What happens right before two bolts of lightning smash into each other? An invisible blast of radiation a million times more energetic than a lightning discharge is unleashed in the form of gamma rays, before disappearing almost as quickly as it came. Yes, astronomy-mind friends, this is a gamma ray burst, almost like the very cosmic explosions we see in deep space produced when stars go supernova — except right here on Earth. And thankfully, a lot less deadly. For the first time, a team of researchers in Japan have witnessed one of these earthly gamma ray blasts, known as […]