Professor breaks down why Earth's inner core may have stopped

The rotation of Earth's inner core may have paused and it could even go into reverse. Professor of theoretical physics, Michio Kaku, explains the new discovery with "CNN This Morning." #CNN #News

[Morzanith]

I think a lot of our "inner cores" have stopped spinning the last couple years. I feel you Earth, I really do.

[Farlig]

Professor - "We know nothing about the earth's inner core"
Reporter - "Thank you professor, now I understand it much better"

[DukeStallion]

'Don't worry, but we really don't know what's going to happen'. That's what I got out of this.

[bangtannies_]

Professor Kaku is a legend. i come upon him on my first year in college on our philosophy class and i am hooked with how he explain things in a way people can understand.

[Cola_Dulz]

I adore that man. Professor Kaku did amazing job in popularizing science for many years. He looks older than in the 2000s documentaries that I used to watch, but he speaks with the same excitement. Much respect!

[esmenhamaire]

Clarification: Al the paper is actually saying is that at times the inner core appears to rotate a tenth of a degree per day more than the surface of the Earth does, whilst at other times it rotates about a tenth of a degree less per day than the surface of the Earth does. At no point does it stop spinning nor reverse its direction overall.

The "stop and reverse" thing is a gross over-simplification; if you could magically see through the Earths various layers and pick out a feature on the surface of the inner core, then the effect would be that sometimes theat feature would appear to be pulling ahead of you (very slowly!) as the earth spins, whilst at other times, you would be catching up with it or eaving it behind, simply due to a slight difference in rate of spin of the core.

This occurs (the paper says) because the inner core is mainly electromagnetically linked to the outer core (which tends to try to accellerate it VERY slowly) but mainly gravitationally linked to the mantle and crust (ie: everything outside of the outer core), which tends to create a decellerating force on the inner core. I havent yet read the entire paper, but it's likely that variations in the "dynamo" that creates the Earths magnetic field (very slow sloshing around in the outer core due to the action of its magnetic field on itself) are responsible for the changes in rotation speed of the inner core, as the overall gravitational effects of the outer layers absolutely cannot change to any measurable degree.

[GrandMasterJon]

Dr Kaku! I'm glad to see you're doing well professor! You always put a smile on my face when I see you on TV and explain your passion for science

[hamzamalik]

This guy has no idea why it’s happening, but he calms me down 😂

[Nesstor]

There's already a plan to fix this. Theres a cool documentary about how we did it a few years ago. They hire a crew of the most experienced scientists of all fields, some hacker kid, a couple of military dudes and a couple of well informed dudes who happen to be best friends on a mission into the core. They have a cool state of the art drilling rig that can dig through the earths crust and get to the inner core where they will launch nukes and set them off in a clockwise rotation to jump start the motionless core. It works but a few deaths are to happen in the process. Don't worry world, we can fix it again.

[tomspoors]

The paper notes that the core slows down and speeds up. The 'stop and reverse' is is visible as retrograde motion. As the core slows down the outer layers appear to speed up relative to the core and vice versa. The 'stop' is just the point in the cycle when the motion appears to change direction. We see the same thing looking at planets like Mars as the Earth moves more quickly in its orbit. The actual core does not stop nor do the scientists suggest such a thing. It was a surprise that the Professor didn't explain this.

[Borisam]

Professor Kaku is a legend! He explains everything the right way, with a fun storytelling spin!

[TheBioExplorer]

The spinning of the inner core also seems to play a role in producing the electromagnetic field around the Earth. This field helps protect us from the solar wind. Over time the solar wind could strip away our atmosphere. Because Mars' core seems to have stopped spinning a while ago it's electromagnetic field has broken down and is very spotty. Because of this it's atmosphere has been leaking away making it much thinner than it once was and less hospitable to life. Whether ours switches directions doesn't seem to matter as long as it keeps spinning. Likely it will slow and completely stop like Mars one day but it is probably hundreds of millions of years away... we think. But as the professor noted it is something that needs a lot more study.

[luckyasmr]

Mr. Kaku was huge part of my childhood. I loved watching him on TV!

[EnigmaverseElysium]

Always a pleasure to listen to Dr. Kaku.

[ahmadayaz_]

Let me know if I’m wrong but my understanding is that if the core of the Earth starts spinning in reverse, that would also reverse the polarity of the magnetic field around earth wouldn’t it? Because spinning of the core is what generates the magnetic field around Earth, right?

[ReviewBoard-uynv]

This guy is so entertaining. Really like how he explains things.

[OviWanKenoi]

Omg, I love Dr. Kaku!!! He's a big part of why I got into science and engineering and I've worked on a bunch of world changing stuff for the better already, in a few different industries. Doing it now too, directly affecting one of the top global industries, increasing its efficiency in a big way, and it's amazing to be able to. :) Love seeing him on!

[oceanblueheart]

Fun Fact. The Core spins faster than the mantle & the Crust but slower towards its poles which allows the magnetic field continuously envelope the earth.

[salahalkurdi]

A few days later a devastating earthquake happened in Syria and Turkey.

[shevgreen]

Imagine if the inner core stops turning, the elements inside start to seperate which causes a pole shift, then that pole shift starts the core spinning again, and start a new era. Like a clock being wound up