NASA Detects Strange Deep-Space Signals: Here’s What It Means

Deep-space radio signals can sound like the beginning of an alien mystery, but the real explanation is usually more scientific than cinematic. Astronomers have been detecting short bursts of radio waves from space for years, and many of the strangest examples belong to a category known as fast radio bursts, or FRBs.

These bursts are brief, powerful flashes of radio energy that can travel across enormous cosmic distances before reaching Earth. NASA has reported that some FRBs release, in a fraction of a second, about as much energy as the Sun produces in a year, yet scientists are still working to understand exactly what creates them.