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[ManaByte]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/news/story/0,12976,1499099,00.html

Japanese scientists are to explore the centre of the Earth. Using a giant drill ship launched next month, the researchers aim to be the first to punch a hole through the rocky crust that covers our planet and to reach the mantle below.

The team wants to retrieve samples from the mantle, six miles down, to learn more about what triggers undersea earthquakes, such as the one off Sumatra that caused the Boxing Day tsunami. They hope to study the deep rocks and mud for records of past climate change and to see if the deepest regions of Earth could harbour life.

The 57,500-tonne drill ship Chikyu (Japanese for Earth) is being prepared in the southern port of Nagasaki. Two-thirds the length of the Titanic, it is fitted with technology borrowed from the oil industry that will allow it to bore through 7,000 metres of crust below the seabed while floating in 2,500 metres of water - requiring a drill pipe 25 times the height of the Empire State building.

The deepest hole drilled through the seabed so far reached 2,111 metres.

After final sea trials this year, the scientists will set sail for the deep Pacific where the Earth's crust is thinnest. Drilling is expected to begin next year.

It could take more than a year to drive through miles of crust and reach the mantle, so the ship is fitted with six rotating thrusters controlled by GPS satellites to keep it directly over the hole. The drill is surrounded by a sleeve that contains a shock-absorbing chemical mud, and a blowout valve will protect it should the team strike oil or superheated rock in the crust.

 

[demon]

So I don't get it.....is the center of the earth six miles down?

 

[Miguel]

You asshole, I fired up a seperate tab for google image search to find a DVD image of The Core. >:O

"WHOMP WHOOOOMP"

 

[Jewbacca]

OMFG THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD!!! DID YOU EVER WATCH DRAGONBALL Z AND WHEN FRIEZA SHOT A HOLE THREW THE PLANET NAMEK... THE PLACE BECAME UNSTABLE AND BLEW THE FUCK UP!! noOooOooOOOooOooo!!!!

Sounds interesting though... Is this real?

 

[Forgotten_Taco]

So I don't get it.....is the center of the earth six miles down?

Obviously.

 

[MetatronM]

Is it just me or does it seem like a bad idea to drill a hole to the Earth's mantle in one of the most geologically active and volatile regions on the planet?






EDIT: Hmmm...I guess they're going to do it way out in the middle of the ocean. I suppose that's better than being right on the ring of fire itself.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

news update: Earth's Core is made up of used Japanese Schoolgirl Panties

 

[etiolate]

They must be searching for Gamera.