I think these eggs are gorgeous,

Caption: Guillemots are famous for the egg shapes — when knocked or rocked, they go around in a perfect circle on their own axis, so they don’t roll off the cliff. Credit: Steven Portugal

Plus, they have some very interesting properties at the nanoscale according to Steven Portugal’s presentation at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting in Valencia, July 3 – 6, 2013. From a July 5, 2013 news item on Azonano,

The team of researchers headed Dr Steven Portugal (Royal Veterinary College, University of London) discovered the nano-scale cone-like structures.

Dr Steven Portugal explained: “This work was started by accident. A water spillage over an egg collection revealed how differently water droplets acted on the guillemot eggshells in comparison to other species. The water droplets stayed as a sphere on the eggs, typically an indication of a hydrophobic surface.”

The researchers identified that these structures are unique to guillemot eggshells in a comparative study of over 400 species in total, including those nesting in similar environments, and those closely related to the guillemots.

They performed engineering tests on the eggshells and found that those of the guillemot have several unique proprieties due to these nano -structures: higher water contact angle (which means they were more hydrophobic), rougher surface (which helps prevent the egg from falling off the cliff or the parents feet) and higher rate of gaseous exchange (which helps them cope with the high salt content from the sea spray).

Other analogous hydrophobic nano-structures have been identified in the Lotus Leaf, and have been mimicked in industry. The researchers expect this finding will also have important uses in the emerging field of biomimetics.

While i find the hydrophobic qualities interesting, it’s the egg’s ability to go around in a perfect circle (as per the photo caption) so it doesn’t roll over the cliff (where the birds leave their eggs) that I find the most interesting. You can find out more about Steven Portugal and his work here.