Scientists Stumped by Blast From Outer Space

A bizarre burst from outer space has scientists talking black holes and colliding stars, Physorg reports — and may even help us "determine the amount of material in intergalactic space," one researcher says. The radio waves, which were measured in milliseconds, might be a blast from 2 superdense neutron stars or the "last gasp" of a dying black hole. 

Researchers grabbed the data while hunting pulsars in the Magellanic Clouds, a couple of galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. They've never seen a blast like it, but think their instruments are to blame — hundreds of similar salvos may fly through space every day, say Australian astronomers. Now they're combing the sky for more of them, hoping to solve the mystery. (More radio spectrum stories.)