Earth’s Inner Core , May Be Reversing Its Rotation, Study Suggests.<br />According to a study published <br />Jan. 23 in 'Nature Geoscience,' .<br />our planet's inner core may be reversing <br />after it temporarily stopped rotating.<br />Researchers think it could be part of a 70-year cycle, <br />with the inner core changing direction every 35 years, <br />that may affect Earth's magnetic field and the length of days.<br />After examining data, researchers <br />think the inner core may have made <br />another rotation reversal in the 1970s.<br />We see strong evidence that the inner core has been rotating faster than the surface, [but] by around 2009 it nearly stopped. Now it is gradually mov[ing] in the opposite direction, Xiaodong Song, geophysicist, Peking University in Beijing, <br />via 'Science News'.<br />However, 'Science News' reports that other researchers think the inner core may change its rotation every three years.<br />Others propose that the inner core <br />doesn't move at all.<br />Overall, researchers say more studies <br />are needed to figure out what's <br />going on with Earth's inner core.<br />In all likelihood, it’s irrelevant to life on the surface, but we don’t actually know what’s happening. It’s incumbent <br />on us to figure it out, John Vidale, geophysicist, the University of <br />Southern California in Los Angeles, via 'Science News'
