A drug designed by AI has been approved for testing in humans. A UK startup focused on automated drug discovery teamed up with a Japanese pharmaceutical company to produce a new medicine for obsessive compulsive disorder.

When artificial intelligence meets biology, even the simplest life forms can be mind-blowing. Researchers at Tufts and the University of Vermont programmed an evolutionary algorithm to design virtual organisms with specific capabilities.

Computer vision has potential to spot cancer earlier and more accurately than human experts. A new system surpassed human accuracy in trials, but critics aren’t convinced.

AI is providing an early warning system for volcanoes on the verge of blowing their top. Researchers at the University of Leeds developed a neural net that scans satellite data for indications that the ground near a volcano is swelling—a sign it may be close to erupting.

Image analysis guided by AI revealed a 2,000-year-old picture dug into the Peruvian desert. Researchers analyzing aerial imagery shot over Peru found a pattern that looks like a three-horned humanoid holding a staff.

A deep learning system is helping biologists who survey offshore fish populations to prevent overfishing. The U.S. agency in charge of protecting ocean resources is using an underwater camera and neural network to count fish in real time.

Would you like an umbrella that fits in your pocket? Researchers used machine learning to invent sturdy but collapsible materials that might lead to such a fantastical object.

Skin conditions are the fourth-largest cause of nonfatal disease worldwide, but access to dermatological care is sparse. A new study shows that a neural network can do front-line diagnostic work.

A leaked paper from Google’s quantum computing lab claims “supremacy” over conventional computers. The U.S. space agency NASA, whose scientists are collaborating with Google on a quantum computer, accidentally published a paper describing the breakthrough.

AI is capable of picking faces out of the crowd — even if that crowd is squabbling over bananas in a jungle. Researchers at the University of Oxford developed a face recognition app that identifies individual chimpanzees in footage shot in the wilds of Guinea.

Microscopes outfitted with AI-driven augmented reality could improve the accuracy of cancer diagnoses. Google Health developed an attachment for analog microscopes that outlines signs of breast and prostate cancer in real time.

The origin of the brief, high-intensity signals from outer space called fast radio bursts baffles astronomers. Now AI is generating real-time data to help solve the mystery.