The giant structures that sit where Earth’s core meets the mantle and slow seismic waves as they pass through could be key to the planet hosting life, at least in the abundance we see. If the newly presented idea is right, it would provide yet another way in which the world we take for granted is the product of events that were far from inevitable, and might be rare in the universe. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Earthquakes create seismic waves that travel through the planet, bending, slowing, or reflecting as they encounter different compositions or phases of matter. It’s how we know there is a solid inner and liquid outer core. Expanding seismic waves data from different locations has alerted geologists to two con

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