Scientists think they have discovered a previously unknown hidden structure inside the Earth’s core that could change our understanding of our planet. In school, most of us were taught there are four main layers to the Earth’s structure: the crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core. What we know about the Earth’s insides has mostly derived from geologists’ knowledge and observations of volcanoes and seismic waves. But now, scientists believe that there may also be a whole extra layer hidden inside the inner core that no one knew about. Earth’s molten inner core is predicted to be around 5,000 degrees Celsius in temperature and scientists have calculated that it takes up around just 1 per cent of the planet’s total volume. The discovery of a potential fifth layer to the planet’s core came a few years ago when scientists used an algorithm to model thousands of scenarios of the inner core to observe the length of time it takes seismic waves to travel through Earth based on data by the International Seismological Centre. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Scientists were able to analyse how different material properties within the inner core would affect seismic waves differently and found that some scenarios were certainly more likely than others. The algorithm showed how different materials altered the angle of seismic waves, leading them to hypothesise that there was a change of material somewhere in the inner core. Joanne Stephenson, an Australian National University geophysicist, explained: “We found evidence that may indicate a change in the structure of iron, which suggests perhaps two separate cooling events in Earth's history.” She continued: “The details of this big event are still a bit of a mystery, but we've added another piece of the puzzle when it comes to our knowledge of the Earth's inner core.” While their data isn’t conclusive, it does correlate with other similar studies that have looked into the anisotropy of the Earth’s inner core. Stephenson said: “It's very exciting - and might mean we have to re-write the textbooks!” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia was handed an 18-year prison sentence Thursday for seditious conspiracy in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, the toughest penalty given...

Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat pulled out of Morocco’s upcoming international games because of injury, the Premier League club said Friday. Amrabat, who completed a loan move to United from Fiorentina last week, will return to the club’s Carrington training base for rehabilitation work on an unspecified problem. He was due to make his 50th appearance for Morocco, which plays Liberia in an African Cup qualifier on Saturday. The World Cup semifinalists then play Burkina Faso in a friendly on Tuesday.Morocco coach Walid Regragui called up Yahya Jabrane to replace Amrabat for the games. United manager Erik ten Hag will hope his new signing will be ready for the team’s upcoming game against Brighton on Sept. 16. United has had a rough start to the season. The team lost two of its first four league games and Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Raphael Varane are all injured. Also, Rasmus Hojlund missed the start of the campaign because of an existing tissue injury after his move from Atalanta. United has also had to cope with comments made by Jadon Sancho, who said he had been made a “scapegoat for a long time” after he was dropped for the 3-1 loss to Arsenal on Sunday. Ten Hag said Sancho’s performances in training were the reason why he was not selected. United also said it is taking seriously allegations of domestic abuse made against Brazil winger Antony, which saw the player dropped from his country’s games against Bolivia and Peru. Read More Manchester United deny attempting to ‘cover up’ allegations Antony attacked ex-girlfriend Sofyan Amrabat talks up importance of Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag on his career Manchester United refuse to reveal if Antony is available for selection

FC 24 Centurions Box-to-Box Midfielder Evolution program details including how to complete each challenge, full set of rewards and the best players to select and evolve.

It's been almost 22 years since Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker)

Alex Zendejas replaces Malik Tillman on the US men’s national team 23-player roster for the October friendlies after the PSV figure withdrew due to injury.

Novak Djokovic maintained his blistering US Open form to race into the third round with a straight sets defeat of Spain's...

The 1976 book “The Hite Report” was a bestseller from the beginning

The European Union’s chief trade negotiator warned China on Monday during his trip to the nation that the

A major Midwestern carbon dioxide pipeline project has been canceled

Katie Ledecky said Saturday that it would be "neat" to cement her place in swimming immortality at this month's world championships and hinted she may...

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown created a political action committee to "help elect Republicans" but most of its funds were spent paying down debt from his failed previous campaign. The group donated less than 7% of its funds to the candidates it was set up to support, according to campaign finance records -- a move one campaign finance expert likened to using the PAC as a "slush fund."