“A curious radio signal in space was spotted pulsing every 18 minutes and 18 seconds over a period of three months before it disappeared from view, revealing “an unusual periodicity” that has not been observed previously, reports a new study.
Though the source of the signals is still unknown, the scientists who discovered it think those clockwork pulses may be the rotational signature of an exotic dead star, perhaps a white dwarf or a highly magnetized “magnetar,” located some 4,000 light years away. But no matter what it is, the discovery will reveal “further insight into the evolutionary extremes surrounding the life and death of massive stars,” according to the study, which was published on Wednesday in Nature…”