On this past Sunday's episode of "Homeland," CIA agent Carrie Mathison travels to a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon to meet with a Hezbollah commander.

During the scene, Mathison and her companion pass by Arabic graffiti that reads, for those paying attention, "Homeland is racist."

The artists behind the graffiti have since stepped forward, claiming responsibility for "hacking" the award-winning drama, which has received criticism over the years for its portrayal of Muslims.

The artists — Heba Amin, Caram Kapp, and Stone — were hired by the production company behind "Homeland" to paint graffiti on the show's set of a fake refugee camp. The artists say they were given examples of pro-President Bashar al-Assad graffiti to model their work after.

The artists say that they have been troubled over the years about the show's "inaccurate, undifferentiated, and highly biased depictions of Arabs, Pakistanis, and Afghans" and said that the show dangerously feeds "into the racism of the hysterical moment we find ourselves in today."

As such, the artists were skeptical about working on the show, but once they realized they could embed subversive messages into the graffiti, they changed their minds.

Here's what the artists had to say about their instructions:

In our initial meeting, we were given a set of images of pro-Assad graffiti — apparently natural in a Syrian refugee camp. Our instructions were: (1) the graffiti has to be apolitical (2) you cannot copy the images because of copyright infringement (3) writing “Mohamed is the greatest, is okay of course.”

Despite the guidelines, they found that set decoration was done in such a short period of time that no one was paying attention to, or vetting the graffiti that they were putting on the set. As such, they decided to get increasingly blunt in their message, resulting in the "Homeland is racist" graffiti that ended up in a crucial scene of the show.

Here's all the graffiti they created for the show:

(h/t The Washington Post)

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Halloween in near so there's no better time to search though Netflix for some scary movies.

But there are a lot of choices. So to make the rest of your October movie-watching easier, here are the 25 best horror movies you can stream on Netflix right now.

Grab a friend and come on in.

SEE ALSO: The best cosplay from New York City Comic Con 2015

25. "Proxy"

This disturbing look at three families who have lost a child is not for the faint of heart.

WATCH NOW

24. "The Taking of Deborah Logan"

An impressive "found footage" horror that looks at a documentary crew filming a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and finding a lot more.

WATCH NOW 

23. "Honeymoon"

Newly married and spending their honeymoon in a rustic cabin, Bea and Paul don't have a care in the world. Until they go mad. 

WATCH NOW

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Today, Taylor Swift is the most popular person on Instagram with more than 50 million followers.

The pop star has an active and genuine online presence — she's known for communicating with her fans through Instagram and voicing her thoughts on Tumblr.

Her open letter to Apple that she published to her personal Tumblr account, for instance, convinced the company to change an important policy regarding how artists participating in Apple Music are paid.

But in 2013, Swift didn't use the internet at all, according to GQ, largely because she  didn't want to read all of the gossip spreading about her personal life. Here's what she told the magazine:

I went through a few years where I just never went online and never looked at blogs,” she recalls. “This was around 2013, when the only thing anyone wanted to write about me was about me and some guy. It was really damaging. You’re thinking, ‘Everybody goes on dates when they’re 22. It’s fine, right?’ Nope. Not when you’re in this situation, and everything you do is blown out of proportion and expanded upon. And all of a sudden, there’s an overriding opinion that doesn’t accurately reflect how you actually live your life. So I didn’t go online for a year and a half. I actually forgot my Instagram password.

In 2015, Swift looks at things differently. She keeps tabs on what people say about her online because she knows that can shape the general public's image of her. She told GQ:

But now I check in and see what’s happening. In 2015, that stuff does matter. Because if enough people say the same thing about me, it becomes fact in the general public’s mind. So I monitor what people say about me, and if I see a theme, I know what that means. I’ve had it happen twice before. In 2010, it was She’s too young to get all these awards. Look how annoying she is when she wins. Is she even good? And then in 2013, it was She just writes songs about guys to get revenge. She’s boy-crazy. She’s a problematic person. It will probably be something else again this year.

SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift slams Spotify and calls it a 'startup with no cash flow'

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NOW WATCH: Ashley Madison hack reveals the states where people cheat the most

Everyone has that one movie that reminds them of home.

We set out to name the most famous movie in every state — a challenging and subjective endeavor. Some states were more obvious than others. While there's no place like Kansas, New York has inspired directors ranging from Martin Scorsese to Woody Allen to Rob Reiner.

To pick the most famous, we evaluated the state's prominence in the movie and leaned toward movies that were filmed in that location as well. The movie's lifetime gross, its critical acclaim, and testimonials by our geographically diverse staff also influenced our decision.

Additional reporting by Kirsten Acuna, Melissa Stanger, Frank Pallotta, and Sara Bower.

SEE ALSO: Then and now: The cast of 'The Hunger Games' 3 years later

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ALABAMA: "Forrest Gump" (1994)

Even though "Forrest Gump" took Tom Hanks from Vietnam to the White House, home was always the fictional town of Greenbow, Alabama. Plus, Forrest was an All-American for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

ALASKA: "Into The Wild" (2007)

"Into The Wild" follows Chris McCandless, played by Emile Hirsch, as he heads to Alaska to find his place in the world. The journey would bring McCandless to many places, but his ultimate destination was the Land of the Midnight Sun.

ARIZONA: "Raising Arizona" (1987)

The Coen brothers' cult classic follows H.I. McDunnough and his wife as they attempt to have a baby, either naturally or through kidnapping. The Coens made the pair all the more real by incorporating a vernacular that Joel called "a mixture of local dialect and a vocabulary we imagined from the likely reading materials of the characters."

You wouldn’t think that a movie directed by the guy who is known best for big-budget blockbusters like the “Transformer” movies or “Armageddon” could in any way potentially sway voters this coming election.

But it could happen.

Michael Bay’s upcoming movie “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” starring John Krasinski and focusing on the deadly 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, will be released by Paramount on January 15.

That’s around two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the first hurdle Hillary Clinton will have to clear to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

But will the release of the movie remind voters of Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi attack as Secretary of State?

Paramount told The Wrap that choosing that date had nothing to do with the election but that it lands on the Friday before the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday weekend.

“MLK weekend has been a historically great date as evidence by the success of ‘American Sniper’ and ‘Lone Survivor,’” a Paramount spokesperson told The Wrap.

"American Sniper" opened at number one at the domestic box office when it went out in wide release this past MLK weekend.

It is not known yet if Clinton in depicted in “13 Hours,” which focuses on the CIA contractors who were defending the compound when it was under attack and led to the killing of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

Watch the trailer:

SEE ALSO: Everyone's declaring Hillary Clinton the big winner of the debate

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NOW WATCH: The awesome origin story of Drake's biggest hit in years, "Hotline Bling"

Presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) shed his gruff exterior to do a little dancing while walking onto Thursday's set of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

The song playing as Sanders did some dance moves: The Trammps's ​"Disco Inferno," with its signature "burn, baby, burn" chorus.

"You came out here dancing, Bernie! That's fantastic. That's wonderful," DeGeneres told him.

"And thank you for the very positive energy you provide to the American people," Sanders replied.

They then discussed issues like income inequality, campaign-finance reform, and Sanders' defense of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during Tuesday's presidential debate. (Clinton herself did a little dancing on DeGeneres' show last month.)

Here's a GIF of Sanders:

 And here's his interview:

SEE ALSO: 'Why keep going?': Wolf Blitzer had a brutal interview with a third-tier presidential candidate

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On its earnings call Wednesday, Netflix’s top executives laid out a vision for its future that can be summed up in one word: “originals.”

CEO Reed Hastings said original shows like "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black" are what actually creates "desire," and presumably loyalty, in Netflix subscribers — not licensed content.

Originals get you addicted, and addicted to the point where you might be willing to pay a few extra dollars a month.

While Hastings refused to make predictions about the future pricing of Netflix, he said it was inherently tied to value. 

"The more we have incredible value, the more we have amazing originals, then we are going to be able to ask consumers for more to be able to invest more," he said. In plain English, original content is expensive, and you are probably going to have to pay more for it as Netflix doubles down on original content moving forward.

Research has shown that Hastings isn’t just blowing smoke about original content — subscribers love it. And it certainly does provide tremendous value to viewers. Whether they will appreciate repeated price hikes over the next few years is less certain.

Netflix recently raised the price of its most popular subscription plan in the US from $8.99 to $9.99, and will spend $5 billion on content next year. Hastings recently said that Netflix only has around $2 billion in the bank, though it's set to raise capital.

Netflix is betting heavily that a shift to original content, and toward exclusive licensing in general, will allow the company to maximize its profitability. Netflix’s head of content, Ted Sarandos, characterized originals as a sounder investment because they give full exclusivity and global rights in perpetuity — which will be particularly useful as Netflix expands internationally.

“We have gone into [original content] very conservative relative to licensing, and found it has been much more impactful,” CFO David Wells said. Hastings used one word: "better."

Hastings also argued that the value of Netflix’s original content grows dramatically as shows enter their third and fourth seasons, and become recognizable franchises. This theory will be tested in the coming years.

What we know now is that the development of original content is accelerating at a much higher rate than licensed content — and you’ll most likely have to pay for that on your plan.

SEE ALSO: Netflix raised its prices because you were sharing your password too much

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NOW WATCH: The new 'Daredevil' villain was thrust onto the stage at Comic Con for the first time

There are few figures in music more polarizing than Drake.

The "So Far Gone" rapper hasn't wasted any time lapping his industry counterparts, reaching the top of the mainstream music world. 

Just six years into his illustrious career, Drake has hit the kind of milestones most artists can only dream of.

And he keeps winning.

In fact, 2015 might be his best year to date.

From reaching 100 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 to winning the biggest rap beef in recent memory, "The Boy" has had quite a year. After releasing two albums since February, one solo and one with hip-hop counterpart Future, Drake still has the ball in his court.

Drake's on top of the music scene and seems to be fastened in. If he releases his highly anticipated "Views From The 6" album anytime soon, he'll seal 2015 as "The year of Drake."

Accolades aside, Drake's success has come from hard work. He started from the bottom and worked his way up.

Keep scrolling to see how a biracial Jewish kid from Toronto became the biggest name in music.

SEE ALSO: The surprise album that Drake released was never supposed to happen

SEE ALSO: Here's the $600,000 car Drake rapped about on his new album

THEN: Drake may have released the first single from his upcoming album — and it features Beyonce

AND: Drake just did something only 4 artists have done in history

Born in 1986 and given the name Aubrey Drake Graham, Drake was brought up in Toronto, Canada.

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He was raised Jewish by his mother in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.

Source

Drake's dad moved to Memphis when Drake was very young. They had a distant relationship for a while but have since gotten close.

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Rapper Lil Boosie, 32, spent five years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary after pleading guilty to drug charges.

But when he was released in March 2014, the outside world was a different place.

Lil Boosie went to prison in 2009, but both Instagram and FaceTime didn't launch until 2010, making the technologies the most mind-blowing things the rapper has seen since his release.

"I was surprised when I looked on my iPhone and you could look at people and talk on the phone at the same time," he told TMZ after his release. "I wasn't used to that so I was like, the world has changed!"

He added, "I ain't never seen Instagram. I heard about it, but it was a new experience seeing it in person."

But while Boosie was away, his team created an Instagram account for him, often posting flashback photos with the hashtag #FreeBoosie.

While he was locked up, @officialboosie amassed nearly 388,000 followers.

On March 10, 2014, Boosie took over the account and changed the handle to @officialboosieig.

Today, the rapper — who now goes by the name Boosie Badazz — boasts 1.9 million Instagram followers.

According to social media, it appears Boosie is really enjoying his freedom:

While behind bars, Boosie says he wrote 1,018 songs. In May, he released his sixth studio album, "Touch Down 2 Cause Hell."

Today, he spends much of his time performing at clubs across the country.

In his first Q&A after his release, Boosie noted that the musical landscape, in addition to technology, had also changed.

"I feel like what I been hearing these last three or four days on the radio it's different from my music, and different brings greatness," the rapper says. "So I just feel I stand alone in the music industry to tell you the truth."

SEE ALSO: Frank Ocean Tells Chipotle To 'F--- OFF' Over $212,500 Commission

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If Taylor Swift wasn't busy writing you catchy pop songs, she'd be busy writing you marketing copy, the singer told GQ for its November cover story.

GQ's Chuck Klosterman asked Swift about a ton of things, including what she'd be doing if she wasn't famous.

Swift replied that she'd be doing something with words, and noted that she wrote a book when she was 14 titled "A Girl Named Girl." She also thinks she'd be in marketing if she was just a normal 25-year-old.

"I would still be involved with music in my spare time,” Swift told Klosterman. “But I would have gone to college, and I would probably be involved with a form of business where words and ideas are at the forefront. Such as marketing.”

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Taylor Swift has been one of the biggest pop stars in the world for half a decade now. 

While many stars wilt under the pressure of fame, Swift shows no sign of slowing down. 

Her most recent album, 1989, is a smash hit filled with great songs that appeal to a mainstream audience as well as music snoots. 

How has she managed to keep her head on her shoulders despite being fabulously wealthy and getting pulled in all sorts of directions by people? 

She explained to Chuck Klosterman for GQ:

“I used to watch Behind the Music every day,” she says. (Her favorite episode was the one about the Bangles.) “When other kids were watching normal shows, I’d watch Behind the Music. And I would see these bands that were doing so well, and I’d wonder what went wrong. I thought about this a lot. And what I established in my brain was that a lack of self-awareness was always the downfall. That was always the catalyst for the loss of relevance and the loss of ambition and the loss of great art. So self-awareness has been such a huge part of what I try to achieve on a daily basis. It’s less about reputation management and strategy and vanity than it is about trying to desperately preserve self-awareness, since that seems to be the first thing to go out the door when people find success.”

In essence, she's been studying success and failure since she was young preparing for this moment. So far, she hasn't blown it.

Read the full story over at GQ, it's filled with many great insights on Swift and her career.

SEE ALSO: What Taylor Swift would have done if she didn't become a musician

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The 2011 documentary, “You’ve Been Trumped,” is being re-released by its distributor Emerging Pictures.

Directed by British filmmaker Anthony Baxter, the film follows the construction of Trump’s luxury golf course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland which leads to a clash between Trump and the locals who don’t want it built.

The film will be available through the distributor’s WannaWatch.it platform, in which viewers request the film to screen at a theater near them.

"You've Been Trumped" was first released in 2012 after playing at some major film festivals around the world.

Capitalizing on Trump’s current campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, Ryan Markowitz, VP of Emerging Pictures, was quoted in Variety as saying, “This documentary gives insight into a project of his and how it was conducted, which is ever more important as he touts his business credentials as the mainstay of his presidential bid.”

Portions of “You’ve Been Trumped” chronicles what people living near the golf course experience during its building, which include the loss of running water and Trump disparaging them during press conferences.

Watch the trailer:

SEE ALSO: Donald Trump will host "Saturday Night Live" on November 7

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NOW WATCH: A 44-year-old Swedish guy is quietly behind a bunch of pop songs people love

The Mafia detested the administration of John F. Kennedy as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy raised the number of mob convictions from 35 in 1960 to 288 in 1963.

But there may be a much deeper connection between the Kennedys and the mob, and legendary entertainer Frank Sinatra reportedly served as a key intermediary and whipping boy in one case.

According to "The Dark Side of Camelot" by Seymour Hersh, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (JFK's father) set up a meeting with Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana to obtain Giancana's support for Jack Kennedy's run for the White House — thereby combining the sway of Chicago crime syndicate with that of Mayor Richard J. Daley's Democratic machine.

Hersh also reported, along with others, that Giancana also helped funnel cash to buy votes and endorsements for the West Virginia Democratic primary election in May 1960.

The new book "The Kennedy Half-Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy" by University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato highlights the connection by citing the story that Joseph Kennedy asked for Giancana's help over a dispute with another mobster, Frank Costello, and offered "the president's ear" in return.

Sabato also writes that "when JFK began having an affair with a black-haired beauty named Judith Campbell while he was still a U.S. senator, Giancana slept with her as well, reportedly so that he would eventually have a direct link to the White House."

It turns out, according to Sabato, that Sinatra introduced Senator Kennedy to Judy Campbell and also "served as the go-between for the West Virginia primary shenanigans."

After JFK reached the White House, however, the mob boss was not welcome near the president's ear. And Sinatra was the one that ultimately paid for it.

From "The Kennedy Half-Century":

When the Kennedys turned on Giancana once they were in the White House, Sinatra had to work hard to deflect the mobster's wrath at Sinatra on account of the Kennedys' unfaithfulness. In atonement, the singer played at Giancana's club, the Villa Venice, with his "Rat Pack" of fellow entertainers, for eight nights in a row.

Sabato notes that "Sinatra worked his way back into Giancana's good graces, but the Kennedys never did."

Here's The Rat Pack playing "Chicago" at the Villa Venice in 1962:

SEE ALSO: UVA PROFESSOR: We Cannot Rule Out A Conspiracy To Kill John F. Kennedy

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These days, Taylor Swift is constantly surrounded by an army of gorgeous girl friends including models Kendall Jenner and Karlie Kloss.

But growing up, Swift says she didn't have many female friends despite desperately wanting some. Back then, she looked like a lot of other middle schoolers:

Life as a middle schooler is hard. And for Swift it was no better. She tells GQ's Chuck Klosterman a sad story about her "friends" blowing her off on a trip to the mall. Only when she showed up there with her mom, all her friends were on a shopping trip already and had excluded her.

Klosterman writes about the sad tale, which sounds like it's straight out of the movie "Mean Girls":

She tells a story about middle school, when she called several of her peers on the phone and asked if they wanted to go shopping. Every girl had a different excuse for why she couldn’t go. Eventually, Swift’s mother agreed to take her to the local mall. When they arrived, Swift saw all of the girls she had called on the phone, goofing around in Victoria’s Secret.

"I just remember my mom looking at me and saying, We’re going to King of Prussia Mall. Which is the big, big mall in Pennsylvania, 45 minutes away. So we left and went to the better mall. My mom let me escape from certain things that were too painful to deal with. And we talked about it the whole ride there, and we had a good time shopping."

Swift says that lonely feeling probably drives her to keep her female friends close now. She's never had them before, and she doesn't want to lose them.

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For the more neurotic among us, a birthday can be a reminder of how another year has passed and our loftiest aspirations have faded further into the distance.

There are plenty of examples, however, of successful people across many industries who prove that you don't need to have it all figured out by the time you turn 30.

We'll take a look at some of them, from renowned fashion designer Vera Wang, who didn't design her first dress until she was 40, to writer Harry Bernstein, who authored countless rejected books before getting his first hit at age 96.

Get inspired by those who show it's never too late.

Stan Lee created his first hit comic, "The Fantastic Four," just shy of his 39th birthday in 1961. In the next few years, he created the legendary Marvel Universe, whose characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men became American cultural icons.

Donald Fisher was 40 and had no experience in retail when he and his wife, Doris, opened the first Gap store in San Francisco in 1969. The Gap's clothes quickly became fashionable, and today the company is one of the world's largest clothing chains.

Vera Wang was a figure skater and journalist before entering the fashion industry at age 40. Today she's one of the world's premier women's designers.

YouTube has exploded since it first launched in 2005, becoming the de facto launchpad for the next generation of internet celebrities.

It's no secret that YouTube's biggest stars are using sponsored videos and advertising to make a living on the platform, in addition to just making a name for themselves.

But who on YouTube is getting paid the most? 

Forbes just published its look at which YouTube stars make the most money. The publication based its rankings on raw, pre-tax estimates of earnings that are derived from "data from Nielsen, IMDB, and other sources, as well as on interviews with agents, managers, lawyers, industry insiders, and the stars themselves."

Forbes says most of the YouTube millionaires on its list get paid through ads, previews, and sponsored videos. Some of the people on its list also have their own side businesses and book deals.

SEE ALSO: Meet the 30 most popular Vine stars in the world

8. (tie) Rosanna Pansino

Income: $2.5 million

Rosanna Pansino has the nerdiest baking channel on YouTube — and also the most popular of any baking channel on the platform, period. Pansino's "Nerdy Nummies" channel puts a nerdy spin on normal recipes, including videos for food creations like "Pi Pie Pops" and "Princess Peach Cobbler."

8. (tie) Roman Atwood

Income: $2.5 million

Roman Atwood's prank-filled YouTube channel almost seems more in line with the humor you'd typically see from any number of massively popular Vine stars. Atwood was recently dubbed YouTube's "most appalling prankster" — he's pretended to kill his own toddler twice, to film his girlfriend's reaction. He's also filmed many less horrifying prank videos for his channel.

8. (tie) Lilly Singh

Income: $2.5 million

Lilly Singh does everything from comedy sketches to music videos on her one-woman YouTube channel. Singh also has a YouTube star nickname — Superwoman — and a rabid fan base. Her videos have also landed her on the Collective Digital Studio network, which has more than 700 channels of creators. 

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The wait is almost over. Amy Schumer continues her world domination this weekend when her big HBO special airs.

Chris Rock directed the special, which is titled "Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo." And if the trailers HBO released are any indication, Schumer's fans will learn a lot about the comedian's thoughts on dating, the entertainment industry, and just her view on life in general. Prepare yourself for Schumer's trademark T.M.I.

Watch the trailers from Schumer's first HBO special above and below:

 "Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo" debuts Saturday, October 17 at 10 p.m.

SEE ALSO: Amy Schumer cements 'It Girl' status with first Emmy for 'Inside Amy Schumer'

MORE: Amy Schumer just landed a ~ $10 million book deal

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The award for strangest star in the universe just went to KIC 8462852.

And while someare saying that this star could be harboring a giant structure built by an advanced alien civilization, the scientists behind the hype are saying otherwise.

Business Insider recently spoke with two of these astronomers to find out what's really going on and if this structure really is proof of alien intelligence or a complete hoax. 

For some background: A postdoctoral graduate at Yale, Tabby Boyajian, and Penn State astronomer Jason Wright, recently discovered a bizarre and mysteriously giant structure orbiting the star that's unlike anything they've ever seen.

And now they're doing what scientists do best: weighing all of the possible explanations until more data comes in that can rule out the wrong reasons in favor of the right one.

Right now, there are many options on the table, including a giant swarm of comets, left-over chunks from a broken-up planet, and last but certainly not least an alien-built megastructure. But we won't know for sure until more data is collected.

Is it aliens?

As Penn State astronomer Kimberly Cartier told Business Insider about the coverage: "It's gotten a bit out of hand." What's more, she said that the probability of this exciting, yet wildly confusing, observation being aliens is "very low."

She also emphasized: "Just to clarify, neither [my colleague] Jason [Wright] or myself ... are advocating that it is an alien megastructure, but we also can't completely rule it out."

Cartier works with Wright who is spearheading the search for these megastructures as a way to enhance the SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) project. The two collaborated on a scientific paper about how to go about finding these structures back in 2009.

Moreover, Wright recently blogged about his work with KIC 8462852.

His post does an excellent job of presenting the data in a straight-forward, non-hyped way. But as he recently told Atlantic reporter Ross Andersen, "Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilization to build."

We asked Wright how he felt about the hype his quote has since spawned.

"I think the star is really inexplicable, but I would put the probability that [aliens] is what it is as very low."

What's really going on

Right now, the only scientific information astronomers have for star KIC 8462852 is its light curves, which is an estimate of how much light Earth receives from the star over a given period of time.

These light curves reveal that something giant, about half the width of the star, is blocking the light but in bizarre bursts that are anything but periodic. If the obstruction were a planet eclipsing the star, it would block the light with a predictable pattern as the planet orbited the star.

But "the eclipses have very strange shapes in the sense that whatever is blocking it is not a circular object," Wright told Business Insider. "And there's lots of them — lots of things blocking the star. When you put all that together, there's nothing like that [anywhere else] in the sky. It's unique and very very strange."

These light curves were first collected by a post doctoral fellow at Yale, Tabby Boyajian. After Boyajian presented them at Penn State, Wright took an immediate interest and soon after contacted Andrew Siemion, who works at the Berkeley SETI Research Center. The two submitted a telescope proposal to study the star in more detail that is still pending.

What wright would like to do next is take what are called spectra of the star. Spectra are a critical tool in astronomy that allows researchers to essentially take a chemical fingerprint of an object that tells them what it's made of.

"I want to see spectra when its dim and spectra when its bright and compare the two," Wright said. "And the difference should tell us what the light is passing through and tell us whatever is blocking it, what that's made of. That will be very diagnostic."

Is Earth doomed?

In the mean time, as we wait for Wright and Siemion to collect more information, it is worth addressing the possibility that if (and that's a very big if) this structure were made by an alien civilization, is Earth doomed?

To that, Cartier said absolutely not.

If the structure were artificial, it would be what Cartier and Wright describe as a Dyson sphere, which is a type of energy generating device and was first described by theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson in a 1960 paper in Science.

"The structure itself is not meant to support life, Cartier told Business Insider. "It's something called a Dyson sphere, which is essentially a large porous series of solar panels ... that's meant to capture some of the starlight and convert it into usable energy for a civilization that's orbiting farther out in a region that would be more habitable."

While constructing a Dyson sphere would require a tremendous amount of resources, it does not take technology that is vastly advanced to our own to build. That means, these potential alien beings have not likely invented warp drives to skip across the galaxy just yet.

"Certainly to build a structure that big requires a lot more resources and potentially more advanced technology than we currently have available to us," Cartier told Business Insider. "However that doesn't imply that they have the capabilities to travel all the way here to Earth."

Moreover, if this, in fact, were a Dyson sphere, it would be a work in progress because of its apparent shape, Cartier later told Business Insider in an email.

The star KIC 8462852 is over 1,400 light years from Earth. So, don't worry, the world won't be coming to an end due to an alien invasion any time soon.

LEARN MORE: The 12 most compelling scientific findings that suggest aliens are real

SEE ALSO: Hubble's sharpest photos of Jupiter ever taken reveal a rare feature that hasn't been seen for over 36 years

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After applauding Jennifer Lawrence’s essay about wage disparity between men and women in Hollywood, Bradley Cooper says he wants to begin teaming up with his female co-stars to negotiate salaries before any film he’s interested in doing goes into production.

“I don’t know where it’s changing otherwise,” Copper told Reuters of the Hollywood gender pay gap. “But that’s something that I could do.”

Cooper and Lawrence have starred together on numerous films, but following the Sony hack it was reveled that for their last film, “American Hustle,” Cooper was able to negotiate a higher salary than Lawrence was. 

"This could be a young-person thing. It could be a personality thing. I’m sure it’s both. But ... based on the statistics, I don’t think I’m the only woman with this issue,” Lawrence wrote in her essay. “Are we socially conditioned to behave this way? ... Could there still be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that doesn’t 'offend' or 'scare' men?"

Lawrence said in her essay that the emails that surfaced thanks to the Sony hack made her realize how less she gets paid than her male co-stars.

Bradley told Reuters he was shocked to learn what he and Lawrence’s “American Hustle” co-star Amy Adams earned for the film. He called it "embarrassing" and noted that she got paid "nothing."

So Bradley believes the only way to end the gender pay gap is for he and his peers to start a dialogue.

“Usually you don’t talk about the financial stuff, you have people,” he told Reuters. “But you know what? It’s time to start doing that.”

Read Lawrence’s complete essay. 

SEE ALSO: How Jennifer Lawrence went from obscurity to the highest-paid female actress in the world in 5 years

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Sometimes you have to fight a little dirty to get to meet Taylor Swift.

Or at least that seems to be the stance of one “Lan P.,” a young man who tricked Redditors into helping him win a contest for a meet-and-greet with the pop star, Upvoted reports.

The story starts in August, when Lan posted a link titled, “How to trick people into getting them to do useless things for you” on Reddit. The link, ironically, took you to a voting page for a Taylor Swift event in San Francisco. That means each person who followed the link was inadvertently submitting a vote for Lan to meet Taylor Swift.

Redditors, by and large, respected Lan’s cleverness once they'd realized they'd been tricked, and supported his bid to meet Swift by upvoting the Reddit post to increase its exposure.

But Lan still had some stiff competition from the outside, especially from a 15-year-old girl named Selin. Selin runs a Taylor Swift fan blog that has over 30,000 followers, according to Upvoted. And she was not a big fan of Lan.

Lan writes that Selin contacted him on Instagram to call him out for cheating.

But fortunately for everyone, there were two spots to meet Swift, so both Lan and Selin got their wish, according to Upvoted.

And from a picture snapped at the concert they attended, it seems Lan took his time with Swift to stage a proposal. No word on what she said.

SEE ALSO: Reddit is trying to get one million people to each donate $1 so they can make a random person a millionaire

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