The future Deep Synoptic Array will catch tens of thousands of FRBs, enhancing the power of this cosmology tool

Filed by Elara Myst

Intense, brief flashes of radio light called fast radio bursts (FRBs) travel across billions of light-years to reach Earth, passing through a fog of matter along the way. The bursts' origins are unclear but are thought to possibly come from highly magnetized dead stars called magnetars. The denser the fog the FRBs travel through, the more their signals will become dispersed—similar to the way a prism splits white light into a rainbow of colors.Thanks to this dispersing trait, FRBs make exc