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Scientists say that the planet Mercury has been actively shrinking over the billions of years that it\u2019s orbited the Sun, a process that\u2019s leaving cracked-up wrinkles behind like an old apple<\/a>.<\/p>\n At just one-third the size of Earth, it\u2019s already the smallest planet in our solar system \u2014 it\u2019s larger than Pluto, but Pluto is no longer classified as a planet \u2014 in a title it\u2019s bound to hold on to as its continues to diminish in physical size.<\/p>\n Now, as detailed in a new paper<\/a> by a team of scientists from the German Aerospace Center\u2019s (DLR) Institute of Space Research, the oddball planet\u2019s shrivelling could be occurring at an even faster-than-expected rate, losing up to 14.5 miles of total diameter since it formed billions of years ago. That\u2019s anywhere from ten to 30 percent more than previously thought.<\/p>\n The scientists suggest that debris from impact craters may have hidden this accelerated shrinking, a process largely thought to be the result of Mercury running out of heat \u2014 \u201clike a balloon left out in the cold,\u201d per an accompanying press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n The findings could help scientists get a better sense of what\u2019s going on inside the planet and how it evolved over time.<\/p>\n \u201cMore shrinking means Mercury could have a larger metal core, less light elements like silicon mixed into the metal core, or a higher starting temperature,\u201d DLR planetary scientist Gaku Nishiyama explained in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery planet is an odd little duck that has a story to tell,\u201d Brown University planetary geoscientist Sam Birch, who was not involved in the study, told the New York Times<\/a>. \u201cIf you can understand how fast Mercury is shrinking, you can understand how fast it\u2019s cooling, what size it started at and what it\u2019s made out of.\u201d<\/p>\n