Testing out Harrington-styled colloquialisms

HARRINGTON – With temperatures seemingly surpassing all previous June records for heat and lack of moisture, the human brain slows down to use commonplace sayings, thus conserving energy for other essential tasks. We all know that is was "hotter than blazes," and we wonder at the origin of another of our one-liners, "It's so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk."

We found a willing science-minded family to test the validity of the latter phrase in Katie Steward and her three children, Jack, Sadie and Gracie, who were willing to discover what would happen if you tried to fry an egg or two on a normal sidewalk. The experiment was performed at 4:30 p.m., with the outdoor temperature at 108 degrees. In that extreme heat, it was also possible to measure the level of interest maintained in the potential frying of the egg. Three children ranging in age from two years to 10 became hot and bored after a mere two minutes. After an hour, the experiment did not seem very successful in that the eggs had only attempted to firm up. A parallel experiment occurred on a Harrington street. After all, dark objects are said to absorb more light, therefore blacktop pavement is hotter than the concrete sidewalk. This comparison had more patient observers, but with the same result. The egg simply was not going to be a prize-winning sunny-side up specimen. When all else fails, try the Internet for the reasons why. The science behind the experiment is simple, "An egg needs a temperature of 158 degrees F to become firm."

Many credible experiments described on the Internet explain that the cement used for a sidewalk is a poor conductor of heat. Using an additional heat source to aid in the process is recommended, such as using the hood of a car to replace the normative frying pan or placing a piece of aluminum foil in the sun on the sidewalk to heat up first before cracking the eggs onto the foil with the edges turned up a bit.

"The city of Oatman, Ariz. hosts an annual Solar Egg Frying Contest on the 4th of July. Contestants get 15 minutes to make an attempt using solar (sun) power alone. Oatman judges, however, do allow some aids, such as mirrors, aluminum reflectors or magnifying glasses, which would help to focus the heat onto the egg itself. It turns out that eggs also have a bit of an advantage in Arizona, the land of low humidity and high heat. Liquids evaporate rapidly when humidity is low. The eggs have a bit of 'help' while they cook, and they dry out faster." [From the Library of Congress website.]