Coffee wilt disease, caused by the fungus Fusarium xylarioides, blocks the water-carrying tissue of coffee plants until they die. First identified in 1927, it has repeatedly reshaped the coffee supply in Africa: robusta varieties that were thought resistant fell to it in the 1970s, and the disease spread through eastern and central Africa, cutting yields so sharply that Uganda's production did not recover until 2020. Outbreaks since the 1990s have cost over US$1 billion. Researchers are now reconstructing historical strains from preserved fungal culture collections and sequencing their genomes. They found that parts of the fungus's genome, including large mobile DNA elements called Starships, appear to have been acquired from a different fungus, F. oxysporum, which infects more than 120 crops. Those borrowed genes may help explain how the pathogen switched between arabica and robusta hosts.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.