A real nest egg
Country Life UK|March 27, 2024
Despite their apparent delicacy, some eggs –when placed on end–can withstand the weight of a human, says John Lewis-Stempel, as he marvels at one of Nature’s smallest, yet mightiest miracles
John Lewis-Stempel
A real nest egg

ARE not bird’s eggs perfect things? Inside the cover of eggshell, which is a cold mineral, the embryo of a warm-blooded bird grows in a supportive substance, yolk, until it achieves its own release. We consider eggshell thin— as in the saying about trepidation, ‘walking on eggshells’—but a hen’s egg placed on its end can withstand the weight of a human. Eggshell, which is Photographs by Step largely composed of Nature’s ceramic, calcium carbonate, only looks solid; the surface is pitted by micro- scopic pores, which allow the exchange of gases, crucially oxygen, so that the growing bird within can breathe. Eggshell is not stuff: it is a mechanism.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 27, 2024 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 27, 2024 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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