But for a short-lived event such as a gamma-ray burst it means that the same blast may become visible again in the future.

ECONOMIST: An illuminating burst

This team, led by physicist Sergio Campana, suggests that the event happened much later, and the burst was only about 10, 000 light years away from Earth.

FORBES: Scientists Develop Two Scenarios For Cosmic Christmas Explosion

After trailing in the 60m heats, a late burst pipped Donna Fraser in the 200m final - an event she is simply using for speed-work.

BBC: Banishing the Beijing demons

But the Ukrainian produced a burst of pace to open up a 50m lead which he maintained to complete his eighth victory in the event.

BBC: Farah misses out on European gold