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CrustalTrudger t1_j5oyp4q wrote

Reply to comment by dukesdj in What are the forces on Earth’s Inner Core that change its speed? by BayRunner

I assume this question originated from buzz (and general misunderstanding) around the newly published Yang & Song, 2023 paper. Many are misinterpreting the suggestion made in this paper that there is a slowing or reversal of differential rotation of the inner core to mean instead mean a slowing or reversal of absolute rotation of the inner core. The competition between the EM and gravitational torques are front and center in this paper, so it's an important clarification to make.

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dukesdj t1_j5pdaql wrote

Given the arrival of another very similar question in this subreddit I suspect you are correct that this paper (or more likely the press release I assume it got) has caused some confusion. I can imagine that this particular sentence "This globally consistent pattern suggests that inner-core rotation has recently paused." which is in the abstract has been misunderstood by a nonzero number of people!

edit to add... when I initially answered the question there was no context text showing just a title. Not sure if the context was added later or this is a weird bug of reddit.

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CrustalTrudger t1_j5pgxnu wrote

Yeah, as the question that spawned this thread was more general, it seemed worth while to pick up and answer a question more specifically focused on the fundamental misunderstandings this recently published paper seems to be propagating.

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dukesdj t1_j5pj9uy wrote

I have added an edit to this answer linking to your answer in that second one. I do not really follow science news so was unaware of this fiasco! I have since seen tweets of distant colleagues trying to set the record straight as well as one world leading (astro) researcher suggesting that Superman might have been involved...

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CrustalTrudger t1_j5pq9j0 wrote

Yes, references to Superman and/or the potential necessity for us to make some Unobtanium and send Aaron Eckhart, Hillary Swank, and Stanley Tucci et al., into the bowels of the Earth with a bunch of nukes abound today.

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