John Straw, age 12 of Tuscon, Arizona, for his question:

What makes the sun shine?

The sun is a blazing furnace. It burns day and night, pouring forth its heat and light in all directions. It has been burning for billions of years and will burn away for billions more, You would think that even a great big star like the sun would gradually burn up its fuel. True, if the sun were burning coal it could burn for only five thousand years.

But the sun is not burning coal. It is not even a wood, coal or oil type furnace. It is a nuclear furnace. Its energy comes from atomic power. Actually, the sun is a huge‑sized, permanent‑type hydrogen bomb, Its energy is made as hydrogen gas is turned into helium gas, And we do not have to worry about its running short of this kind of fuel.