The news here, specifically, is that:

> Enter Quaise, which “is developing technology to blast rock with microwaves to potentially drill the deepest holes on Earth.

ie. there's a new, untried at extremes, bore drilling technique.

The calculation of heat production from earths core isn't new here, and nor, sadly, is any demonstration of a bore hole at a 10 mile depth.

They do acknowledge the deepest convential borehole so far was 7.6 mile (at some considerable effort at no small expense).

Ok I just read a bit more and apparently there are some fringe geophysicists who think it really is more like a reactor. I didn't know that.

There were actual "natural" fission reactors in the crust in central Africa some time ago[1] .. the broader region provided the bulk of the ore for the Cold War production of weapons grade ore.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklo_Mine

Nature used up the best ore billions of years ago. We did get radiation-resistant microbes in exchange.

Mostly.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reac...