Alan Alda asks scientists to explain: What's time?

(AP) Professor Alan Alda has a homework assignment for scientists. Yes, that Alan Alda.

The actor known for his Emmy-Award-winning work on the TV show MASH, is a founder of the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University on eastern Long Island.

Alda tells The Associated Press the center is sponsoring a contest asking scientists to explain, in terms a sixth-grader could understand: What is time?

Well-known for his affinity for science, Alda is the longtime host of PBS's Scientific American Frontiers.

He says society must have a better understanding of science.

This is the contest's second year. Last year, scientists were asked to explain what a flame is. Alda says he was 11 years old when he asked a teacher that question and got an answer he didn't understand.