Every summer you’ve probably heard the old saying that it’s so hot in Palm Springs you can fry an egg outside. So I decided to stop repeating the story and actually test it.
This may be one of the most exciting videos you’ll ever watch. If you’ve always wanted to experience the thrill of watching an egg very slowly think about cooking, you’re in luck. It may even rival watching paint dry.
When I attempted this experiment, the temperature in Palm Springs was between 112 and 114 degrees. Around here, that’s just another summer day. Before I headed outside, I checked with Emily, my AI assistant and frequent collaborator on many of my photography projects. She suggested we would probably need a temperature of at least 118 degrees for the experiment to have a realistic chance of success.
So I cracked an egg into a frying pan that had been sitting in the direct sun for hours next to my swimming pool. Then… we waited.
And waited.
The result? Not exactly breakfast.
The egg white barely changed, although by the end of the experiment the yolk had finally started to cook. It turns out Emily may have been right. Mother Nature simply came up a few degrees short.
Fortunately, I don’t consider this a failure. I consider it an experiment. The next time Palm Springs reaches one of those truly extreme summer days, I’ll try it again. By then I’ll have an infrared thermometer to measure the surface temperature of the pan, and maybe we’ll finally settle the question of whether the desert sun alone can fry an egg.
Until then, I can officially report that at 112 to 114 degrees, the egg remained only cautiously optimistic.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
The long-awaited “Masters Of The Air” miniseries is released on Apple TV! It depicts the Airmen of the Eighth Air Force and the 100th Bomb Group flying B-17’s at Thorpe Abbotts England during World War II.
Here is some of my GoPro video flying in a B-17 Flying Fortress as it lands at the airport in Palm Springs California. Turn your sound up and watch for the ground shadow!
Very windy this morning but mostly over by 10am. Time-lapse makes it look very busy. Watch for a few airliners streaking through the sky. 01-11-2024 Palm Springs California
Night sky time-lapse with meteors, some of which could be from the Geminid meteor shower which peaked two days ago. The Geminids will still be active through December 24. Although not dark sky conditions here, I count as many as ten. 12-16-2023 Palm Springs California.
Very busy cloud day here in Palm Springs after Thanksgiving. Lots of subtle color changes towards sunset. Looked like it might rain but did not. This time-lapse is 1 minute 19 seconds which actually covers approximately 7 hours. 11-24-2023.
A huge congratulations to my friend Patrick Nightingale flying the Palm Springs Air Museum P-63 Kingcobra to a third place Bronze race win at the 2023 Reno Air Races a few weeks ago. This is video from the 2019 race on a GoPro I mounted in the P-63 with Patrick as the pilot that year. It is an exciting ride!
Clouds time-lapse. Watch at the end, bottom right. for a single celestial object. Then top left the clouds illuminated by the Moon coming into the frame. May 4, 2023. Palm Springs California.
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