How do you explore the interior of a planet without ever touching down on it? Start by watching the way the planet spins, then measure how your spacecraft orbits it — very, very carefully. This is ...

The Earth’s inner core is incredibly tricky to study, since it’s buried beneath thousands of miles of rock. New seismic studies suggest that it’s not just a solid ball of iron, as has been assumed, ...

Scientists have long known that Earth and Mercury have metallic cores. Like Earth, Mercury's outer core is composed of liquid metal, but there have only been hints that Mercury's innermost core is ...

With more than 5,000 km (3,000 mi) of rock between us and the Earth's core, it's hard to get a clear look at what's going on down there. It's long been thought that the inner core is a solid ball of ...

Though Earth's innermost core is solid, new research suggests that it hosts a lot of variation. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Seismic waves passing through the Earth have revealed that the inner core of our planet is now rotating out-of-sync with the layers above it. Update: As reported below, research from January 2023 ...

Scientists have discovered that Earth’s inner core may not be fully solid. A rare “superionic” state of matter could explain ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Earth might have more layers than scientists thought. New research finds that there may be a ...