Mali – Africa Tech Digest

On a night in August, an object called 2014 MU69 passed in front of a star and blocked its light. This phenomenon, called a stellar occultation, lasted just a second and was visible only in certain regions in Africa (more exactly in Senegal, Mali and Algeria) and in South America in Colombia.MU69 is an icy object of the Kuiper Belt, (informally named Ultima Thule) which was discovered in June 2014 with the Hubble Space Telescope.NASA is pursuing this object to learn more about the origins of our solar system. Senegal was chosen to observe this occultation, because of its political stability, and the existence of a community of amateur astronomers and scientists.The choice of Senegal was made despite the challenging climatic conditions in August (rainy season), which offered a probab...

Lenali is a social media app created for non-literate, oral-based communities In 2017, it was reported that Facebook had 170 million users in Africa -- seven out of every 10 Africans on the internet log into Facebook. Platforms like WhatsApp, Viber and Instagram have become vitals tools of communication: for news, elections and, of course, selfies. Social media companies are eyeing Africa as a big growth market, with Facebook set to launch its first community hub in Nigeria this year. However, platforms like Facebook largely center on written posts and conversation, as well as video. For those in the continent from oral-based, spoken language (non-literate) communities with little formal education, these platforms can be inaccessible. This is the case ...

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Why NASA chose Senegal to observe a frozen world beyond Pluto