Scientists have picked up a radio signal 'heartbeat' billions of light-years away

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has picked up radio signals from a billion light years away.

Scientists don't know the exact location of the radio waves yet, but they suspect they're coming from a collapsed star.

Researchers say that the signals have been going on for a long time. It takes a few milliseconds for a fast radio burst.

MIT said in a statement that the team detected bursts of radio waves that were similar to a beating heart.

According to the MIT statement, a signal of a potential FRB was picked up on December 21st.

"Not only was it very long, lasting about three seconds, but there were periodic peaks that were remarkably precise, emitting every fraction of a second, boom, boom, boom," said Daniele Michilli, a researcher in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The signal is periodic for the first time.

The data on the bursts can be used to determine the speed of the universe's expansion.

The first images of the universe from the James Webb Space Telescope were released earlier this week. The images show some of the earliest galaxies.