Scientists have found a possible explanation for the "magic circles" in the fields in Namibia

About a hundred kilometers from the coast of Namibia there are fields covered with mysterious circles in the grass, which, according to researchers, have an amazing order in their arrangement. It is noted that these "magic circles" have a diameter of 2 to 10 meters, and they are located about 10 meters apart.

Scientists had two theories about their origin. The first was that termites ate grass roots, and the other was in self—organization of grass to increase access to water. Each theory found some confirmation, but scientists questioned the version with termites when similar circles appeared in Australia without any connection with insects.

A group of scientists from the German University of Göttingen has already conducted a study in 2020 aimed at further developing a version related to water. In 2022, a team of researchers returned to Namibia again to find more evidence for it in 10 regions of the Namib desert, as stated by their work, which is published in Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics.

The scientists' research focused around the death of grass inside the "magic circles" immediately after the rain. Experts immediately dismissed the version with termites, because there was no biomass to feed them, especially since the vegetation inside the circles immediately died.

The researchers stressed that due to the intense heat, the grass is constantly deprived of water, so it creates a vacuum around its roots, to which the liquid is directly attracted. Thus, according to the researchers, the appearance of circles is due precisely to the process of self-organization of vegetation in conditions of drought and high temperature to search for water.