What is Causing a Strange 16-Day Radio Burst from Space?

The mysteries of radio waves from space repeating every 16 days may be solved by CHIME — the same instrument that discovered it.

An odd radio signal is coming from space, starting and stopping in regular 16-day cycles. A team of Canadian astronomers were the first to report finding the source, which they discovered using a novel radio telescope.

This newly-discovered burst of radio waves, called FRB 180814.J0422+73, does not fit any known cause, leading to range-ranging speculations on its nature, ranging…