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Published online 27 July 2005 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news050725-7
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Ghostly particles unearth core radioactivity
Antineutrinos created inside our planet reveal how it stays warm.
An international team of researchers has used particles called antineutrinos that are produced in the bowels of the Earth to estimate how much of the core's heat comes from natural radioactivity.
This is the first time these elusive particles have been used to study geology.
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