[lemma=last] [tag=RB] [tag=DT] [lemma=few] [!□]
[lemma=last] [tag=RB] [tag=DT] [lemma=few] [!□=□]
[lemma=last] [tag=RB] [tag=DT] [lemma=few] [!(□ & □)]
By contrast , an AGB star loses copious amounts of matter relatively quickly ; the protoplanetary-nebula phase is transitory , lasting only a few hundreds or thousands of years before the blown-off matter dissipates . But more often that not , such liaisons last just a few short years . Each gamma-ray burst is a short-lived event , lasting only a few milliseconds to a few minutes , never to appear again . These flashes , brighter than a billion suns yet lasting only a few milliseconds , have been simply too fast to catch until now . What would you do with a light source that could flash beams of x-ray light in strobe-like pulses lasting only a few millionths of a billionth of a second ? These flashes , brighter than a billion galaxies , yet lasting only a few milliseconds , have been simply too fast to catch - until now . The ceasefire lasted just a few days . Gamma-ray bursts are fleeting events , lasting only a few milliseconds to a few minutes , never to appear in the same spot again . These flashes , brighter than a billion suns , yet lasting only a few milliseconds , have been simply too fast to catch — until now . The flight lasted just a few days at about 200 or 300 kilometres , until eventually its battery power failed and it was brought down by atmospheric drag , doing a re-entry over Ireland . Nations are recent inventions , and they sometimes last just a few short generations .