MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — How do you explain color to an 11-year-old?
Actor and sometimes science professor Alan Alda is posing the question to scientists around the world.
It's part of a contest he started three years ago called the "Flame Challenge."
The former MASH actor wants to encourage scientists to find better ways of clearly explaining how science works to the general public.
He figures if an 11-year-old can understand it, everyone else should.
He first asked scientists to explain a flame. Then he asked to define time. Now he wants to focus on color.
The contest is affiliated with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York.