Which of the following is the most accurate description of Planet Earth?

[Junkdrawer]

1.) A large rock with a molten core, having a large portion of its surface covered with deep oceans.

2.) A huge mass of intensely hot molten material, largely iron, with a surface crust proportionally far thinner than an apple peal to an apple. And water? Less than 2 hundreds of a percent - with the bulk of that dissolved in the crust.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Both?

Kinda depends on whether you're looking at the place as real estate or as a source for raw materials.

[Junkdrawer]

5. Or as a source for energy.

And energy is one of the most political issues out there - especially as we enter the period of Climate Change Consequences.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Good to see we're not mentioned in either option

We're both latecomers and poor caretakers.

[Junkdrawer]

6. Kurt Vonnegut's reluctant conclusion at the end of his life....

Belief in human progress is getting harder and harder to maintain - for me a daily struggle.

[zipplewrath]

3. Neither?

No mention of the atmosphere at all.

Quite honestly, context is everything. To whom are you describing the Earth? You seem focused on weight, volume and thickness. Roughly half the dynamics occur in this thin surface with water and atmosphere.

[Junkdrawer]

4. I think if we saw ourselves more accurately, there would be far more interest in Geothermal Energy.

Edwin Black's "Internal Combustion" claims that new geothermal energy sites are often vigourously opposed by those with vested interests in fossil fuels.

[HopeHoops]

7. "DANGER ZONE! DO NOT APPROACH UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!"

[Junkdrawer]

8. Headline reader I see....

At first I said "whaaa"...

[HopeHoops]

9. I wouldn't want an alien species to be infected by our planet. That's just so wrong.

[Junkdrawer]

10. So you think greed and fear is built into our DNA?

More than any other Genesis (as David McKay might say)...

[HopeHoops]

12. Hard to tell, but as a species we have been able to royally fuck up the planet.

[surrealAmerican]

11. Both are poor descriptions.

You should avoid the vague adjectives. How deep is "deep"? How hot is "intensely hot"?

Apples vary greatly in their peal-to-size ratio.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. 1 is more accurate

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earthint.htmbout

The molten outer core is only about 30% of the Earth by mass. The mantle, on the other hand, is about 2/3rds of it, by mass. Iron is the most common element by mass, but only just - 32% iron, 30% oxygen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth

[FSogol]

14. Mostly Harmless

- Douglas Adams.