[Popular STEM] Curating the Internet: STEM digest for April 17, 2021

An emerging markets expert debunks myths about doing business in Africa; NASA's VIPER rover will use Open Source Software (OSS); Part II of Sabine Hossenfelder's talk on higher dimensions; A new paper estimates that there were 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus Rex throughout history with 20,000 at any one time; and IEEE Spectrum's Weekly selection of awesome robot videos

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Fresh and Informative STEM Content: Welcome to my little corner of the blockchain

Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.

1. 4 myths and misunderstandings about doing business in Africa | Nomava Zanazo - In this TED video and transcript, emerging markets expert, Nomava Zanazo discusses four common misunderstandings that international firms often exhibit when entering African markets. The four myths are: (i) Africans don't care about quality; (ii) Africans are not brand conscious; (iii) Africa lags technologically; and (iv) African consumers are monolithic. In contrast, she says that consumer research has shown that for Afircan consumers, quality, efficiency, durability, nutrition, and taste all come before price. Additionally, African consumers are brand conscious and loyal to brands that have reputations for quality and reliability, also, she adds that brand preferences are shared within families and communities. On the third myth, she notes that Africa has a technological "leap frog" story that is at least ten years old and includes rapid advances in mobile technologies and digital finances. Finally, she says that, to succeed, international firms must expend the time and effort required to understand the nuance and diversity in countless African communities. Here is her concluding paragraph:

   I want to leave you with this. A share of my wallet is here for the taking. But not for long. African businesses are booming and trade across all 55 countries is getting easier and faster by the day. So it won't be long before non-African products are less desirable than the ones that we make here at home. So if you want in, great, come join us. But do it thoughtfully, do it intentionally, spend the money, and for goodness sake, don't underestimate us. Don't underestimate me.

   
   


2. NASA’s next lunar rover will run open-source software - NASA's VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) is expected to launch in 2023 in order to explore the Moon's surface in search of water (which can be used for production of rocket fuel). The robot will be equipped with high-tech hardware that is customized for extreme lunar geographic and environmental conditions. It will also be operated by Open Source Software (OSS). NASA has a fifteen year history with OSS, but limited experience with using OSS in robotics. An early NASA venture into controlling robotics with OSS has been with use of the Robot Operating System (ROS) in their Astrobee robots. Nevertheless, as the space industry booms, it is believed that increasing use of OSS will improve the quality and reliability of software for the entire sector. Here is a YouTube video with NASA's Jennifer Heldmann describing the VIPER initiative:
   
   


3. Does the Universe have higher dimensions? Part 2 - This is a follow-up to last week's post that included a talk from Sabine Hossenfelder, describing the mathematical history behind the idea that the universe might have more than three dimensions. In short, there are two theories that predict this, Kaluza Klein Theory and String Theory. Both of those theories predict that extra dimensions exist and that they are curled up in a way that makes them too small to observe. Kaluza Klein Theory, however, makes predictions that contradict known observations, so physicists are mainly left with String Theory. String theory also makes some predictions that if more dimensions exist then it would be possible to create black holes in particle colliders. Unfortunately, none have been created, which means that either the higher dimensions don't exist or that they are too small to verify with existing technologies. Hossenfelder goes on to say that for practical observations, there is no need to postulate more than three dimensions, and she concludes by identifying three concepts from science fiction travel techologies that relate to exploration of higher dimensions. She says that "hyperdrives" are a nice idea, but they make no sense scientifically; worm holes make scientific sense, but no one has ever seen one, and no one knows how to make one; and warp drives actually make sense scientifically and we know - in principle - how to create one.
   Here is the video:
   
   


4. How many Tyrannosaurus rex walked the Earth? - According to a new paper in Science, 2 ¹/₂ billion T-Rex lived in total, with approximately 20,000 alive at any given time. This was estimated by surveying the fossil record and making use of Damuth's Law, which describes a relationship between body mass and population density in living animals. Basically, the larger the animal, the more space it needs for survival. Future research might extend this research to see how other species' populations rose and fell in conjunction with the T-rex populations.


5. Video Friday: Aquatic Snakebotics - This week, IEEE Spectrum's Weekly selection of awesome robot videos includes the following:
   • A hardened underwater robot snake from Carnegie Mellon
   • Robots keep their balance after kicking other robots in the shin or stepping on their feet - video from B-Human
   • In October, NASA's OSIRIS-REx landed on an asteroid and left tracks behind. Now we have photographs of the imprints.
   • A self-balancing exoskeleton from Wandercraft.
   • and more...
   
   

   Here is a video of a drone from Draganfly sanitizing the New Orleans Pelicans' Smoothie King Stadium

   
   And here is Baubot, a versatile-seeming construction robot.

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