

Epirical is a perfectly cromulent word

I prefer to gently lower the eggs into the boiling water with a spoon, soothing them and softly reassuring them that it won't hurt for long.
This seems to work, too.

planets stay in their orbits because their gravitational forces balance their centrifugal forces. but what gives them their forward momentum?

What do people mean when they say the computer went down on them?

they have outstanding computers

I think they meant to say Microsof sucks actually

Red

What do you suppose happens to the other shoe, when seeing one on a street corner or come to think of it it's owner?

<{{><
hi RED

referring to yesterdays referenced guide entry ...

Why exactly would anyone want (or indeed need) to hypnotise a chicken?

to get to the other side

Why would you wide of a chicken, though?


Suggested by another thread:
If day breaks and there is a crack of dawn, who repairs them?
Also does night ever get broken when it falls?

Stupid computer!
I didn't type that.
It should have been :
Why would you want to get to the other side of a chicken, though?

This is a question which could actually affect my real life, or at least my real money. For this reason I'll post it wherever seems appropriate.
Where can I buy some calf-length front-lacing pixie boots, within the UK, for under £40?
The Hinternet holds no answers so far.

Flies barrel-roll to land on the ceiling.