Names and faces

— Professor Alan Alda has a homework assignment for scientists. The actor known for portraying Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce on the TV show MASH and more recent guest shots on NBC’s 30 Rock is also a visiting professor at New York’s Stony Brook University school of journalism and a founder of the school’s Center for Communicating Science. The center is sponsoring an international contest for scientists asking them to explainin terms a sixth-grader could understand: “What is time?” Alda, the longtime host of PBS’ Scientific American Frontiers, said it is vital for society to have a better understanding of science. He puts much of the onus on scientists to better explain their work. “There’s hardly an issue we deal with today that isn’t affected by science,” Alda said. “I’ve even heard from a number of people in Congress that they often don’t understand what scientists are talking about when they go to Washington to testify, and these are the people who make the decisions about funding and policy.” This is the second year Alda is supporting the challenge. Last year, scientists were asked to explain what a flame was. Of more than 800 submissions from around the world, the winner was Ben Ames, a 31-year-old Kansas City, Mo., native studying for his doctorate at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. He created an animated video explaining how clashing atoms create fire.

American actress Sarah Jessica Parker praised the European Union on Tuesday for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for pacifying Europe and uniting its different cultures after World War II. She said the bloc should serve as an example to the United States, given the divisions its recent elections have brought to the surface. Parker said that while it might be controversial to have awarded the 27-nation EU the prestigious award as it struggleswith a financial crisis that is causing hardship to many, it is “a terrific blueprint for us,” and one the U.S. should learn from. “I don’t know how we can’t,” she said in an interview before the Nobel Concert in Oslo, Norway, that she is hosting with Scottish actor Gerard Butler. “It is also a story that we are trying to tell in our country. We are trying to say to one another: We are different. We are a divided nation, but our goals in many ways are the same. We have had two elections that have been really painful for our country.”

Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/12/2012

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