The Namib Desert in Namibia is unlike any other desert. There are eerie circular patches spread all across the desert (an area of 2500 km). These bare soil patches are popularly known as fairy circles. The mystery behind this was solved only recently. In 2017, Corina Tarnita, a mathematician stated that the patches are a combination of 2 things. One, the presence of vegetation with the absence of water. This makes the plants compete for resources and eventually disappear, leaving patches. Second, the patches are then taken over by termites. So it is the complex ecosystem that results in such a bizarre phenomenon.
