Falling to Earth's Core in a Big Blob of Iron

Colin Douglas Howell writes "Um...wow. I found this idea via the BBC, (see also the Nature article), but it's really worth reading the annotated paper on the subject. (Gotta love the title.) Basically, you drill a hole in the crust, blast a big crack in it, inject a huge mass of molten iron with a little probe floating inside (made out of material which won't melt or dissolve in the iron), and let the iron mass sink to the core by gravity, carrying the probe with it. (The initial crack grows downward as the iron sinks.) As the probe falls, it sends data back using seismic signals that can be picked up with a gravitational wave observatory like LIGO, but coupled to the ground. Of course, there are enormous problems with the whole thing, but it's still cool to read about. To me, the idea is even neater because it was dreamed up by Dave Stevenson, one of my old professors (and one of the best professors I've ever had). I hope he doesn't mind being Slashdotted. :-)"

Comments

And that's how the Earth broke in two

[Anonymous Coward]

And everyone on the planet was killed. So, children, remember, don't try to drill to the center of your planet without the proper tools.

Alien 4th Grade Class on "History of Stupid Mistakes"

Retro-revenge.

[Anonymous Coward]

"To me, the idea is even neater because it was dreamed up by Dave Stevenson, one of my old professors (and one of the best professors I've ever had). I hope he doesn't mind being Slashdotted. :-)""

That's easy for you to say. You already have your degree.

There's the problem....

[sould]

made out of material which won't melt or dissolve in the iron

Well...thats easy then

Blob of Iron? More like a slashdotted server

[Onetus]

Guess they won't need to find a blob of iron.
The slashdotting the server will receive ought to help melt it and the floor beneath it.

Off goes the server, down, down, down ...

A wireless probe?

[Anonymous Custard]

They've found a way to get a wireless probe to connect from the middle of a molten ball of iron deep in the center of the earth, but I still can't get my cellphone to work in the subway.

The big question is -

[Anonymous Coward]

Won't that disturb the people who live inside the earth? They may be aliens, but they have rights, too.

One big problem

[dackroyd]

Won't making a crack this big in the Earths surface let all the gravity out ?

Re:One big problem

[Jerf]

Don't worry, the increased solar radiation from global warming should stuff it all back in.

Crack in the World, 1965, Dana Andrews

[jerryasher]

Crack in the World (1965)

Plot Summary for
Crack in the World (1965)

PageFlicker
IMDb home PreviousMain DetailsNext Help
Page 9 of 16

Dr. Steven Sorenson (Andrews) plans to tap the geothermal energy of the Earth's interior by means of a thermonuclear device detonated deep within the Earth. Despite dire warnings by fellow scientist Ted Rampian (Moore), Dr Sorenson proceeds with the experiment after secretly learning that he is terminally ill. This experiment causes a crack to form and grow within the earth's crust, which threatens to split the earth in two if it is not stopped in time.

Immortal Dialogue

Layperson: What if the crack keeps going - right around the world? What happens then?
Scientist: Where the land masses split the oceans will be sucked in, and the colossal pressure generated by the steam will rip the earth apart - and destroy it.
Layperson: You mean - the world will come to an end!?
Scientist: The world as we know it, yes. As a cloud of astral dust, it will continue to move within the solar system.
[That's what's known as "scientific consolation"....]

Re:For the coming "hole to China" questions/jokes

[peculiarmethod]

so what you're saying is.. and stop me if I'm wrong here, is that if we can amass a very VERY big exposition, we might blow a hole into the corona, dropping an improved version of these probes onto the surface of the sun, and create a beowolf cluster.. where we can cause siesmic dusiturbances which will (previosuly worked out) distribute photons in a pattern out of the corona (sun spots, flare distribution) which we will be able to reduce back into a readable data stream for data collection of the suns various environmental variables, and anonymously share not proman nudies.

is that what you ewre suggesting?

pm