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Kids' burning questions are often trickier to answer than may seem at first pass, just like the "what is a flame" question.
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When the journal Science asked Mr. Alda to write an editorial on the importance of scientists' communicating what they do, Mr. Alda cast out the flame question as a challenge to explain the complicated in everyday words.
A.A.: It sure is! But, you know, I didn't know how difficult the flame question was.
Students: Take some inspiration from Mr. Alda's question, "What is a flame?" and tell us what basic questions you have about science and the world.
The contest grew out of a question — "What is a flame?" — that the actor Alan Alda asked his teacher when he was 11.
These are the same folks who last year generated some excellent answers to another basic question: "What is a flame?" Many artists have taken a stab at exploring time, as well, from Salvador Dali to Christian Marclay, below.
In the competition, more than 800 contestants sought to answer — in everything from poetry to animation — the question, "What is a flame?" The contest was sparked by the actor and master science communicator Alan Alda, who's an adviser to the Stony Brook program.
As an 11-year-old, future actor Alan Alda asked his teacher a burning question: "What is a flame?" He found the response he received — "It's oxidation" — unsatisfying.
That's the question actor Alan Alda has posed to scientists in the second Flame Challenge so named because the question in last year's competition was, "What is a flame?" The challenge aims to spur scientists to think about how they can better communicate with the public.
What is a flame?
A flame illumines upper air.
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Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak
CEO of Professional Science Editing for Scientists @ prosciediting.com