Miles O'Brien reports on a contest created by actor Alan Alda, which challenges scientists to flex their communication muscles by answering the seemingly simple question, "What is a flame?" Thousands of 11-year-olds serve as judges.
Any parent can remember the moment when their child asks one of those seemingly simple, yet devilishly hard questions: you know, “why is the sky blue?”… “why are plants green?”…and “where do babies come from?”
One of the toughest in this category is “what is a flame?” In 1947, an 11-year old Alan Alda asked his teacher that question and got a non-response: “oxidation” – thus ensuring young Alan would continue on his career path of acting instead of taking a turn toward science. . . .
