  Electroweak models with low-energy supersymmetry breaking predict the
existence of stable non-topological solitons, Q-balls, that can be produced in
the early universe. The relic Q-balls can accumulate inside a neutron star and
gradually absorb the baryons into the scalar condensate. This causes a slow
reduction in the mass of the star. When the mass reaches a critical value, the
neutron star becomes unstable and explodes. The cataclysmic destruction of the
distant neutron stars may be the origin of the gamma-ray bursts.
