For some people, the inscriptions on artifacts found near the Indus River in South Asia are just pictures. But for others, including IEEE Member Rajesh Rao, those inscriptions could potentially bear great meaning. If they can be decoded, he says, the symbols could shed light on a civilization that existed about 4000 years ago.

Rao, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, is using computational modeling and statistical analysis to look for patterns and regularities in the inscriptions on trader’s seals, pottery, stoneware, and other items left behind by the Indus civilization, which existed in what is now Pakistan and India between 2600 and 1900 B.C. He presented his research in March at TED, an annual conference held in Long Beach, Calif., devoted to bringing experts together to speak about advances in technology, entertainment, and design. A video of Rao’s talk was recently posted on TED’s website.

“I love puzzles and mysteries in general, but being originally from India, I have always been fascinated by the puzzle posed by the Indus civilization—the oldest civilization on the Indian subcontinent,” he says. Read more.

See: The IEEE Institute