Mystery of dead stars’ stuttering ‘heartbeats’ could have strange solution

Scientists may have unlocked the secret of the still-beating hearts of the universe's most extreme "dead stars," but the explanation is twisted.

The team thinks that an avalanche of quantum tornadoes is causing this 'disturbance' in the rotation of a class of neutron stars called pulsars. This happens when they become entangled with neighbouring stars, like the arms of a row of cacti that are close together, creating twisted and complex patterns.

"More than half a century has passed since the discovery of neutron stars, but the mechanism of why failures occur is still not understood," team member and professor ...