Category Astronomy/Space

Cutaway of the Earth’s surface, down to the liquid core. A numerical convection experiment shows blobs in green, surrounding mantle rock in blue, and former oceanic crust from the surface that has subducted into the interior in yellow. Credit: Dr. Mingming Li/University of Colorado

2 massive blob-like structures lie deep within Earth, roughly on opposite sides of the planet. Each the size of a continent and 100 times taller than Mount Everest, sit on the core, 1,800 miles deep, and about halfway to the center of Earth. Arizona State University scientists suggest these blobs are made of something different from the rest of Earth’s mantle.

“While the origin and composition of the blobs are yet unknown,” said Garnero, “we suspect they hold important clues as to how Earth was formed and how ...

This is an illustration of ancient Earth’s magnetic field compared to the modern magnetic field courtesy of Peter Driscoll. Credit: Peter Driscoll

New work from Carnegie’s Peter Driscoll suggests Earth’s ancient magnetic field was significantly different than the present day field, originating from several poles rather than the familiar two. Earth generates a strong magnetic field extending from the core out into space that shields the atmosphere and deflects harmful high-energy particles from the Sun and the cosmos. The motion of liquid iron in Earth’s outer core drives geodynamo, which creates Earth’s magnetic field. This motion is driven by the loss of heat from the core and the solidification of the inner core.

But the planet’s inner core was not always solid...

Map of the various preparation, integration and installation sites at the time of this writing.

KM3NeT – a European collaboration pioneering the deployment of kilometre cubed arrays of neutrino detectors off the Mediterranean coast – has reported in detail on the scientific aims, technology and costs of its proposal in the Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics. Neutrinos are ideal, stable, sub-atomic particles that can travel long distances without being disturbed by matter or magnetic fields in their path. Neutrino-emitting sources such as the remnants of Supernova explosions provide important clues to the evolution of our universe and could also help in expanding our knowledge of atomic physics. However, there is a catch.

To detect neutrinos from the cosmos you need a massiv...