In 1960, Freeman Dyson proposed how advanced civilizations could create megastructures that enclosed their system, allowing them to harness all of their star's energy and multiplying the habitable space they could occupy. In 2015, the astronomical community was intrigued when the star KIC 8462852 (aka Tabby's Star) began to dim inexplicably. While an analysis of the star's light curve in 2018 revealed that the dimming pattern was more characteristic of dust than a solid structure, Tabby's Star focused attention on the concept of megastructures and their associated technosignatures.
Thanks so much for your input! You make some very valid points about the integrity of the paper and trends in academic publishing in general. I must admit I am a bit of a casual when it comes to academia so it’s valuable to have people like yourself here to scrutinise the information we discuss!