African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

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Neferti
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African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by Neferti » Wed May 21, 2014 10:04 am

DID fairies do it? Or did termites? Well, when it comes to mysterious circles in African grasslands, the fairies are back in with a chance.

The termite explanation has been turfed.

The enigmatic arcs of Spartan earth amid African grassland regions has been puzzling scientists for decades and locals for centuries.

The “fairy circles” speckle the landscape like freckles. Arid grasslands all over southwest Africa are covered with the pock marks.

Some measure a few metres. Others span more than 20 metres in diameter.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/scien ... 6924639964

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Super Nova
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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by Super Nova » Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:38 pm

It has to be some insect colony....

Or we have very little martians landing here.
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freediver
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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by freediver » Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:44 pm

Some plants and fungus grow in rings like that. There is a ring of bigger plants around the outside of each bare bit. This could be because they get a bigger share of whatever it is they need. Or it could be because there is a clump of grass growing outwards forming a ring. It looks like marginal grassland to start with, so it is not hard to imagine a plant doing this in some kind of scorched earth approach.

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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by freediver » Wed Jun 11, 2014 5:19 pm

I think there are plants in Australia that do something similar out in the dry country.

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Neferti
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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by Neferti » Wed Jun 11, 2014 5:45 pm

freediver wrote:I think there are plants in Australia that do something similar out in the dry country.

So, can you find a piccie or something then? "I think" is not good enough FD. :D

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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by freediver » Wed Jun 11, 2014 6:31 pm

It's good enough for me.

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Super Nova
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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by Super Nova » Thu Jun 12, 2014 6:02 pm

What an amazing problem to solve. It shows how little we know about the world around us. With all of our knowledge and technical advances we cannot determine the cause. What hope to we have when we do discover real life elsewhere.

My pet theory is it has to be fairies. Clearly the Africans still believe in them and they don't say "I don't believe in fairies" causing them to die off like we do in the west.

Here is one caught on camera but could not be scientifically verified. Note the circle that gives them power.

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PS: Aussie... this is not porn
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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by freediver » Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:27 pm

Is that crack cocaine?

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Re: African "fairy circles" back in the mystery books

Post by Super Nova » Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:42 pm

freediver wrote:Is that crack cocaine?
That may explain why they always need to sprinkle the stuff everywhere to fly as high as they do.

They call it "pixie dust" as a code word so the kids don't know what they really are up to.

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