"The latest findings could have implications for our understanding of processes that relate to Earth's core. These include volcanism, earthquakes and Earth's magnetic field, the authors said." BY ORLANDO JENKINSON via Newsweek Image Caption/Credit: Stock image shows artist's 3D render of a cross section of the Earth. The inner core of the planet reaches temperatures as hot as the surface of the sun and drives key phenomena like the magnetic field and earthquakes. ROST-9D/GETTY IMAGES Earth's inner core is likely a weird composition of superheated elements making it both liquid and solid at the same time, a study has suggested. The extreme temperatures and pressures found at the center of the Earth were once thought to cumulate in a solid inner core made mostly of iron. This core gives the planet its magnetic field that shields us from solar radiation. However, research published by scientists with the Institute of Geochemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGCAS) in the journal