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Earth’s inner core may be reversing its rotation

Such a turnaround might sound bizarre, but isn’t likely to have profound effects on life

A rendering of the Earth with a quarter section removed to show the inner workings of the core.

Scientists have proposed that Earth’s solid inner core (yellow in this diagram) rotates faster than the rest of Earth. A new study suggests the core’s rotation has recently paused, and is reversing direction.

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By Nikk Ogasa

Our planet may have had a recent change of heart.

Earth’s inner core may have temporarily stopped rotating relative to the mantle and surface, researchers report in the January 23 Nature Geoscience.