What do Afghan student engineers and Time Lords have in common?

As of today, they’re both women. That’s right "Doctor Who" fans, the 13th incarnation of the BBC sci-fi protagonist will not be a white male. For the first time since 1963, the blue phone booth will be piloted by a woman.

And Afghan girls build robots, don’t they?

Six teenage girls were twice denied US visas. But the Trump White House intervened, and they were allowed into the United States to compete in a robotics event. Teams from 157 nations are now going head-to-head with their home-built robots designed to clean contaminated water (see the Viewfinder photo below).

Afghanistan is still emerging from Taliban rule, when all girls were barred from school. Since 2002, the US has poured millions of dollars into education there. Today, about 40 percent of those in school are girls.

Schooling for girls always makes a society stronger. As educated women, they make better choices, earn more money, and have fewer children.

Schooling also shifts their concepts of what’s possible. As one Afghan robotics sponsor told The Atlantic: “Technology gives us access to new realities. It allows us to dream further.”