Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen correspondent: Israeli drone strike targeted the outskirts of Chehabiyeh, southern Lebanon.
Israeli media citing security official: The Madleen vessel is 300 km from the coast of Gaza, we will decide what to do with it; it will not get to Gaza.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: four martyrs, 70 injured by IOF fire near aid center west of Rafah, southern Gaza.
The Mujahideen Movement: The two were killed along with dozens of others from their family in a cowardly Zionist assassination that targeted the Sabra neighborhood today
The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement mourns the martyrdom of its Secretary-General, Asaad Attiya Abu Sharia "Abu Al-Sheikh", along with his brother Ahmad
Abu Zaid: I believe that the Iranian operation was multi-layered, combining cyber and electronic attacks with coordinated on-the-ground infiltrations by agents
Abu Zaid: Usually, archives of such sensitivity are typically protected by a full-scale security system, but it appears that Iranian intelligence managed to make use of a gap in it
Strategic military expert Nidal Abu Zaid: Iran has stripped "Israel" of the superiority and deterrence long boasted by its security minister, chief of staff, and other top officials
Fallahpour: Iran may use these documents in its battle with the United States and Western countries over its nuclear program
Fallahpour: Iran may have obtained additional documents related to "Israel's" regional projects, not just its nuclear program

Earth’s inner core in 'reverse'

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 24 Jan 2023 13:54
3 Min Read

NASA explains through nature that the earth's outer core also enables the inner core to spin independently.

  • x
  • Scientists have proposed that Earth’s solid inner core (yellow in this diagram) rotates faster than the rest of Earth. A new study suggests the core’s rotation has recently paused, and is reversing direction. (Getty Images)
    Scientists have proposed that Earth’s solid inner core (yellow in this diagram) rotates faster than the rest of Earth. A new study suggests the core’s rotation has recently paused and is reversing direction. (Getty Images)

The inner core of the Earth is located deep inside and extends for about 746 miles, according to NASA. It is primarily made of pure, solid iron. The inner core is thought to rotate, as evidenced by research, but a recent study contends that it may have "paused" or even reversed its spin.

Earth's outer core

Earth's magnetic field is produced by the liquid outer core that encircles the inner core. NASA claims that as the outer core's molten iron and nickel move, electrical currents are produced that result in a magnetic field. Nature explains that the outer core also enables the inner core to spin independently.

How is the core tracked?

Even though scientists cannot directly track the core, they can analyze seismic waves caused by earthquakes and Cold War-era nuclear weapon tests as they approach the core. That's what study co-authors Yi Yang and Xiaodong Song, both seismologists at Peking University in Beijing, did for their new study, which was published on Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Related News

Dying satellites may contribute to climate change, ozone depletion

Astronomers discover universe’s brightest object

Yang and Song discovered that the inner core's rotation "paused" between 2009 and 2020, and may even be reversing "by a small amount," based on their analysis of seismic waves caused by similar earthquakes dating back to the 1960s.

Scientists warn against panic because this isn't the first time our inner core has stopped working. Instead, they believe the change is “associated with a gradual turning-back of the inner core as part of an approximately seven-decade oscillation.”

Read next: NASA discovers second Earth-sized planet in 'habitable zone'

What triggers such a rotation? 

Changes in the speed at which seismic waves travel through the inner core, according to seismologists, coincide "with changes in several other geophysical observations, especially the length of day and magnetic field," both of which are influenced by the inner core's movement, according to research.

While the changes are “valid,” what Yang and Song found may not be exactly what’s happening in the depths of our planet. A professor of earth sciences at the University of Southern California, John Vidale, that wasn’t involved in the study, noted “several competing ideas” about the Earth’s core in The Wall Street Journal.

This includes theories regarding the inner core reversing its rotation more frequently than the 70 years Yang and Song determined and that it stopped rotating in the early 2000s.  “No matter which model you like, there are some data that disagrees with it,” Vidale told The New York Times.

Vidale recently co-authored a study that showed the inner core changed its spin between 1969 and 1974, and that it seems to oscillate “a couple of kilometers every six years.”

Read next: The Earth is Fading

  • Earth
  • NASA

Most Read

The logo of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (wikidata)

Iran acquired thousands of sensitive Israeli documents: Exclusive

  • Politics
  • 7 Jun 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
New Syrian group claims Golan strike, vows resistance to 'Israel'

New Syrian group claims Golan strike, vows resistance to 'Israel'

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP)

Boston Consulting Group withdraws from GHF

  • Palestine
  • 3 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/pentagon-chief--nato-likely-to-back-trump-s-5--defence-spend
Politics

Europe spent $3 trillion on defense, but got little in return - FT

Power, parties, and scandal: Trump’s ties to Epstein: Telegraph
Europe

Power, parties, and scandal: Trump’s ties to Epstein - The Telegraph

Eilat port as seen from the sea, occupied Palestine, March 12 2009 (wikimedia commons)
Politics

YAF operations forced 80% plunge in Eilat port revenues in 2024

EU backs International Criminal Court after US sanctions judges
Europe

EU backs International Criminal Court after US sanctions judges

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS