This is Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the founder and magnetic core of the Cause a cluster of folk who believe, among other things, that our souls, which predate the foundation of the Earth, are no more than temporary residents of our frail bodily housing.

NEWYORKER: Sail Away

The research could help test simulations of how the outer, fluid core generates the Earth's magnetic field, which shields our planet and the teeming life on it from harmful cosmic rays.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Earth's core runs ahead of crust

The inner core, made of very pure, solid iron, rotates along with the outer core, dragging the Earth's magnetic field with them.

BBC: Earth's wobbles reveal deep secrets

The planet has no internal magnetic field, which might be due to its core failing to circulate in the way the Earth's does.

ECONOMIST: Planetary science

His core discovery, of how to get spatial information about atoms in a magnetic field, was scribbled on a paper napkin over dinner in a Big Boy restaurant in Pittsburgh, between two bites of a hamburger.

ECONOMIST: Paul Lauterbur | The