Astronomers Have Discovered a New Type of Cosmic ExplosionS
Scientists working at the University of Warwick have identified
an undocumented type of gamma-ray burst, the product of massive
stars destroyed in a way previously unknown to astronomers.
Gamma-ray bursts are among the most powerful forces in nature.
As a supergiant star goes supernova, it shoots out directed
beams of concentrated gamma-rays across vast distances. A
typical burst can release as much energy in a few seconds as the
sun does its entire 10-billion-year lifespan.  These events are
extremely rare, and the only ones observed to date have occurred
outside our galaxy. And thank goodness for that; a gamma-ray
burst pointed directly at Earth would very likely cause a mass
extinction event by ionizing our atmosphere. And in fact, it’s
quite possible that the Ordovician extinction, which happened
about 450 million years ago, was caused by a gamma-ray burst.
The Long and the Short of It  Until this new discovery, gamma-
ray bursts were placed in