THE SCIENCE BEHIND HOLLYWOOD'S NEXT INTRAPLANETARY ADVENTURE
The burning question among geophysicists and filmmakers these days is, What�s at the center of Earth? The topic made a recent cover of Discover and sparked plans for three movies, the first of which hits theaters November 1. The Core, Paramount�s science fiction adventure, tracks terranauts who plan to drill to the planet�s center and detonate an atomic bomb. The nukes, they hope, will reheat Earth�s cooling core to maintain its rotation and prevent catastrophic climate change. This idea is actually not too far-fetched — a temperature change happens roughly every 200,000 years, and some would argue we�re overdue. To get the science just right the filmmakers �brainstormed with geologists, geomagnetists, engineers, and designers,� says director Jon Amiel. Here�s how close to reality Hollywood got.
Core Consistency
Truth is, we have no idea what�s actually at Earth�s center — we�ve only penetrated about 7.5 miles of the planet�s 3,982-mile depth. What we do know comes from reading seismic waves that act as a kind of sonar. Old wisdom suggests, as does the film, that the core is a ball of crystalline iron and nickel. New theory: It�s a uranium-filled nuclear reactor.
Giant Geodes The movie�s terranauts crash into gigantic geodes some 10 miles in diameter floating in a molten environment. Geodes do exist, though the largest ones found so far are less than 1 mile around.
Ultra-Durable Material
All sci-fi stories rely on a couple of gimmes. Here, it�s the notion that we possess a material strong enough to withstand the pressure and the 9,000�F heat at Earth�s center. The filmmaker�s mythical substance is called unobtanium, but similar matter is out there. The Buckyball, or C60, carbon molecule has astounding durability and strength.
Ship Mechanics
A cross between a rocket, a sub, and an earthworm, the craft seems oh-so-Tinseltown. Yet it�s outfitted with high-frequency pulse lasers and resonance ultrasonics that mimic those in the real world. The lasers melt the rock and the ultrasonics pulverize it into fine, white-hot sand. Huge propellers draw the sand in and blow it out, giving the ship propulsion and steering.
PLAY
Boys Will Be Girls
Gettin� Jiggly Wit It
Arcade Aerobics
Schooled in Design
Machinimania!
Drilling Into The Core
Built for Sound
Hit Machine
As Heard on TV
DAVID "BROON" BROWN Swayzak
Earth Angels
A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry
reviews
Fetish
Rough Riders
Light and Loaded
Sharper Imagery
Easy on the Eyes
