At 11, Alan Alda was fascinated by the colorful, translucent undulations of a burning flame.

So he asked his teacher, “What is a flame?”

“It’s oxidation,” she said.

The answer dumbfounded him. A flame is indeed oxidation, a type of chemical reaction that occurs when something burns. But the word did not capture why a flame burns orange or why it produces heat, or anything else that the young Mr. Alda really wanted to know about it.

“It’s just giving it another name,” he said by telephone last week. “It’s like saying, ‘Well, a flame is Fred.’ And that really doesn’t get you anywhere.”

Recently, Alda, now 76, decided to spare other kids the confusion he once felt by setting up a website inviting anyone – scientists included – to offer an explanation of flame and have a panel of 11 year olds judge which one was the best.

It’s called Flamechallenge, and you (that’s right, you) have until April 2nd to submit your kid-friendly definition.

A Challenge to Make Science Crystal Clear (NewYork Times)

via @stephenfry

 

Irish journalist Barry Malone, who reports from Africa for Reuters, reports on some confusion regarding the scarcely believable but true reports of the arrest of Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell in San Diego.

dailywh.at

You may like Alphabeast so.

Chris Judge wrote and illustrated [kid’s book] The Lonely Beast and, last November, it won an Irish Book Award. Chris, his brother Simon and their friend James Kelleher, all from Dublin, then created a flash card app based on the book, for iPad and iPhone and iPod (Touch).

It’s a rather slick, funny, interactive app which helps kids learn their ABCs. There are loads of sounds, musical instruments, dancing robots, spinning bow ties and laughing monkeys involved. Ewok and Bodger Kids seem to LOVE it and giggle their socks off when they use it. It could well be the future of toddler learning.

It’s €2.39. But available for just 79c tomorrow, Paddy’s Day.
For iPad buy here. For iPhone buy here.
No money, favours, etc, were given for this post

But we’re confiscating the ‘dad’ jeans.

From the latest photoshop challenge over on b3ta – Beasts of War. To wit:

Dogs, horses and pigeons are all well known for being used in wars to patrol borders, carry soldiers and pass on messages. Show us the lesser known animals that have been put to use in the art of war.

Above (top to bottom, l to r): the work of b3tans: TheTwistedOmentum, Boristhespider (x2), HappyToast, The MattinAHat and Styvnn.

Broadsheet.ie