00:03Gamma-ray bursts from deep space can be the sign of a number of things, but a recent rather
00:08energetic one detected last year had scientists scratching their heads. It was extremely long
00:13and powerful, and for gamma-ray bursts that's saying something, as they often signal extremely
00:17powerful explosions. So what caused this one, now named GRB211211A? Joint research from
00:24universities in the UK and Europe has now discovered it was likely caused by a kilonova,
00:29or when a neutron star and a black hole ram into one another. Here's what one of the researchers
00:33working on the project, Dr. Benjamin Gompert, had to say about it. We don't expect mergers to last
00:38more than about two seconds. Somehow this one powered a jet for almost a full minute. When
00:42neutron stars collide with black holes, experts believe that's when some of the universe's most
00:46rare elements are made. Elements like gold and platinum. But this process is still not very
00:51well understood, as kilonovi were only first described by scientists in 2010.
00:59the
