I love eating eggs any time, whether boiled, prepared with olive oil, or with toppings such as cheese, tomatoes, onions of various colors, eggplant, beans or any other grain. For years, I have been accustomed to throwing away eggs that have been in the refrigerator for too long, whether after returning from a trip or when I doubt their freshness or taste. With my wife’s continued objection to my behavior, which she considered an unjustified fear of food poisoning, I hesitantly adjusted my ‘historical’ position after researching the shelf life of eggs.
The US Food and Drug Administration, the most accurate source worldwide, believes that eggs become unsafe to eat if left unrefrigerated for more than approximately two hours at room temperature, or just one hour if the temperature is above 32 degrees Celsius! This may be an exaggeration.
The experience of millions of people, especially in poor countries, contradicts this view, as eggs there are sold at temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius. However, we do not know the true effects of this on them. Scientifically, hen eggs have a natural protective layer on them, but this layer is removed as soon as the egg is washed.
Therefore, it is best either not to wash the egg before use or to refrigerate it immediately after washing. Washing it and leaving it at room temperature for more than two hours accelerates the growth of bacteria inside, making it unsafe for human consumption. The higher the room temperature, the shorter the shelf life of the egg.
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A longtime friend and reader asked me skeptically if I used artificial intelligence to write my articles. I responded with a categorical no, smiling. I asked him if he had noticed any change in my style or ideas from 10 or 20 years ago. He denied it but wondered about the reason for this diversity in my writing. I explained that it was due to my recent exposure to new sources of knowledge daily, now that I have more time for research and reading than I did before my retirement. I also began paying to read premium newspapers like The New York Times and Foreign Policy, which prompted me to take advantage of what I paid for.
In addition, I sometimes turn, as I did in the egg article above, to artificial intelligence sources to obtain as much information as possible on a particular topic. This use of artificial intelligence is completely different from asking these sources to write the article for me. Consulting the information contained in GPT, Grok or Perplexity is not different from hearing it from a human source, a paper source or a book. For me, they remain, so far, a good source, and certainly not a means of writing an article. The difference is clear.
Sometimes, I verify what is stated in these sources when the answer is ambiguous or even unavailable, especially on political or religious topics. However, they remain, in general, good, comprehensive, and quick sources. Simply browsing them makes us feel that the more we learn, the more we become aware of the extent of our ignorance and of the unfathomable sciences and secrets of our planet, let alone the wider universe. Therefore, what I strive to do is reduce my ignorance as much as possible and share with others the knowledge I acquire in the remaining years of my life.
By Ahmed alsarraf
email: [email protected]
email: [email protected]
