Armenian archbishop sentenced to two years over alleged coup plot
A prominent Armenian cleric has been sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Nikol Pa...
For years, astronomers have been picking up strange bursts of energy from the cosmos — signals that last just milliseconds yet carry more power than the Sun releases in days. These puzzling flashes, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), have become one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in astronomy.
What exactly are FRBs?
Fast radio bursts are ultra-bright pulses of radio waves that appear suddenly and then vanish. Some flare only once, while others repeat at irregular intervals.
The first FRB was detected in 2007 in archived telescope data from Australia. Since then, thousands more have been observed, but their origins remain elusive.
“It’s like someone is flicking a cosmic light switch on and off,” said Duncan Lorimer, the astrophysicist who first described the phenomenon. “But we don’t know who — or what — is behind it.”
Why are they so baffling?
Each FRB unleashes as much energy in a fraction of a second as 500 million Suns. “The sheer intensity is staggering,” noted Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb. “Whatever produces them must be among the most powerful engines in the universe.”
Pinpointing the origins is difficult. Some FRBs come from billions of light-years away, scattered across the universe. Theories include magnetars (super-magnetic neutron stars), collapsing stars, black holes colliding, and in the more speculative camp, even advanced alien technology.
While most bursts are one-offs, some repeat with odd rhythms. One discovered in 2020 emitted bursts every 16 days. “It’s like hearing a drumbeat from space,” said Kenzie Nimmo, an FRB researcher. “But the drummer is invisible.”
On their way to Earth, FRBs travel through cosmic gas, plasma and magnetic fields that bend and smear the signals. By the time they arrive, they’re so warped that tracing them back to their precise birthplace is almost impossible.
What do scientists know so far?
Why it matters
Solving the FRB mystery could open a new window into the universe. They could reveal the secrets of dark matter, measure how fast the universe is expanding, or uncover unknown forms of physics.
“Every time we think we’ve got it figured out, the universe throws us a curveball,” said Shami Chatterjee of Cornell University. “That’s what makes FRBs so exciting, they constantly defy expectations.”
The bottom line
Fast radio bursts are not proof of alien life, but they’re not fully explained by current science either. They sit in the tantalising gap between known physics and the unknown.
Whether they’re the work of collapsing stars, hyper-magnetised neutron stars, or something humanity has yet to imagine, FRBs remind us that the universe is still full of mysteries, and that sometimes, the cosmos whispers in bursts of static across the stars.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Iran and Russia came into effect on Thursday and will remain valid for 20 years, marking a success for Tehran just days after the return of pre-2015 UN nuclear sanctions.
A prominent Armenian cleric has been sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government.
Hamas has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts, alongside Arab, Islamic, and international actors, to halt the war, deliver humanitarian aid, oppose occupation, and prevent forced displacement.
Egypt on Friday blamed Ethiopia for “reckless and irresponsible” management of the Nile, saying unilateral operations at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have worsened flooding in Sudan and pose a direct threat to Egyptian lands and lives.
The U.S. carried out a strike on Friday against a “narco-trafficking vessel” off the coast of Venezuela, killing four people aboard, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment