"GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) are extragalactic events originating within faint galaxies at enormous distances; the sources of most GRBs are billions of light years away from Earth. It is unclear if any star in the Milky Way has the appropriate characteristics to produce a gamma-ray burst."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst
I wonder why GRBs originate form galaxies so far away. It makes me wonder what is out there that is so different from here.