Message From Aliens Or Colliding Objects? The Hunt For Enigmatic Radio Bursts Is About To Get Real

Astronomers are getting ever closer to understanding the origin of mysterious “fast radio bursts” – very brief but intense pulses of radio waves from outer space – after a series of recent contradictory findings. While the cause of these powerful blips is still unknown, scientists' eagerness to find out is driving a renaissance in radio astronomy. Along with a revolution in our ability to map huge chunks of the sky in real time over the coming decade, this means the hunt for an answer is starting to look promising. The first discovery of a fast radio burst, lasting only 5 milliseconds, was announced in 2007 by scientists mining data from Australia’s Parkes radio telescope. Unfortunately, the...