The “Death Zone” – Decoding the Secrets of the Namib Desert’s Fairy Circles
Researchers describe topsoil as “death zone” for fresh grass in the fairy circle. Namibia’s legendary fairy circles are mysterious, circular, bald patches in the dry…
Desert News
Scientists Discover Mysterious “Fairy Circles” at Hundreds of Sites Globally
Research indicates that fairy circles, previously identified only in Namibia and Australia, have now been discovered in over 250 sites across 15 nations and three…
Unraveling Africa’s Fairy Circle Mystery – Researchers Identify True Source
For over a decade, the origin of the numerous circular bare patches amidst the African grasslands, known as fairy circles, has been a topic of…
The Sahara’s Secret Past: When Deserts Turned Green
A pioneering study has unveiled new insights into the humid phases in North Africa over the last 800,000 years, explaining why the Sahara Desert periodically…
“Crustivoltaics” – A New Way To Replace Biocrusts Damaged by Humans
Generating new soil crust in deserts using solar farms. In the dry lands of the American Southwest, there is a hidden world beneath us. Biocrusts,…
Scientists Reveal the Invisible Secret Behind Spectacular Blooms in the World’s Driest Desert
Diversity in flower color and patterning is even greater for pollinators. The Atacama desert, which stretches for nearly 1,600 kilometers along the western coast of…
Puzzling Scientists for Nearly 50 Years: Mystery of Namibia’s Fairy Circles Finally Solved
Inexplicable circles are caused by plant water stress, not termites, according to research from Göttingen University. For almost 50 years, researchers have been perplexed by…
Robust Increases in “Atmospheric Thirst” Across Much of U.S. During Past 40 Years
Largest changes centered over Rio Grande region of Southwestern U.S. In arid Western states, the climate is growing warmer and drier, leading to increased demand…
NASA-Qatar OASIS Project Aims to Find Buried Water in Earth’s Deserts
Researchers will design a mission to learn about underground aquifers in areas such as the Sahara and how climate change will affect them in the…
Moisture Farming: Harvesting Fog Can Provide Fresh Water in Desert Regions
Moisture farming is not just for the deserts of Tatooine — advances in fog harvesting technology may provide an additional fresh water source in foggy…
Microbial Oasis Discovered Under Atacama Desert in Chile
Researchers have discovered a veritable microbial oasis, under the Atacama Desert in Chile. The region is known for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), but…