“We still have no new clue on whether the origin is artificial or natural,” said Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb about fast radio bursts (FRBs), one of the great astrophysical mysteries. In a rare feat, Caltech researchers have caught a new burst, called FRB 190523, pinpointing its origins to a galaxy 7.9 billion light-years away.
We don’t know where they’re coming from or when they’ll occur. All we know is these blazingly bright bursts of low-frequency radiation that emit more energy than the sun does in decades come from “some special place” in the cosmos.