Scientists have developed a machine-learning algorithm that can distinguish healthy coral reefs from less healthy ones by the soundscape in the …

In this week's geeked-out edition of the Good News Roundup, Ukraine's jaw-dropping battlefield victories with HIMARS are documented using OSINT, South Africa implements AI technology to track dangerous locust swarms, biologists and naturalists overwhelmingly agree that gay sex is normal throughout the animal kingdom, and BirdNet proves reliable at crowdsourcing the task of identifying wild birds by their songs. In wholesome news for sci fi/space fantasy fans everywhere, Ukraine's president Zelensky continues attending technology trade shows through holograms in which he promises that Ukraine will defeat the Empire. Ukrainians are also using 3d imaging technology to preserve the cultural heritage of their country from looters and bombs, storing their data in a digital archive that will support restoration work when the invaders have been defeated. And in good news for new Ukrainian parents, the non-profit Embrace Global is making headlines for using innovative technology to provide incubators for babies in Ukraine at a tiny fraction of their usual cost. You can see their TED talk by entrepreneur Jane Chen here.

When the elephant arrived in the night, on the hunt for sugarcane, Uthorn Kanthong was waiting for him. Like many of his neighbors, the 69-year-old Thai farmer had taken to staying in his fields into the late hours, to try and scare off elephants that came to snack on his crop. He usually returned home by midnight. But that night in 2018, he didn't come back. Worried, his daughter sent out family and friends to look for him.

South American bats speak dialects different from those of their North American counterparts. In response, a group of scientists has developed the first artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for acoustic identification of bat species in Uruguay. It is available online, under a free license and in open-source code. Moreover, says team leader biologist Germán Botto of the Universidad de la República de Uruguay, new recordings collected by scientists using the algorithm in wind farm studies will enhance the system's proficiency in identifying species. "Windmill farms are a menace for birds…and bats," Botto told Mongabay.

Neil Sahota is an IBM Master Inventor and World Wide Business Development Leader in the company's Watson Group. He works to create solutions powered by Watson, the supercomputer that he helped to develop which famously competed on the TV quiz show Jeopardy! Sahota is a big believer in the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the lives of people and the health of the environment, and while technology won't solve all human or ecological problems, it has an important role to play, prompting Mongabay to ask him for an interview. Erik Hoffner for Mongabay: At our conservation tech site Wildtech, we increasingly publish news about how AI and machine learning can be applied to conservation, from using eBird to track songbird populations to applications that can curtail illegal rainforest logging. What are your favorite examples of how AI can aid the environment?