According to the scientists Super-Earths could have oceans of liquid metal and life- protecting magnetic shields.

Super-Earths are planets beyond the solar system that are bigger than Earth but smaller than gas giants like Neptune.The research has implications for understanding conditions on super-Earths, including whether they might be favourable for supporting life.

“It is often thought that a planetary magnetic field protects life on a planet’s surface from harmful space radiation, like cosmic rays. What we find is that magnetic fields may exist on more super-Earth planets than expected, resulting from the transformation of the planet’s rocks to metals in the deep interior. This could create new environments for life in the universe,” geophysicist Stewart McWilliams, with the Carnegie Institution and Howard University in Washington DC, wrote in an email to Discovery News.