There’s all sorts of intriguing stuff hidden beneath the Earth’s surface, from massive oceans to water leaking directly into the planet’s core – the latest discovery, though, might be the most interesting of all.

New research has pointed to fascinating findings close to the Earth’s core which experts are claiming to be remains from an ancient planet.

The planet, named Theia, could have collided with our planet billions of years ago and evidence of this event is supposedly found within two blobs far beneath the surface.

These blobs have fascinated the scientific community since they were first discovered back in the 1980s. These structures are the size of entire continents and around twice the size of the moon.

They’re located beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean, and due to the high iron content of these structures, seismic waves pass through them at a slower rate – leading to them being labelled “large low-velocity provinces” (LLVPs).

A study into these LLVPs was published at the end of 2023 in the journal Nature and featured new findings from Caltech researchers.

Most significantly, the study argues that these structures, which have divided opinion for decades, are actually the remains of Theia, which collided with Earth billions of years ago.

This collision caused the creation of the moon, and the new study argues that the planet was absorbed into the Earth and formed the LLVPs.

“Seismic images of Earth’s interior have revealed two continent-sized anomalies with low seismic velocities, known as the large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs), in the lowermost mantle,” researchers wrote.

“The LLVPs are often interpreted as intrinsically dense heterogeneities that are compositionally distinct from the surrounding mantle.”

They added: “Here we show that LLVPs may represent buried relics of Theia mantle material (TMM) that was preserved in proto-Earth’s mantle after the Moon-forming giant impact.

“Our canonical giant-impact simulations show that a fraction of Theia’s mantle could have been delivered to proto-Earth’s solid lower mantle.”

A supersonic plane that can carry 300 passengers in ultra-lux flights promises to bring science fiction to life.

The spaceship-like aircraft could fly from London to New York at incredible speed in less than five hours – with “no wings”.

Designer Oscar Viñals from Barcelona, Spain, told The Sun that Sky OV Evo will include ultra luxurious amenities, including bedrooms, suites, bathrooms, and even an in-flight chef.

He said: “There will be private rooms for two travellers with a bedroom, living room and an en suite shower room.

“In the living room, you’ll find a leather double seat sofa complete with dining tables, a 32-inch flat screen TV, noise-cancelling headsets, a comfortable double bed, a full-height shower, vanity unit, bathrobes and an in-flight chef at your service.”

Other passengers will have individual spacious cabins complete with window blinds and a sliding door.

The aircraft would be able to reach a top speed of Mach 1.5 – around 1,150mph – thanks to its special engines.

He added that this plane’s fuselage is more stylised than its predecessor – the Sky OV.

The aircraft’s body is blended in with its wings, giving a look and feel of a spaceship straight out of Star Wars.

The sleek design aims to reduce drag and fuel consumption, enabling its mix of silent engines to reach super speeds at no extra cost to the environment.

Oscar said: “My other models were thought and designed for different purposes.

“This one in particular is the evolution of its predecessor the Sky OV.
“It was quite challenging because I specifically designed it to be the as eco-friendly as possible but at the same time have a high performance in all flight points and conditions.”

A design rendering shows how passengers would sit across 12 long rows of up to 33 people each.

Explaining where he got the aerodynamic look from, Oscar said: “The main inspiration were the birds when they fly in ‘gliding flight mode’, reducing their power and energy to the minimum without losing a good performance. “

The plane designer said his brain is constantly firing up new ideas, including a flying saucer-inspired aircraft which he aims to finish soon.

The Sky OV evo is one of Oscar’s latest designs since he came up with a super-jet that would surpass the speed and size of the legendary Concorde.

The first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spaceship was dramatically called off around two hours before launch after a new safety issue was identified, officials said on Monday, pushing back a high-stakes test mission to the International Space Station.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were strapped in their seats preparing for liftoff when the call for a “scrub” came, in order to give engineers time to investigate unusual readings from an oxygen relief valve on the second stage of the rocket.

“Standing down on tonight’s attempt to launch,” tweeted NASA chief Bill Nelson. “As I’ve said before, @NASA’s first priority is safety. We go when we’re ready.”

The next possible launch date comes on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t immediately clear how big the problem was and if it could be resolved with the rocket still on the launchpad. NASA said it would hold a late night press briefing to provide updates.

The mission has already faced years of delays and comes at a challenging time for Boeing, as a safety crisis engulfs the century-old manufacturer’s commercial aviation division.

NASA is banking on a successful test for Starliner so it can certify a second commercial vehicle to carry crews to the ISS.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX achieved the feat with its Dragon capsule in 2020, ending a nearly decade-long dependence on Russian rockets following the end of the Space Shuttle program.

Clad in Boeing’s bright blue spacesuits, the astronauts were helped out of the spaceship then boarded a van to leave the launch tower at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, returning to their quarters.

Wilmore and Williams, both Navy-trained pilots and space program veterans, have each been to the ISS twice, traveling once on a shuttle and then aboard a Russian Soyuz vessel.

Hiccups expected

When it launches, Starliner will be propelled into orbit by an Atlas V rocket made by United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture. The crew will then take the helm, piloting the craft manually to test its capabilities.

The gumdrop-shaped capsule with a cabin about as roomy as an SUV is then set to rendezvous with the ISS for a weeklong stay.

Williams and Wilmore will conduct a series of tests to verify Starliner’s functionality before returning to Earth for a parachute-assisted landing in the western United States.

A successful mission would help dispel the bitter taste left by numerous setbacks in the Starliner program.

In 2019, during a first uncrewed test flight, software defects meant the capsule was not placed on the right trajectory and returned without reaching the ISS. “Ground intervention prevented loss of vehicle,” said NASA in the aftermath, chiding Boeing for inadequate safety checks.

Then in 2021, with the rocket on the launchpad for a new flight, blocked valves forced another postponement.

The vessel finally reached the ISS in May 2022 in a non-crewed launch. But other problems that came to light – including weak parachutes and flammable tape in the cabin that needed to be removed – caused further delays to the crewed test flight, necessary for the capsule to be certified for NASA use on regular ISS missions.

Exclusive club

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule joined that exclusive club four years ago, following the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.

In 2014, the agency awarded fixed-price contracts of $4.2 billion to Boeing and $2.6 billion to SpaceX to develop the capsules under its Commercial Crew Program.

This marked a shift in NASA’s approach from owning space flight hardware to instead paying private partners for their services as the primary customer.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took a swipe at Boeing, gloating that his company “finished 4 years sooner” despite receiving a smaller contract. He attributed Boeing’s delay to “too many non-technical managers” in a post on X.

Once Starliner is fully operational, NASA hopes to alternate between SpaceX and Boeing vessels to taxi humans to the ISS.

Even though the orbital lab is due to be mothballed in 2030, both Starliner and Dragon could be used for future private space stations that several companies are developing.