Fast Radio Bursts: An Enduring Cosmic Mystery

In August of 2001, an extremely bright, brief, extraterrestrial radio signal washed over the Earth. This flash of radiation lasted just a few milliseconds, originated from around four billion light years away, and contained more energy in a fraction of a second than the Sun gives off in an entire year. More than 20 years later, astronomers have now found thousands more of these “fast radio bursts”, but incredibly, we still have no idea what they are. Professor Bryan Gaensler will explain how fast radio bursts were discovered, why they’re so enigmatic, and how they could be key to understanding some of the fundamental properties of the Universe.

Speaker: Bryan Gaensler, UC Santa Cruz

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