happy birthday, inge lehmann–she discovered the inner core but never saw the movie the core

is an homage (honor, tribute) to inge lehmann a danish seismologist born on this day in 1887.

inge lehmann google doodle
may 13, 2015–the inge lehmann google doodle highlighting her discovery: the earth’s solid inner core

lehmann is most remembered for her deduction in 1936 that the earth has a solid inner core inside of a liquid outer core. previously the core was believed to be one completely molten (hot liquid) entity.

Inge_Lehmann_1932
inge lehmann 1888-1993

lehmann lived to be 104, but unfortunately she died about 10 years before the release of the movie the core, an action movie about the global disaster that is provoked when the earth’s core stops rotating.

in this scene from the movie, scientists are explaining to the government and the military that the imminent (coming) danger we are facing as a result of the core stopping is the collapse of the earth’s electromagnetic field.

my favorite moment is at :40.  stanley tucci explains…

microwave radiation will literally cook our planet

literally means really. the description is apparently not clear enough for the panel to understand. to make it even simpler, aaron eckhart, the most noble and probably sexiest of the scientists, employs a visual effect.

vocabulario en inglés--aaron eckhart lighting a peach on fire in the core
peach on fire: feel free to throw up

he sets a peach on fire with a lighter and an aerosol can and explains that the peach is the earth without its electromagnetic field. he puts the charred (blackened, burned surface) peach in a pitcher of water and comments

feel free to throw up. i know i did

feel free means do it if u like. it’s applied sarcastically in this example. throw up is a phrasal verb that means vomit. the metaphor of the torched peach might make the people in the meeting feel sick.

jumpstart
jumpstarting a car in the winter

at 1:30, eckhart continues

the core is the size of mars, you’re talking about jump starting a planet

jump start is the technique used to start a car when the battery is dead. it involves using cables to connect to the battery of another car. it can also mean to give a boost of energy, similar to kickstart.

did u know that inge lehmann discovered the earth’s inner core before today’s google doodle?  have u seen the movie the core?  what did u think of it?  share your observations under leave a reply


 

 

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