I am amazed by the grandeur of nature. I cannot comprehend the unfathomable vastness of space. The Grand Canyon can take my breath away. An eagle in flight can make my spirit soar. But it is the small and nearly invisible things that truly put me in awe of creation.
An example of this came to me recently as I was reading about, of all things, an egg. An egg you say? Yes, a simple egg. Every living person could probably write a short paper about the “incredible, edible” egg. Could there actually be a fact about the egg that I have never heard? I’ve eaten and cooked with enough eggs that I should, along with the rest of the world, be an expert. I have never raised chickens or scooped eggs from a nest but I have a friend who does this, and I have visited her chickens. I have studied the content of the yolk and the white. Good for you? Not good for you? (I will not comment other than to say I would have a very hard time not eating eggs!)
Anyway, I have never thought much about the shell, other than how to crack it one-handed like they do on cooking shows, and still keep the shells out of food. But to a chick, this shell must keep it safe while it is developing. That means it has to be tough! Then when the chick is ready to hatch, it must release the chick. That means it must be weak! How is that possible?
Well……….it turns out that the eggshell has 2 outer layers that are made strong by a protein that binds calcium. Then when the chick is ready to hatch, the calcium from the inner layer is released and becomes part of the chick’s bone structure. At the right time, the chick gets stronger and the eggshell gets weaker and then……….peck, peck, peck until the sun shines into the chick’s little world!
