Microsoft is really pushing for users to upgrade to Windows 11, and right now it's

A natural phenomenon consisting of polka-dot-style formations has been cropping up around the world, and scientists are baffled as to why. The circular-shaped patches of ground have been seen in deserts in Australia and Namibia but now experts believe they are more widespread than originally thought. Known as “fairy circles”, there are now 263 known sites across the globe where they can be found, according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). They have been documented in 15 countries, across three continents, including the Sahel region of Africa, Madagascar, and in Middle-West Asia. And yet, despite the spread of these anomalies, scientists are still none the wiser about how they actually form. A team led by environmental scientist Emilio Guirado, of the University of Alicante in Spain, explained in their paper on the "intriguing" phenomenon: “We conducted a global and systematic assessment of fairy circle-like vegetation patterns and discovered hundreds of [fairy-circle]-like locations on three continents. “Our study provides insights into the ecology and biogeography of these fascinating vegetation patterns and the first atlas of their global distribution.” The mysterious circles appear in desert regions and can be as wide as 12 metres (39 feet) in diameter. They are almost always spaced out and rarely connect or overlap with one another. Several theories have been put forward as to what causes them, including, tiny insects, termites, and plant toxins. But, none have been accompanied by any significant evidence and some have been debunked completely. One significant factor limiting their study is they are often found in places that are difficult to access and are inhospitable. Locating the 263 different sites of “fairy circles” involved analysing high-resolution satellite imagery. Guirado and his team wrote in their paper: “[The sites] include those already identified in Namibia and Western Australia, as well as areas never described before, including the Sahel, Western Sahara, Horn of Africa, Madagascar, Southwest Asia, or Central and Southwest Australia. “By doing so, our study provides a global atlas of areas showing FC-like vegetation patterns and expands the known existence of this vegetation type to new countries and continents.” The team hopes that locating new sites will enable them to find common traits that may point towards their cause. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 7, 2023--

Indonesian livestreamer Christine Febriyanti stood in a room crammed with clothes in Jakarta, hawking colourful garments to hundreds of viewers on a TikTok livestream...

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A woman has sparked a debate across social media after finding an abandoned couch on the street and taking it back to her apartment. Creator Amanda Joy posted a TikTok of the ‘dream couch’ she had found on the street in New York showing the process of getting it into her apartment. Joy believed the couch to be the $8,000 ‘Bubble’ couch from French brand Roche Bobois. Posted on Saturday, the TikTok now has over 40 million views, and over 4 million likes. The rest of the TikTok showed Joy’s dad picking up the couch in his van and the process of cleaning the couch, before moving it into her apartment. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter However, the now viral TikTok has led to some saying the couch is a fake, and others being concerned about bed bugs. User @boymolish shared the TikTok to Twitter with the caption ‘WHY TF AM I NEVER THIS LUCKY’, and the Tweet had many saying that Joy had not cleaned it enough: Some argued that if you throw an 8k coach on the street there has to be an reason, implying that there was something wrong with it. But some disagreed, saying if you’re rich enough, it’s not a big deal to give away such expensive items for free. Others did some digging and argued that it wasn’t an authentic ‘Bubble’ couch, with one Twitter user comparing the material of the couch Joy now had in her apartment, to the one on the website. As a result of the growing debate around her TikTok, Joy posted an update video, specifically responding to a comment that said ‘it looks so good but I’m SO SCARED about it being BED BUG CENTRAL.’ Joy shared with users that the couch was outside on the street for less than 24 hours. She added that they let the couch sit in her dad’s workshop for over two weeks to ensure they couldn’t see any bed bugs. Joy also told viewers that the reason she thought it had been thrown out is because it has ‘a lot of rips,’ which she has covered with pillows, and ‘has some stains.’ At the end of the video, Joy also showed the tag, ‘for anyone who wants to tell me it’s fake.’ Some viewers were still convinced it wasn’t clean enough, suggesting she should get it professionally cleaned and reupholstered. Whilst others said as long as Joy was happy with it, they didn’t care. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Thailand, the world’s second-biggest rice exporter, is asking farmers to grow only one crop this year — instead

An artificial intelligence researcher who co-authored one of Google’s most influential papers in the field is leaving the

Twitter owner Elon Musk hinted late Saturday night that he may ditch the social media network's blue cartoon bird branding -- and soon -- for an edgier logo based on an "everything app" he...

UPDATE: Jun. 21, 2023, 11:00 a.m. EST This story has been updated to reflect the

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 7, 2023--

The dawn of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT may revolutionize the way both the public and private sector