The idea may be a little out of this world. Ten years ago, scientists started noticing very brief, but powerful radio bursts coming from outer space. Called fast radio bursts, or FRBs, they have been identified as millisecond-long bursts of radio emission. Scientists believe these emissions were made in a group of stars billions of light years away from Earth. A new theory says the radio bursts may be evidence of highly developed alien life. A paper describing the theory was published this month in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The bursts cannot be seen with the human eye, but were observed by very large radio telescopes. Many scientists believe that these powerful flashes may be related to the collapse of a massive star. But scientist Avi Loeb says researchers have yet to confirm any natural cause of the emissions. Loeb is chair of Harvard University’s Astronomy Department and works at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He believes the bursts might be coming from powerful equipment, like a transmitter used on Earth to broadcast radio or television signals. He thinks the device could be as big as a planet and have enough power to send large spaceships great distances.
Title: Are Fast Radio Bursts Evidence of Unknown Life?
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/fast_radio.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Are Fast Radio Bursts Evidence of Unknown Life?' data-article-id='2274'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='7917'>The idea may be a little out of this world.</span> <span data-start-time='7917' data-end-time='21500'>Ten years ago, scientists started noticing very brief, but powerful radio bursts coming from outer space.</span> <span data-start-time='21500' data-end-time='34458'>Called fast radio bursts, or FRBs, they have been identified as millisecond-long bursts of radio emission.</span> <span data-start-time='34458' data-end-time='46958'>Scientists believe these emissions were made in a group of stars billions of light years away from Earth.</span> <span data-start-time='46958' data-end-time='58250'>A new theory says the radio bursts may be evidence of highly developed alien life.</span> <span data-start-time='58250' data-end-time='68625'>A paper describing the theory was published this month in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.</span> <span data-start-time='68625' data-end-time='79125'>The bursts cannot be seen with the human eye, but were observed by very large radio telescopes.</span> <span data-start-time='79125' data-end-time='89958'>Many scientists believe that these powerful flashes may be related to the collapse of a massive star.</span> <span data-start-time='89958' data-end-time='101625'>But scientist Avi Loeb says researchers have yet to confirm any natural cause of the emissions.</span> <span data-start-time='101625' data-end-time='114083'>Loeb is chair of Harvard University’s Astronomy Department and works at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.</span> <span data-start-time='114083' data-end-time='128417'>He believes the bursts might be coming from powerful equipment, like a transmitter used on Earth to broadcast radio or television signals.</span> <span data-start-time='128417' data-end-time='144646'>He thinks the device could be as big as a planet and have enough power to send large spaceships great distances.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/fast_radio.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=8328 data-hint-location='46958' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/what_does_alien_mean.m4a'>What does alien mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='not from Earth'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/light_years_away.m4a'><span>light years away</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/journal_article.m4a'><span>journal article</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/research_scientist.m4a'><span>research scientist</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/not_from_earth.m4a'><span>not from Earth</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=8329 data-hint-location='68625' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/how_were_the_bursts_observed.m4a'>How were the bursts observed?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='a large telescope'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/by_aliens.m4a'><span>by aliens</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/a_large_telescope.m4a'><span>a large telescope</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/in_a_journal.m4a'><span>in a journal</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/the_human_eye.m4a'><span>the human eye</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=8330 data-hint-location='34458' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/emissions_were_made_in_a_group_of__blank_.m4a'>Emissions were made in a group of <span class='blank'>stars</span>.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='stars'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/stars.m4a'><span>stars</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/planets.m4a'><span>planets</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/aliens.m4a'><span>aliens</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1756/scientists.m4a'><span>scientists</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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