Showing posts with label egg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label egg. Show all posts

Why does the Easter bunny carry eggs? Rabbits don't lay eggs.

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What is the origin of the Easter bunny and why would they be connected to eggs? It just doesn't make sense, please help me Just FAQMe!

We ought to say don't question it and just enjoy the chocolate, but that's unlikely to satisfy your FAQing appetite so we'll burrow deeper and aim to offer an egg-ceptional answer.

The Easter Bunny in fact originates from the festival's connection with the pagan goddess Eostre. Eostre (sometimes spelt Oestre) was a fertility goddess from whom we derive the word "oestrogen" and she is closely associated with fertility symbols such as eggs. The rabbit is known as a highly fertile creature (read rampant rabbit) and hence an 'obvious' choice for Easter symbolism.

Some have suggested that the Easter 'bunny' is more likely to be a hare; these are considered the sacred creatures of Eostre. This theory dates back to the ancient Egyptians who believed them to watch the moon at night. Some refute the suggestion of a 'man in the moon' and believe there is in fact a hare in the moon. Have a close look at the full moon, you'll be surprised. The 'modern' Easter Bunny appears to have originated in 16th Century Germany - the bunny was known as Oschter Haws and brought gifts of chocolate, candy and eggs to well-behaved children.

Us FAQers love the idea of a giant supernatural bunny laying billions of chocolate eggs in one night. We've learned not to question it, in case he gets wind of any disbelief and deprives us of our choccie goodies.


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What came first - the chicken or the egg?

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It was the Chicken! Now don't give me the bird, it's true hen!

This timeless riddle has recently been unscrambled by a team of eggheads from Sheffield and Warwick Universities. They were trying to find out more about how animals make egg shell.

They consulted their top UK Science Research Council chef; HECToR, the (High End Computing Terascale Resource) super-computer.

Providing the ingredients that chickens use to make egg shells they eggsclaimed "Right, this is what chickens use - off you go and see what you can do."

After many weeks of incubation, HECToR laid out its results. Apparently, a particular protein in chickens acts as a tireless builder, placing one microscopic section of shell on top of the other.

Without this builder protein, the eggs would not exist. And yet it is only found in a chicken's ovaries. This means the bird must have come first.

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