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Earth's Core Far Hotter Than Thought

Posted by timothy on from the might-as-well-be-walking-on-the-earth dept.

hessian writes "New measurements suggest the Earth's inner core is far hotter than prior experiments suggested, putting it at 6,000C — as hot as the Sun's surface. The solid iron core is actually crystalline, surrounded by liquid. But the temperature at which that crystal can form had been a subject of long-running debate. Experiments outlined in Science used X-rays to probe tiny samples of iron at extraordinary pressures to examine how the iron crystals form and melt."

18 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Oh noes! by funwithBSD · · Score: 5, Funny

    Global warming has reached the core!

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    1. Re:Oh noes! by Feyshtey · · Score: 4, Informative

      But Al Gore said it was "several million degress".... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMrxC-qEHb8 I'm so confused.

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    2. Re:Oh noes! by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's kinda like racist jokes:

      They can actually be really funny, but when you realize that the person telling the joke legitimately doesn't like black people, it creates a depressing side to the joke that ruins any humor.

    3. Re:Oh noes! by DougOtto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So a "racist joke" has to automatically be about "black people?" Who's the racist now?

      --
      Solving Unix problems since 1989...
    4. Re:Oh noes! by flibbidyfloo · · Score: 5, Funny

      He was talking in Fahrenheit degrees. I believe 6000 C is approximately equal to 2,000,000 F. At least if I remember what I learned from the American education system :)

    5. Re:Oh noes! by shentino · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Historically blacks have in fact been the most notoriously discriminated against race, so it's a good example.

    6. Re:Oh noes! by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Q: "How many tree-huggers does it take to change a lightbulb?"

      A: "That's not funny!"

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    7. Re:Oh noes! by TWiTfan · · Score: 4, Funny

      That core is so hot right now.

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    8. Re:Oh noes! by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh man, don't say that. Someone will believe it.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    9. Re:Oh noes! by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Funny

      Could you clarify? I certainly wouldn't wand some random stranger on the internet thinking poorly of me.

    10. Re:Oh noes! by sconeu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I always thought that was radical feminists.

      "How many radical feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?"

      "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  2. Trip Planning by ButtonMashingGorilla · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thank goodness I saw this article. I have been planning my trip to the Inner Core, but my unobtanium suit is only rated for 5500C

  3. Far hotter? by omnichad · · Score: 5, Informative

    I may have misread, but I think this article is saying that 20% hotter is "far" hotter. Not the adjective I would use for 20%.

    1. Re:Far hotter? by omnichad · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, since it's Celsius and not Kelvin, it's not a 20% absolute increase. At thousands of degrees, the difference between Celsius and Kelvin is more of a rounding error so I didn't mention it.

      5 to 6 degrees would be a 1/278th increase.

  4. only 1800F degrees by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 4, Funny

    Big deal. That's like the difference between December and July in the Midwest.

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  5. Re:That means by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just book a cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines. They offer cruises to Hell.

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  6. Re:Iron vs. sulfur by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Informative

    Since when did Creationists ever let facts get in the way of a good myth?

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    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  7. Re:So is Gwyneth Paltrow by mrbester · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's because everybody tends to use the metric Helen (1k ship launching capability) instead of the more accurate Troy Helen (1.186k ships)...

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