On Cultureteca this week, a new study which hopes to establish the date of the formation of Earth’s inner core; the aurora borealis briefly visible across Britain owing to a coronal hole; Matjaž Tančič’s photo series on professional bodyguards in China; Paramount Pictures uploads to YouTube ‘The Paramount Vault’; and the death of The Stooges saxophonist Steve Mackay.
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Dating Earth’s Inner Core
According to a new study carried out by scientists from the University of Liverpool, published in Nature and reported at the beginning of the week, Earth’s inner core formed somewhere between 1 billion and 1.5 billion years ago, freezing from the surrounding molten outer core.
The solid ball which makes up Earth’s inner core has a radius of around 1,220 kilometres – about the size of Pluto, roughly 70% of the size of the Moon. Scientists believe that it consists of an iron and nickel alloy, approximately the same temperature as the surface of the Sun. This inner core was discovered in 1936 by Inge Lehmann, a Danish geophysicist who had been studying seismographs of earthquakes in New Zealand.
While the inner core’s solidity was confirmed in 1971, there has remained significant debate regarding the date of its formation. Many previous estimates have placed this at 500 million years ago, while some have posited a longer period of 2 billion years.
The researchers from Liverpool’s School of Environmental Sciences arrived at their conclusion after analysing magnetic records from ancient igneous rocks. They found a sharp increase in the strength of Earth’s magnetic field between 1 and 1.5 billion years ago. Earth is 4.54 billion years old, originally molten, cooling over time to allow a solid crust, liquid water and an atmosphere, and life.
Earth’s magnetic field allows us to use compasses for navigation, and it also protects Earth from the charged particles of the solar wind and cosmic rays which would otherwise strip away the ozone layer, exposing Earth to harmful ultraviolet radiation. The magnetosphere, extending tens of thousands of kilometres into space, is the region in which charged particles are controlled by the magnetic field.
The magnetic field is generated by the swirling motion of magnetic iron in Earth’s liquid outer core. A process of convection sees the outer core lose heat to the overlying mantle, which separates the outer core from Earth’s crust. When the inner core began to freeze, the rate of convective heat loss sharply increased.
The lead author of the report, Dr Andy Biggin, explained:
‘The results suggest that the Earth’s core is cooling down less quickly than previously thought which has implications for the whole of Earth Sciences. It also suggests an average growth rate of the solid inner core of approximately 1mm per year which affects our understanding of the Earth’s magnetic field.
The theoretical model which best fits our data indicates that the core is losing heat more slowly than at any point in the last 4.5 billion years and that this flow of energy should keep the Earth’s magnetic field going for another billion years or more.
This contrasts sharply with Mars which had a strong magnetic field early in its history which then appears to have died after half a billion years.’
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Aurora Borealis Over Britain
The night sky above the United Kingdom has not been short of grand spectacles recently: the past few months have seen the Perseids, the annual meteor shower; and a rare supermoon lunar eclipse. But this week the northern lights – usually the preserve of the Arctic Circle – have journeyed further south, becoming visible in parts of northern England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
An aurora is a phenomenon produced when the magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind. As charged solar particles precipitate into the Earth’s atmosphere, they emit light in a vast array of colours and forms. In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis, or the northern lights.
The improved chances of witnessing the northern lights over the United Kingdom ought to last for a few weeks. The cause owes both to the time of year, and to a coronal hole which has aligned with Earth. Coronal holes discharge especially fast solar winds.
On nights where they are visible, the northern lights will still tend towards the west of the UK. AuroraWatch UK provides alerts, live data, and information on sightings and photography locations. Meanwhile over the last week the BBC, The Guardian, and The Telegraph have collected a series of spectacular photographs and timelapses.
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Matjaž Tančič’s Bodyguards
This week I published ‘Pyongyang Architecture: Eddo Hartmann and Matjaž Tančič’, a piece which looks at the rebuilding of the North Korean capital after 1953 and the end of the Korean War, and at two recent photography projects, Setting the Stage: Pyongyang, North Korea by the Dutch photographer Eddo Hartmann, and 3DPRK by the Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tančič. Collaborations with Koryo Studio, these projects were displayed alongside one another in Pyongyang between 24 September and 4 October, the first instance of Western art photographs going on public display in North Korea.
Tančič is based in Beijing, and his previous project, simply entitled Bodyguards, views China’s first professional bodyguard business. He writes:
‘Surprisingly, until Chen, a former soldier, decided to open his Security Academy, nobody in China had tried to professionalize bodyguard training business. But, in a country that every year adds new names to its list of millionaires, the idea was bound to be a success. We get behind the gates of the school to know who this first generation of Chinese professional bodyguards are, and how they are trained, either learning how to fight and protect their employer, or or just taking some classes to learn how to keep their bosses’ agenda well-organised.’
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The Paramount Vault
Paramount Pictures recently opened a new YouTube account, offering a host of films to view for free. At ‘The Paramount Vault’, and unlisted as a channel on ‘Paramount Movies’ or ‘Paramount Pictures’, the extent of the full-length films can be a little difficult to find beyond all the uploaded trailers. It is easiest to search the collected playlists, which show comedies old and new, from Paris When It Sizzles (1964) with Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, to Margot at the Wedding (2007) starring Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh; Elvis’s musical drama King Creole (1958), where Walter Matthau plays the nightclub-owning villain; science fiction in the shape of Dark City (1998); and horror in the form of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), with Dennis Hopper as the lead.
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Steve Mackay, Saxophonist, Dies at Sixty-Six
On Saturday Steve Mackay, the saxophonist best-known for his work on The Stooges’ second album Fun House, died at the age of 66 from sepsis. Born in Grand Rapids, Mackay attended the art school of the University of Michigan before founding Carnal Kitchen, an experimental rock project based in Detroit. There he came to the attention of Iggy Pop, who invited Mackay to Los Angeles for the Fun House recording sessions. Mackay played on two of the album’s tracks, ‘1970’ and ‘Fun House’.
Mackay briefly toured with The Stooges in 1970, and over the course of the next couple of decades worked with a diverse group of underground and alternative musicians, including lasting collaborators Violent Femmes. But one mainstream perspective was that he had died sometime in the 1970s; an understanding which only shifted when, around 2000, he embarked on a solo career. In 2003, he rejoined The Stooges when they played their first show in almost thirty years at Coachella. He continued to tour and record with the reunited band until his death.
‘Steve was a classic ’60s American guy, full of generosity and love for anyone he met. Every time he put his sax to his lips and honked, he lightened my road and brightened the whole world. He was a credit to his group and his generation. To know him was to love him.’
