Astronomers observe long bursts in association with the demise of massive stars.

A fizzled example of a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion known in the universe, suggests these outbursts may not always work the way that scientists thought, and that versions of these flares can be surprisingly brief, researchers say.

As a compound of manganese sulfide is compressed in a diamond anvil cell, it undergoes dramatic transitions.

Lasting only about a second, it turned out to be one of the record books – the shortest gamma-ray burst (GRB) caused by the death of a massive star ever seen.

NASA says the gamma-ray burst (GRB) had been racing toward Earth for “nearly half the present age” of the universe as the star that loosed it in the direction of our home planet is billions of light-years away.

A group of astronomers, including from India, have detected a very short, powerful burst of high-energy radiation that lasted for about a second.

The phenomenon detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is one of the shortest GRBs produced by the death of a star, lasting for less than a second.

Astronomers believe that short gamma-ray bursts of less than two seconds originate when two black holes, two neutron stars, or a black hole and a neutron star merge with each other.

In the major development, a group of astronomers including some Indian scientists has detected a very short, powerful burst of high-energy radiation that lasted for about a second and had been racing toward Earth for nearly half the present age of the universe.

Normally metals and insulators sit at opposite ends of a spectrum of conductivity, but researchers have discovered a material that can switch between those states freely, even at room temperature.

Remarkable things happen when a "squishy" compound of manganese and sulfide (MnS2) is compressed in a diamond anvil, say researchers from the University of Rochester and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

When a manganese sulfide compound is compressed in a diamond anvil cell, it undergoes dramatic transitions.