Rainforest preservation through machine learning

As Dao explains, the algorithms read sequences in order to recognise which areas are forested and whether these areas are shrinking. These sequences are individual images strung together in chronological succession – much like old film reels or comic strips. So when a new road is built through the rainforest, for instance, numerous smaller roads form off it over time. It is along these roads that the forest coverage is destroyed. From a bird's-eye view, the resulting pattern resembles the skeleton of a fish, with its spine and small bones – thus the moniker "fish bones".