Technologies

Astronomers search for alien tech among billions of stars but come up empty

It’s all quiet in the galactic center.

Using one of the world’s most sensitive radio telescopes, a trio of Australian researchers has gone alien hunting in the heart of the Milky Way. In late 2020, they pointed their ears toward the galactic center, listening for alien technosignatures. In their field of view lay 144 known exoplanets and, potentially, billions of stars.

But after keeping their ears to the sky for more than seven hours, they didn’t hear anything plausibly alien. It seems awfully quiet out there.

The search was conducted by the Murchison Widefield Array, a collection of 4,096 spider-like antennas planted in the Western Australian desert. The antennas, arranged in 256 tiles, can pick up low-frequency radio waves from space. Importantly, the array has a wide field of view, which means researchers can listen out for technosignatures — signals broadcast by intelligent life — across a huge region of space. «We are looking for long sustained signals or technological leakages from the inhabitants daily lives,» says Chenoa Tremblay, a researcher with the SETI Institute in California.

The search is described in a new paper, which appeared Monday on preprint repository arXiv (PDF) and has been accepted for publication in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia.

This isn’t the first time the team has used MWA to hunt for alien signals, either. They previously examined the dark forest of our cosmos back in 2020 using the MWA, analyzing over 10 million stars, studied the galactic center back in 2013 and performed a search toward the Orion nebula in 2018. They didn’t hear boo from any aliens in those three surveys, either.

However, the new search is different in a few keys ways, according to Tremblay, who is also first author of the new study. The previous search of the galactic center, in 2013, only contained 38 known exoplanets whereas the new search contained 144. «This is our largest population of known exoplanets within our four surveys with the MWA,» Tremblay says.

Hunting for life around the galactic center is particularly useful because the region contains the highest density of stars within our galaxy. Where there are stars, there may be planets and where they are planets… well, you get the drift. «[M]odelling and our large catalogue of known solar systems suggest that there are high chances of habitable planets toward the Galactic centre,» Tremblay notes.

The amount of stars in the new search is difficult to accurately predict because the galactic center is mighty dusty, obscuring the view of surveys and preventing an accurate read. Previous searches have used data from the Gaia Space Observatory to count the amount of stars but that doesn’t work in the galactic center. Tremblay explains that the team used a different survey, known as Galactic Nucleus, which classified 3.3 million stars. However, the survey covers less than 1% of the area surveyed by MWA.

«If we extrapolate this, we are covering billions of stellar systems out to the centre of our Galaxy,» Tremblay notes.

That’s, in theory, a lot of chances to hear from extraterrestrial friends. However, it’s still just a mere drop in the cosmic ocean — there’s plenty of other places alien technosignatures could be emanating from.

It was also the first time a search has been conducted at a high frequency of 155 MHz. This reduced the chance of picking up daily Earth communications and interference. Previous searches focused on lower frequencies between 98 and 133MHz. Of course, that comes with a big caveat: We’re kind of assuming these alien technologies are using the same technologies to broadcast as we are.

The MWA is currently undergoing an upgrade that will allow searches at different frequencies and time resolution, giving it the ability to match other searches for technosignatures like those conducted by the Breakthrough Listen collective. Tremblay notes that all 256 of the tiles containing the spider-like antennas will be able to image the sky when the upgrades are complete.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Sept. 6

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 6.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is extra-long, as usual on Saturdays. And a couple of the clues were stumpers! Need answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: U.S. prez who served four terms
Answer: FDR

4A clue: Hurry, in Shakespearean English
Answer: HIE

7A clue: Only country to have a musical instrument (the harp) as its national emblem
Answer: IRELAND

9A clue: Big name in rum
Answer: BACARDI

10A clue: She holds the record for most #1 Billboard hits by a female rapper (5)
Answer: CARDIB

11A clue: Ancient time-tracking device
Answer: SUNDIAL

12A clue: Ctrl-___-Del
Answer: ALT

13A clue: Opposite of SSW
Answer: NNE

14A clue: Used to be
Answer: WAS

15A clue: Jupiter or Saturn, primarily
Answer: GAS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Small lie
Answer: FIB

2D clue: Whom Count von Count of «Sesame Street» is a parody of
Answer: DRACULA

3D clue: Takes back, as testimony
Answer: RECANTS

4D clue: 1920s U.S. president
Answer: HARDING

5D clue: Home to the W.N.B.A.’s Fever
Answer: INDIANA

6D clue: Weed gummies
Answer: EDIBLES

8D clue: Cooking grease
Answer: LARD

11D clue: Observed
Answer: SAW

Technologies

Researchers Discover 18 Popular VPNs Are Connected: Why This Matters

All are owned by 3 separate groups but CNET’s recommended VPNs are not on the list

Virtual private networks are popular ways to keep your online activity private and hide your physical location from your internet service provider and apps. But it’s obviously important to choose a safe and secure VPN.

Three university researchers have discovered that 18 of the most widely used VPNs have shared infrastructures with serious security flaws that could expose customers’ browsing activity and leave their systems vulnerable to corrupted data. These VPNs are among the top 100 most popular on the Google Play Store, comprising more than 700 million downloads.

Read more: Best VPN Service for 2025: Our Top Picks in a Tight Race

The peer-reviewed study by the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium found that these VPNs, despite calling themselves independent businesses, are actually grouped into three separate families of companies.

None of CNET’s recommended VPNs — ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN and Mullvad — are on the list. (If you currently don’t have a VPN, here’s why you might want to start using one.)

According to the findings, these are the three groups that contain the 18 VPNs:

Family A: Turbo VPN, Turbo VPN Lite, VPN Monster, VPN Proxy Master, VPN Proxy Master Lite, Robot VPN, Snap VPN and SuperNet VPN
Family B: Global VPN, Inf VPN, Melon VPN, Super Z VPN, Touch VPN, VPN ProMaster, XY VPN and 3X VPN
Family C: X-VPN and Fast Potato VPN

Researchers determined that the VPNs in Family A are shared between three providers linked to Qihoo 360, a firm identified by the US Department of Defense as a Chinese military company. The VPNs in Family B use the same IP addresses from the same hosting company.

Know your VPN’s parent company

It’s a cautionary tale about why it’s important to know who’s behind the VPN you’re using, says CNET senior writer Attila Tomaschek.

«It’s also crucial to know what kinds of data the VPN provider is sharing with its parent company and affiliated entities,» Tomaschek said. «Some of these companies may even be compelled to log customer activity and share it with authorities, depending on the jurisdiction in which they operate.»

Despite the warnings, Tomaschek says it’s not so easy to figure out who controls your VPN. But he says there are measures that customers can take.

«Users can do a few things to help ensure the VPN they’re using is reputable,» Tomaschek says. «Check the privacy policy — specifically for terms like ‘logging,’ ‘data sharing’ or ‘data collection.’ A Google search of the provider can help determine whether the VPN has been involved in questionable activity. Read detailed, unbiased reviews from reputable sources. Be especially wary of signing on with a free VPN, even if it’s listed as a top choice in your app store.»

The PETS researchers examined the most downloaded VPNs on Android, looking for overlaps among business paperwork, web presence and codebase. After identifying code similarities, they were able to group the 18 VPNs into three groups. The study was initially spurred by VPN Pro’s own findings, «Who owns your VPN? 105 VPNs run by just 24 companies.»

CNET’s Tomaschek has advice for anyone who has been using one of these 18 VPNs.

«I’d recommend deleting it from your device immediately,» he said. «If you suspect that any sensitive personal data may have been compromised, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your credit report and look into services like dark web monitoring or identity theft protection.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Sept. 6, #348

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Sept. 6, No. 348.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition was a stumper. But if you play cards, the green group is a fun one for sure. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Racket time.

Green group hint: Ante up!

Blue group hint: NY signal-callers.

Purple group hint: Coach’s CV.