How To jaunt to the Center of the EarthWe make out shockingly little about what ’s going on beneath our feet . Sure , geologist and seismologist have burrowed down some — but if the Earth is a cocktail party , their work is the equivalent weight of unquiet , pre - martini small talk . There are some reasonably serious interrogation leave unanswered . For example , what ’s the middle of the Earth made of — there ’s manifestly some muddiness over whether it ’s a atomic number 92 nuclear furnace or a easy cool down ball of iron and nickel . Like you , we wanted answers . And , in 2003 , CalTech wandering scientist David J. Stevenson proposed a way for us to get them . Published in the journalNature , " A Modest Proposal : Mission to Earth ’s Core" laid out a stair - by - step architectural plan for inter - Earth change of location — it was splendid , theoretically potential , and only concisely mistaken for an April Fool ’s caper .
INGREDIENTS$10 billion1 thermonuclear twist , small1 probe , heavy dutyMolten iron to try ( 100,000 - to - several million tons)Gravity
DIRECTIONS1 ) Get $ 10 billion . Surprisingly , this is not the difficult part.2 ) Find a nation willing to take one for the team , by let you nail a 984 - foot cryptic fix in their country . This is where the nuclear bomb comes in handy.3 ) swarm in enough molten Fe to fill your new crevasse . Hopefully , gravity will now sound off in , pulling the heavy metal toward the center of the terra firma at a rate of about 16.5 foot per second . At that swiftness , your iron river should turn over the earth ’s magnetic core in a week . And naysayers , never fear . According to Dr. Stevenson ’s computation , high pressure below land will reseal the solid ground after the branding iron passes by — prevent any awkward uncloseable chasms to hell.4 ) Before the stream gets moving too fast , sky in a probe . For maximum effectiveness , say investigation should be able to hold up temperatures up to 4000 degrees Fahrenheit and pressure 1000 times greater than the bottom of the cryptical ocean long enough that it can reach the center of the Earth and channel some data back to you . give those manufacturing criterion , this may be a time to go union . Remember , you get what you give for . And , just in instance Detroit has lost its edge , let ’s go with an unmanned probe . Better safe than sorry .
