"Fast Radio Bursts, also known as FRBs, consist of incredibly brief and intense bursts of radio energy that seem to originate from remote parts of space. The team that observed this most recent burst said it believes the burst came from a point 5.5 billion light-years away though it has no idea what caused it. Previously detected FRBs have come from twice as far away. John Mulchaey, acting director of Carnegie Observatories, part of the team of scientists that observed this particular FRB, has described the phenomenon as “one of the great mysteries of the Universe.” And since FRBs were first observed in 2007, theories about what causes them have proliferated. Some say they are the result of celestial collisions, or of starquakes occurring on extremely powerful neutron stars. Still others contend they are messages sent by intelligent beings directly to Earth." - Eric @ CS Techcast