Can we get to the core

Is it at all possible with the current technologies of today to make a machine to drill to the center of the earth?

With current technology,no. But when i had physics,i remember the prof saying that "theoretically" the way they got to the center in the movie" the core" is possible. But who know what tech we have that isnt released yet.

Originally posted by ragster
Is it at all possible with the current technologies of today to make a machine to drill to the center of the earth?

No. Man, infact, has not even drilled all the way through the Crust.

www.seismo.unr.edu... (showing depths of respective layers)


We can, however, study the core, mainly through seismic waves and our understanding of science
www.seismo.unr.edu...

yes, in theory, we already have a machine that can do it. it was developed a couple of years ago, and it's called a shovel. practically, it wont work though but, you get what i'm saying

Originally posted by spanishcaravan
With current technology,no. But when i had physics,i remember the prof saying that "theoretically" the way they got to the center in the movie" the core" is possible. But who know what tech we have that isnt released yet.

Then your prof should have been fired for incompetence.

In that movie a non-existent material was used to make the craft that could survive the pressures and temperatures. No such material exist. It was make-believe.

I have often thought about this. "The Core" was a fun movie, but they didn't put much thought into the craft, IMO.

What about an exterior shell which produces extremely low temps like minus 300 degrees or something? I guess the first step would be to build a lava-submarine so as to test it up here on the surface. But if they had lasers to drill and if the ship could survive the temps, I see no reason why it'd be more difficult than say, going to the moon.

excuse my ignorance, but i dont see much of a point of investing large sums of money into exploring the core of the earth, i doubt we will find much beyond molten rock and solid core materials, as well as intense temperatures

Not even close tech wise.

The pressure and heat is so intense you would need to make things out of something akin to diamond perhaps stronger. Like movies in "The core" mentioned already you would need a craft with a hull out of pure diamond to even work in theory. Your talking pressure that would pop those super deep submersibles like a bubble.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
Not even close tech wise.

The pressure and heat is so intense you would need to make things out of something akin to diamond perhaps stronger. Like movies in "The core" mentioned already you would need a craft with a hull out of pure diamond to even work in theory. Your talking pressure that would pop those super deep submersibles like a bubble.

I agree Shadow. Pressure would be ridiculously high at even shallow depths. Maybe not diamond, but perhaps there's a way to use electrical currents to stengthen a hull? Like a plastic that becomes even harder when electrons are pumped through it? ...I guess it would fall under the "impossible" heading.

Anyway, figured this link might provoke a few responses.

Gold at Earth's Core

Core gold I heard about that before but when I heard about it they estimated it would be enough to cover the entire US under 3 feet of solid gold. I guess current estimates are higher from your link it could "cover the entire land surface of the planet to a depth of half a metre"

I imagine we will be asteroid mining long before we are able to tap that gold if at all possible. Theres single M-type asteroids in the asteroid belt that have estimations as high as 200 trillion for their metal content Gold, iron, Nickel and such.