Mighty radio bursts linked to massive galaxies: New clues about how magnetars form

Since their discovery in 2007, fast radio bursts--extremely energetic pulses of radio-frequency light--have lit up the sky repeatedly, leading astronomers on a chase to uncover their origins. Currently, confirmed fast radio bursts, or FRBs, number in the hundreds, and scientists have assembled mounting evidence for what triggers them: highly magnetized neutron stars known as magnetars (neutron stars are a type of dead star).