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http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38372342
Scientists say they have identified a remarkable new feature in Earth's molten outer core. They describe it as a kind of "jet stream" - a fast-flowing river of liquid iron that is surging westwards under Alaska and Siberia. The moving mass of metal has been inferred from measurements made by Europe's Swarm satellites. This trio of spacecraft are currently mapping Earth's magnetic field to try to understand its fundamental workings.
The scientists say the jet is the best explanation for the patches of concentrated field strength that the satellites observe in the northern hemisphere. "This jet of liquid iron is moving at about fifty kilometres per year," explained Dr Chris Finlay from the National Space Institute at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space). "That might not sound like a lot to you on Earth's surface, but you have to remember this a very dense liquid metal and it takes a huge amount of energy to move this thing around and that's probably the fastest motion we have anywhere within the solid Earth," he told BBC News.
An accelerating high-latitude jet in Earth's core (DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2859) (DX)
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Friday December 23 2016, @02:39PM
> 50km/year jet stream.
Is it an F35 kind of jet?
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @03:45PM
It can't be, it doesn't require billions of taxpayers money to run.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @06:46PM
And it can't possibly live up to the promised hype of "excellent-at-every-possible-role, one-size-fits-all" like the F35: Think of the F35 as the F111 of today, only on cost-overrun steroids.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Friday December 23 2016, @03:51PM
This is all well and good, but can we restart it if The Core [imdb.com] stops spinning?
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday December 23 2016, @04:42PM
I know a lot of people write them off as a mere tribute act, but I think Iron Jet Stream raised themselves out of that category when they started performing their affectionate tributes whilst wearing the skins of original Iron Maiden musicians. As I understand it Steve Harris is the only remaining unpeeled Iron Maiden member, and now lives and records primarily from a heavily fortified concrete bunker in a secret location.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @04:59PM
The mongol horde are gonna fuck up Europe again.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday December 23 2016, @08:46PM
The iron core of the Earth used to be solid. Now it's melting and flowing around? Climate change is real, folks.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday December 24 2016, @07:59AM
Solids flow. Most of geology, like the formation of mountains or tectonic shift, is caused by flowing solid rock. Same for glaciers, which is solid flowing ice. A slightly different example, Silly Putty is solid, you can bounce it off the ground, but leave it on a table for a day and it'll flow into a puddle.
Most of the core and mantle are solid due to the high pressure. When the mantle rises, it liquefies from the sudden decrease in pressure, resulting in liquid magma, which forms volcanoes and emerges as lava.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 24 2016, @02:31PM
When the mantle rises, it liquefies from the sudden decrease in pressure, resulting in liquid magma, which forms volcanoes and emerges as lava.
Wait, what do meteors [xkcd.com] have to do with this?
...
Joking aside, you gave much better examples than the usual "glass is a liquid" (false) trope... Thanks for that :D
(Score: 1) by segwonk on Wednesday December 28 2016, @06:53AM
"Solids flow...."
I was pleased (and relieved) to see you didn't list glass as an example of a flowing solid.
.......go til ya know.