Google SWE points 48 AI agents at NASA Lidar, finds unmapped Maya pyramid in 72h
A software engineer used a team of 48 AI agents to analyze NASA lidar data, successfully identifying a previously unmapped Maya pyramid in Mexico. The project demonstrated how AI can accelerate archaeological discovery by processing large-scale geographical data.
Why it matters
This highlights the transformative potential of AI agents in scientific research and archaeology, significantly reducing the time required for data analysis.
By analyzing NASA lidar data, my AI agents discovered a Maya site in Mexico that, as far as anyone can tell, no one had reported before. It took less than 72 hours to go from a random thought while traveling to an official reply from the Mexican government. This is by far the best time ever to be alive.
I'm going to tell this story as a diary, because the timeline is probably the best part.
I was traveling in Peru, Gemini-ing about the history of the place, when I learned about Hiram Bingham , the American explorer who "discovered" Machu Picchu in 1911. "What luck!" I thought. He was actually looking for a different city, Vilcabamba , the last refuge of the Incas, when a local farmer in the valley below guided him to the ruins. "Imagine if Bingham had our tools," I thought. "What would he do?"
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