Alan Alda Asks: What is a Flame?

Since March 2, when actor Alan Alda and his team at Stony Brook’s Center for Communicating Science (CCS) announced the Flame Challenge—a call to scientists to explain a flame to an 11-year-old—entries have poured in from around the world. At the close of the contest on April 2, CCS counted 822 answers offering creative explanations in all forms, from videos to poems.

Alda, who is an acting member of the World Science Festival and a founding member of CCS, drew inspiration for the contest from a moment in childhood when he found himself perplexed by a flame:

I was 11 and I was curious. I had been thinking for days about the flame at the end of a candle. Finally, I took the problem to my teacher. “What’s a flame?” I asked her. “What’s going on in there?” There was a slight pause and she said, “It’s oxidation.” She didn’t seem to think there was much else to say.

Will Alda finally get a satisfying answer? He’ll leave that decision up to 11-year-olds. Answers to the Flame Challenge will be screened for accuracy by scientists, and then judged by 11-year-olds from more than 130 schools nationwide. Names of the finalists will be posted here and on CCS’s website, and the winner will be announced at the 2012 Festival in New York City during a live version of the contest.

Check back for more details on the live announcement, and visit CSS for the latest info on the Flame Challenge.