ICTP scientists have used advanced Artificial Intelligence to uncover surprising details about the Earth’s inner core
ICTP scientists Zhi Li and Sandro Scandolo have applied AI methods to study the microscopic structure of the Earth’s inner core, investigating the role played by silicon—one of the main light elements in the core’s iron alloy. Their results show that silicon profoundly affects the way atoms arrange under extreme pressure and temperature conditions. According to their study, silicon stabilizes the alloy into a cubic, rather than hexagonal structure, a finding that could explain why seismic waves travel only very slowly through the inner core.
