Earth’s core has stopped spinning

It’s nothing new, happened in the late 1960’s. From time to time the core stops rotating next then reverses direction. That is what is happening now. I don’t know what significance this has for locating.
I checked, and all news and science magazine sites are carrying this story. A couple of scientists in China have "discovered" this, and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. What mechanism can stop and reverse an iron ball 70% the size of our moon? If all forces exerted on the core are spinning in one direction, how can it stop and then oppose them? I am highly skeptical. In fact, I don't believe it. My mind can be changed if they can explain it, not just state it as true.
 

The earth's liquid outer core isolates the core from the rest of the planet. This decoupling allows the core to rotate separately and at differing speeds from the earth's main rotation. This is called super-rotation. This has been known, studied, and documented for a very long time and in and of itself is not news at all.

Generally, the core rotates at a slightly faster rate than the rest of the planet and in the same direction. However, this rotation rate changes over time and can virtually stop as part of the cycle. I assume this rate of change is cyclically predicable but its not a subject I know much about.

So this is in the news currently because the rotation rate has measurably changed. This is known to have occurred in the past. Just a natural cycle.

These directional and momentum measurements are obtained by studying seismic waves, generally caused by earthquakes.

That's about the depth of my knowledge on this, it's not a subject I've studied.
 

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After digging deeper, I find this study has been reported incorrectly, and words have been taken out of context. As I said, you can't STOP a rotating iron ball the mass of the moon and then REVERSE it. As Emil mentions above, when the core is spinning slightly faster than the rest of the Earth, that is called super-rotation. The core is encased in a molten outer core, theorized to be nearly frictionless. It apparently slows and speeds up, pushed and pulled by magnetic forces. Slower than Earth's speed is called sub-rotation. The study said they believed the core had stopped super-rotating. Some bozo dropped the super, and added, on their own, the reversal. Nothing was or is said about reversal by anyone educated the Earth's dynamics. The Earth's MAGNETIC field reverses on a regular basis, not the rotation of the core.

Bad news given temporary credibility.
 

It’s nothing new, happened in the late 1960’s. From time to time the core stops rotating next then reverses direction. That is what is happening now. I don’t know what significance this has for locating.
That sounds like a much better explanation—the core is slowing down slightly so it spins slower than the rest of the earth. The earth’s magnetic field has been decreasing.
 

And I thought the earth was flat. Lol. I still don't get the 2d moon. Unlike all of the other spheres in the matrix, it spins and we only see one side. 🤔
 

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