What do you think is inside the earth? Is it hollow? Is it filled with marshmallows? Is it a hideout for ancient aliens?
A study published last month in the journal Nature found that two “blobs of unusual material” near the center of the planet could be remnants of an ancient planet that collided with Earth billions of years ago. That would be around the same time of the impact that created the moon.
Dr. Paul Asimow, a professor of geology and geochemistry at Cal Tech University, joined “Something Offbeat” this week to discuss the findings and disprove the “Hollow Earth” theory. He is one of the lead authors of a study that addresses the blobs.
“We love the word blob. It’s very descriptive,” Asimow told the podcast. “Right. It doesn’t have any particular technical definition. But when you have a system that is acting like a fluid, it’s deforming all the time and it has another fluid embedded within it. The blobs in a lava lamp are a really nice model for starting to understand what you’re seeing.”
These “blobs,” are technically “low-velocity provinces,” and they were discovered in the 1980s. Although we’ve known about them for some time, geophysicists didn’t know what they were. However, for a long time they have hypothesized they were remnants of an ancient, smaller planet called Theia.
Each week, “Something Offbeat” takes a deeper look at an unusual headline. If you have suggestions for stories the podcast should cover, send them to us at somethingoffbeat@audacy.com.
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