India, Feb. 11 -- The Earth's inner core is not as stable as once believed. A recent study has suggested it is undergoing structural changes, possibly affecting its rotation and even subtly altering the length of a day.

Interactions between the inner and outer core of the planet are the probable cause for the changes, said the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. These findings challenge previous assumptions that changes in the inner core occur only over geological timescales.

Visualising Earth's internal structure helps understand the importance of the discovery. Beneath the crust where life thrives, the planet has layers: First, the mantle, then the molten, iron-rich outer core, and at the centre, the solid inner core. Wh...