The formation of an African Robotics Network (AFRON) was announced in April with some ambitious goals.

The idea, still under development, is to create a simple robot with parts costing under $10 dollars that students would use to explore science and engineering topics. The robot would be connected via USB to a computer, and students would use open source software to program the robot’s behavior and share their results.

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…AFRON was inspired by other robotics initiatives such as the European Robotics Network (EURON), but while most networks have concentrated on research activities, AFRON focuses more broadly on education, research, and industry, including efforts aimed at exposing school children to robotics.

Rules have not yet been announced but note the definition:

For the purposes of AFRON, “Robotics” is broadly defined to include related areas such as automation, computer vision, signal processing, machine learning, mobile games, and other related topics.

The Cairo Hackerspace (“Hack like an Egyptian”) is already looking for hackers to join its team in the AFRON $10 Robot Design Challenge.

Neil Gaiman, a popular writer who The Guardian lists as the “winner of 3 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, 1 World Fantasy Award, 4 Bram Stoker Awards, 6 Locus Awards, 2 British SF Awards, 1 British Fantasy Award, 3 Geffens, 1 International Horror Guild Award and 1 Mythopoeic,” gives a compelling speech on how he has ignored barriers and social engineered his career to success:

A new study supports the theory that we should let our bodies dictate decisions involving risk

The researchers say that evidence is mounting to indicate that our bodies can sometimes govern how we think and feel, rather than the other way round. It also reveals that those people who are more in tune with their bodies are more likely to be led by their ‘gut feelings’.

Makes sense to me. I like being able to let my body decide on its own when to run or when to sweat based on well-established criteria instead of always having to use brain power for every micro-decision. Anyone who has seen a horror film knows what I am talking about. Directors use all kinds of methods to get the body to react instead of the brain.

Just to confuse this point a little, a scene in Jurassic Park comes to mind. Ripples in the liquid in a cup indicate danger (as opposed to a guitar string being played). Is that the brain interpreting the ripples as danger or is it the brain interpreting the ripples as vibration…and then the body decides vibration is danger? But I digress. Back to the new study:

The researchers measured participants’ physical responses to each offer by recording how much they sweated through the fingertips and how much their heart rate changed.

I did a quick search on related research and found a 1959 study that sounds oddly similar. It was called “Colorimetric Measurement of Anxiety: A clinical and experimental procedure” and says fingertip sweat is linked to “gut feelings”. So we’ve had this research for over fifty years and now? I also noted the 1959 study points out that fingertip sweat is not the same indicator as body sweat.

..prehension provoked palmar finger tip sweating without affecting a change in general bodily sweating