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CNN
— 
On the northern edge of the Rub al-Khali, there are secrets buried in the sand.

The vast 250,000 square miles (650,000 square kilometer) desert on the Arabian Peninsula is known as “The Empty Quarter.” And to most, aside from waves of ocher dunes, it does look empty.

But not to artificial intelligence.

Researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi have developed a high-tech solution to searching huge, arid areas for potential archaeological sites.

Traditionally, archaeologists use ground surveys to detect potential sites of interest, but that can be time-consuming and difficult in harsh terrains like the desert. In recent years, remote sensing using optical satellite images from places like Google Earth has gained popularity in searching large areas for unusual features — but in the desert, sand and dust storms often obscure the ground in these images, while dune patterns can make it difficult to detect potential sites.

Source: edition.cnn.com