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Tech: Tracking radio bursts from space

Scientists have been closely tracking a repeating, fast radio burst, with uncertainty still surrounding the originating celestial body, according to Qian Lei, associate researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The repetitive burst, code-named FRB121102, was discovered last month when researchers processed daily cosmic radio signal data received by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope. Rapid bursts are usually short and intense, far less numerous than pulsars. "We hope to find out the nature and potential laws of the repeating fast radio burst by studying its pulses statistically," Qian said. Scientists believe more detection and research may help clarify the origins and physical mechanisms of the "mysterious signals from deep space". Located in a naturally deep and round karst depression in Guizhou province, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope of its kind has identified 96 new pulsars since October 2017.

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