A recent scientific investigation raises the possibility that anything like to “The Core” is indeed taking place. According to researchers Yi Yang and Xiaodong Song from Peking University in China, Earth’s inner core may suddenly be spinning in the opposite direction after nearly ceasing to rotate a decade ago.
In-depth details The rotation of Earth’s inner core may have “paused,” and it may now be going in reverse:
The 2003 science fiction movie “The Core” wasn’t a major commercial success, but it presented a notion that has long fascinated scientific and film buffs.
The plot revolved around scientists attempting to avert a global disaster by drilling down to the earth’s core and restarting it.
The world, on the other hand, did not appear to be concerned because there were no signals of an imminent apocalypse caused by the earth’s core. Everything remained in the realm of fiction.
Is there any chance that this fiction will become a reality someday? Can strange and surprising events occur thousands of kilometres beneath your feet?
A new study shows that something similar to ‘The Core’ may be taking place.
According to Chinese scientists Yi Yang and Xiaodong Song, the Earth’s inner core nearly stopped rotating in the last decade and may now be spinning in the opposite way.
The study, published in Nature Geoscience, examined the earth’s secret inner workings by measuring seismic waves from earthquakes.
While the claims are quite astounding, the scientists believe the final results will help them shed light on some of our planet’s deep mysteries, such as what part of the inner core plays a role in maintaining the planet’s magnetic field or how it affects the speed of the planet’s rotation to influence the length of a day.
The scientists at Peking University gathered data on seismic waves in the Earth’s inner core dating back to 1980s Alaskan recordings.
The changes in the core are part of a ‘oscillation’ cycle that might last seven decades, according to the scientists. The inner core, according to Xiaodong Song, is a “planet within a planet,” thus how it moves is obviously very essential.
Although the rotation of the core affects the Earth’s surface environment, researchers believe the periodic spin switch is normal and will not endanger life on our planet.
“The other force is gravity. Because the mantle and inner core are both highly diverse, gravity between their structures tends to drag the inner core to a position of gravitational equilibrium, a process known as gravitational coupling, according to the scientists.
The inner core of the Earth is the planet’s deepest geologic layer. It is essentially a solid ball with a radius of around 1,220 km, which is about 20% of the radius of the Earth or 70% of the radius of the Moon.
Seismic wave and magnetic field studies provide the majority of information on the Earth’s core. The magnetic field of the Earth shields it from cosmic radiation.
