Fast radio bursts (FRBs) have fascinated astronomers ever since they were first observed in 2007.
自從2007年首次觀測到快速射電爆發(FRBs)以來，天文學家就對它們著迷不已。
We’ve only started to understand these powerful signals and have yet to figure out their cause.
我們已經開始瞭解這些強大的信號，並且還沒有弄清楚它們的原因。
Some have even speculated they could be signs of extraterrestrial life.
一些人甚至推測它們可能是外星生命的跡象。
Now, Vice reports, a new study by Cornell University researchers has identified an FRB source about half a billion light years from Earth that pulses, ominously, on a regular 16-day cycle.
如今，Vice報告稱，康奈爾大學(Cornell University)研究人員開展的一項新研究發現，距地球約5億光年的FRB源以16天的常規週期脈動，這是一個不祥的預兆。
That makes it the first discovered FRB to be on a repeating schedule, according to the paper.
據該報稱，這使得它成為第一個被發現在重複時間表上的FRB。
The team analyzed 28 bursts between September 2018 and October 2019 recorded by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst Project (CHIME/FRB), a radio telescope in British Columbia, Canada.
該團隊分析了加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞省的射電望遠鏡加拿大氫強度映射實驗快速射電爆發項目(CHIME/FRB)記錄的2018年9月至2019年10月之間的28次爆發。
Scientists have a number of ideas as to what may be causing the regular cycle.
科學家們對於是什麼導致了正常的週期有很多想法。
The signal could be coming from an orbiting object, for instance, that only sends signals at a certain point in its orbit.
信號可能來自軌道物體，例如，它只在軌道上的某個點發送信號。
It could also be coming from a binary star system made up of a massive star and a highly magnetized star, as outlined in a different study published on arXiv.
它也可能來自由一顆大質量恆星和一顆高度磁化的恆星組成的雙星系統，正如發表在arXiv上的另一項研究所概述的那樣。
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