The Namibia desert is decorated by thousands of mysterious circles

Not sure if it's just my browser that was missing them, but the article could've really used some images.

You can see the fairy circles in this Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_circle_(Africa)

Or this Google Images link: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=namibia+fairy+circle&safe...

Sure looks like Turing patterns that you get with Reaction-Diffusion simulations.

See http://pmneila.github.io/jsexp/grayscott/ and select "holes"

To the man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail:

"Some theories are still holding strong though, and Cowan jokes that each scientist sees the solution in terms of their own particular area of expertise: the insect biologists think the circles are created by ants or termites, the plant physiologists think it’s grasses, and the chemists think it’s gases. Cowan, a microbial ecologist, proves no exception."

Namibian here. Can confirm, this got more international press attention than national press.

It doesn't say anything about watching these over time. Do the rings move? Do they fill in after a year and new ones form? It's not like all the grass is in rings.

“There is a tremendous sense of excitement that there is something really interesting going on and we want to know what that is,” says Professor Don Cowan, director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. “It is a desire to understand the system. What is going there? What is happening?”

Can't think of a better summary of science!

If you're lazy, click here to see it on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Namibia/@-24.9646371,15.93...

You'll have to switch to satellite-view yourself.

The termite theory makes a lot of sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_circle_%28Africa%29#Forma...

When I read the article few minutes ago the there were several interesting images of the "fairy circles".

Their origin is still a mystery. In a way that's comforting, that nature often doesn't yield secrets so easily and we can be astounded and fascinated by the beauty of the things we discover.

The recent idea that the circles are the result of grass growth limitations due to water and nutrient availability, it still doesn't account for the circular voids. Similar conditions exist in S. Arizona where I grew up. Plants were sparse in the desert, there were native grasses too, but no fairy circles.

Maybe there's something about the root system of the grass that makes them chained together, but such regular circles at regular intervals wouldn't be explained by this mechanism. I wonder if the circles move, that might tell something. Maybe the circles are too small to track by satellite, or too remote to warrant keeping track from space.

Well many have speculated about the phenomenon, tests have been done and theories discarded, and all we have to show for it is more speculation. The mystery will be revealed some day...

Reminds me of the tiny dots/circles that form on the surface after my rice finishes cooking. Can't find a photo of what I mean online though.

Someone should analyse the distribution for how close it is to a Poisson Disc / blue noise. Looks pretty good from the satellite images.

Really don't see any patterns in this image, there's also overlapping and merging going on: http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4Dqlhnj1wkM/UV1et2rxyTI/AAAAAAAAm5Q/P-...

These remind me of the "Devils Stomping Ground" circle in NC. http://www.hauntspot.com/haunt/usa/north-carolina/devils-sto...

Maybe it's the Magarathean equivalent of the EURion constellation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation

The circles remind me of antibiotic restistance tests: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterial_lawn#mediaviewer/File...

Have they had some grad student just go and camp in an area like this for a full year? I would think that would help you get some insights and plausible hypothesis.

It seems the rocks-sliding-across-the-desert mystery could have been solved the same way many years ago.

BBC themselves previously reported termites being responsible for this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-21970408

Reminds me of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mima_mounds

They are clearly giant ejection pin marks from when the Earth was popped out of its mould.

Tell me about it. Those Namibian desert fairies play havoc with your herbaceous borders.

This is caused by fungus. Have any scientists established this as the cause? That is my best guess.