Material / Image Research Lab (MIRL)

This fascinating article in the New York Times describes how archaeologists have recently been able to shed light on the vastness and advanced level of the settlements of the Khmer empire (802 to 1431 AD).  The obstacles of the thick jungle setting has made excavation very difficult, but a new technique using “lidar” (Light Detection and Ranging) remote sensing technology has enabled the most sophisticated and detailed survey to date.