are penguins spontaneously combustable?

Question

me and my girlfriend have debated this for over a year...can they actually spontaneously combust?

Answer 1

Well for my part, I know they are. How do I know, you ask? Because I've seen them do it right before my eyes!

It was a cold November morning, in the wee hours before dawn. Just as I awoke I heard a strange and terrifying 'pecking' noise on my back door. Startled, and more than a little scared, I approached the door with apprehension as to what I might discover upon opening it. Without hesitation and all at once I grabbed the door handle and swung the door open, hoping to solve the mystery of this strange sound as soon as possible.

A solitary penguin stood at the doorway.

Before I could ask the bird what it wanted, or how it had gotten to the east coast of the United States, it suddenly burst into flames! To make matters worse, the penguin let out a horrifying squeal and charged into my apartment before exploding, sending hunks of flaming penguin flesh all over my new couch. To this day, I shiver at the memory, and have yet to find a decent enough stain remover to get the couch looking like it used to.

Answer 2

Several variables would contribute. First, the stomach contents of the potentially explosive bird would have to be known. You can assume that most penguins have primarily fish in their guts, but what types and the diet of those fish would have to be taken into account. I am sure that different species of fish would produce different amounts of methane during digestion. Also, the penguin would need room in its gut to contain a reserve of methane, so a completely full bird would be less likely to burn than a partially full one. The resting tension of the penguin's anus would contribute, since a wild penguin would have no concept of suppressing a fart. So I would imagine a young penguin would be a more likely candidate for SC. The next question to factor is, where is the penguin? if it resides at the south pole, it will be less exposed to solar warming of its body mass then one who lives close to South America or Australia. With the lack of sunlight during winter months, you can assume summer as the most likely time to observe the phenomenon. Finally, many species of penguins exhibit the behavior of huddling together during cold weather to keep warm. The friction of many penguins rubbing together would naturally create a large static charge. If the ice crystals the group is standing on are new and clean, and therefore highly conductive, a spark at ground level could cause a fairly massive EPE (explosive penguin event). If however the ice has been heavily insulated by penguin by-products, no spark would occur and the penguins would maintain their birdly status.

Answer 3

Well the answer to that is no. The simple thing is it is not physically possible to spontaneously combust. This is because for every combustion there has to be a reaction. For a reaction there has to be a trigger, and if something triggers a reaction then it isn't spontaneous.

I hope this answers you're question

Answer 4

There is a Penguin Paperback book about spontaneous combustion --> http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?&isbn=0140148620&nsa=1

The CEO of the South African Save the Penguins says
From the CEO’s Desk
Alan Jardine - Chief Executive Officer

“success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire” - arnold glascow

http://www.sanccob.co.za/

Answer 5

If their little tuxedo's are too tight--like they shrink at the cleaners or they put on a few pounds then yes, they have been known to explode and it's not pretty. You try cleaning peguin off ice....

Answer 6

Only if they are on top of your television set.

Answer 7

never saw that on the discovery channel.