We thought they were limited to the deserts of Namibia and Australia, but the fairy circles never cease to amaze us. A team of researchers has discovered these strange geological formations in around fifteen other countries and compiled them into a unique atlas. Explanation.
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Fairy circles are small, more or less circular areas with a diameter of two to twelve meters, without vegetation, surrounded by plants and herbs that only occur in the desert areas of Namibia and Australia. At least that’s what we thought until a team of Spanish researchers published a study claiming to have discovered them in other parts of the world! It was necessary to use artificial intelligence to map the 263 locations between the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Madagascar and Southwest Asia, creating the first atlas of its kind. Scientific mysteries that are magical in name only and are beginning to reveal their secrets to scientists.
The little secrets of the fairy circles…
The fairy circles, which sometimes extend for hundreds of kilometers and give the ground a strange mottled appearance, follow Alan Turing’s mathematical model that random perturbations and a reaction-diffusion mechanism can lead to the creation of spontaneous natural structures with very stable patterns.
The tussocks of grass that grow around these circles increase shading and water penetration around neighboring roots, helping to combat water stress in these very dry regions. These plants would also lower temperatures to make it easier for new grasses to germinate and grow.
There have long been numerous hypotheses to explain this strange phenomenon. Termites, plant poisons and even micrometeorites were again suspected!
Not to be confused with witch circles, pretty circular mushroom formations whose origin can be clearly identified.
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