EARTH could be destroyed without warning by a powerful gamma ray burst stemming from a black hole deep in space, it has been claimed. All life could be killed off from the explosion, and scientists have no clue when it could happen, according to experts. Long gamma ray bursts – or GRBs – last about one minute and it is believed that they come to fruition when stars collapse in on themselves resulting in a black hole. As a result, huge bursts of energy are released and can travel vast distances through the Universe. While the Earth's ozone layer is capable of blocking out radiation from space, if a long GRB were to occur it would wipe out the ozone layer, exposing life to all sorts of radiation, even if it came from thousands of light-years away. A recent video on popular science YouTube channel Kurzgesagt – which has racked up almost 150 million views for its videos – explains the process. The narrator of the video said: "Even a more distant GRB could still end life on Earth and it