Phil Howard, age 9, of Troy, Ala.., for his question:

How do penguins hatch their eggs in the Antarctic ice?

The emperor penguin never sets foot upon the dry land. The dignified bird, 3 feet tall, is lord of the Antarctic where he knows only icy ground and icy water. His nest may be a hollow on the frigid ground, but more often the parent birds build no nest at all. There is only one egg, and the mother and the father bird take turns carrying it around.

A penguin wears a thick warm coat of furry little oily feathers. It sheds the water and keeps out the cold. Under the skin is a cozy layer of penguin fat that keep out even more of the cold. The big wide feet are used to the ice, and a grown penguin has a l00se flap of feathery skin that bags dawn to his toes. The precious egg is nestled on top of the wide feet under the flap of feathery skin. When Papa goes off to eat, Mama takes a turn. The parent birds tenderly shift an  egg from one to the other without letting it touch the icy ground.