Earth from the inside out

Author: Tayce Taylor

Link: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20090128/Feature1.asp

Summary:  For scientists, it is harder to look inside the Earth than out in the universe because the Earth is opaque which means that light cannot pass through it.  However, the mystery of how to look inside the Earth without light has been solved.  Some scientists tried to figure this out using neutrinos which are smaller than an atom that go through space.  Scientists that study the Earth are called geoscientists, "geo" meaning Earth.  The Earth goes through a process called radioactive decay, where the Earth can send off geoneutrinos.  A radioactive material loses some of its energy because it sends out particles.  After this process, geoneutrinos pass through the Earth into space.  Geoscientists want to catch some of these particles to find a way to look inside the Earth.  It's going to be a hard job because they are very small, and there aren't many in the universe.  Scientists have made detectors to catch these particles.  These devices are used underground and contain a liquid that produces light.  With this process, scientists are learning more and more about the Earth.

Why I chose this article: I chose this article because I learn more and more about my planet that I live on.  Finding out more interesting facts about it seem interesting to me.  Also, today is Earth Day, and I thought it would be a good subject because of the coincidence.