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A group led by scientists from the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, using coordinated observations of the Crab pulsar in a number of frequencies, have discovered that the giant radio pulses which it emits include an increase in x-ray emissions in addition to the radio and visible light emissions that had been previously observed. This finding, published in
Science, implies that these pulses are hundreds of times more energetic than previously believed and could provide insights into the mysterious phenomenon of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Giant radio pulses a phenomenon where extremely short, millisecond-duration pulses of radio waves are emitted have been observed in association with a dozen pulsars in our Galaxy, but little is known about the mechanism that causes them. It has been proposed that they may also be the origin of fast radio bursts rapid bursts of radio waves that are believed to originate from energetic events in the extragalactic universe.