In the summer of 2013, the world was agitated by sensational news: Edward Snowden, an employee of the National Security Agency (NSA), leaked classified documents detailing how the US government uses information technology to spy on potential terrorists. Through this breach, information has poured in that the secret services are harvesting millions of phone calls, emails, photos, and videos from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and other communications giants. But then what do agencies like the NSA do with this information?

Joe Pappalardo

How much data do we produce? According to recent research by IBM, humanity generates 2.5 quintillion bytes of information every day. (If these bytes were thought of as coins stacked flat against each other, they would cover the entire globe in five layers.) This amount includes recorded information - photos, videos, social media posts, text files, telephone records, financial reports and results of scientific experiments. This also includes data that exists for only a few seconds, such as the content of telephone conversations or Skype chats.

The collection of data by the security services is based on the basic thesis that the entire mass of them can be analyzed in such a way as to reveal connections between different people with its help. Understanding these connections, you can find clues for investigative actions.

The main principle in data processing is to provide each fragment with a label, and on the basis of this metadata, computer algorithms will be able to identify communications of interest to the security service. Metadata is data that describes other data. These are, for example, the names and sizes of files on your computer. In the digital world, a label attached to a piece of data would be called a tag. Labeling data is an essential first step in data processing, because it is the label that allows the analyst (or his program) to classify and organize the available information for further processing and analysis. Labels allow you to manipulate pieces of data without delving into their content. This is a very important legal point in the work of the security service, since US law does not allow opening the correspondence of US citizens, as well as foreigners staying in the country legally, without a warrant.

Edward Snowden

Data analytics firm IDC reports that only 3% of all information circulating in the computing world is labeled in some way when it is created. Therefore, the NSA uses a special, very complex program that "sticks" appropriate labels on all the information collected. They are the basis for any system that establishes links between different types of data, such as between video files, documents, and telephone records. For example, a data processing system can draw the attention of the investigation to a suspect who posts terrorist propaganda online, visits sites that describe the technology for making improvised explosive devices, and in addition buys a pressure cooker. (This pattern is consistent with the behavior of the Tsarnaev brothers, who are accused of the Boston Marathon attack.) This tactic is based on the assumption that terrorists have specific data profiles, although many experts question this assumption.

The NSA collects metadata from telephone conversations. This metadata makes it possible to identify terrorists without delving into the content of the negotiations themselves. Among millions of calls, certain patterns can be found, as the scenario in the photo illustrates. 1. A call from Saudi Arabia from a known organization that supports terrorism, addressed to a cluster of possible accomplices. 2. A call from an organization known for its terrorist activities, addressed to a US citizen who has attracted the attention of the National Security Agency. 3. Metadata on telephone conversations conducted by the suspected individual forms a cluster of accomplices in California. 4. Details of phone conversations show that one of the accomplices in California is contacting someone in the Saudi Arabian cluster. The NSA draws the attention of the FBI to this connection and obtains the right to wiretap this line.

The NSA is a major customer for software that allows you to work with large databases. One such program is called Accumulo. There is no direct evidence that it is used for surveillance in international communications systems, and it was created specifically to provide tags to billions of disparate data fragments. This "secret weapon" of the security service, created by Google programming tools, is written in open source. This year, Sqrrl released this program to the market and hopes that it will be of interest to the healthcare and finance industries to work with huge amounts of operational data.

The NSA has the right to monitor international communication channels and collects huge amounts of data. These are trillions of fragments of various messages that people write around the world. The agency does not hunt for criminals, terrorists or spies who are identified with the help of its work, but simply leaks the information received to other government agencies - the Pentagon, the FBI and the CIA. Further work is carried out according to this scheme. First, one of the 11 judges of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance) secret court receives a request from a government agency for permission to process certain data obtained by the NSA. Having received permission (and this, as a rule, there are no problems), the request is first forwarded to the FBI Electronic Communications Control Unit (ECSU). This move should ensure legal correctness - FBI agents check the request and confirm that US citizens are not the object of surveillance. ECSU forwards the same request to the FBI Interception Techniques. They get information from Internet servers and pass it on to the NSA to be passed through their data processing programs. (Many communications companies deny that their servers are exposed to the NSA. Federal officials, on the other hand, report such cooperation.) Finally, the NSA relays relevant information to the government agency from which the request.

What is the NSA up to?

The NSA's troubles began when Snowden revealed to the world that the US government was collecting metadata from phone conversations of all Verizon's customers, including millions of Americans. In response to an FBI request, FISA Judge Roger Wilson issued an order requiring Verizon to report details of all telephone conversations to the FBI. The NSA calls this practice an "early warning system" that detects terrorist activity.

Before the public had time to digest information about metadata, Snowden brought down on him a story about another direction in the work of the NSA, which has the designation US-984XN. Each search platform, each source of raw intelligence information receives its own designation - SIGAD (Signals Intelligence Activity Designator, “intelligence indicator”) and a code name. The SIGAD US-984XN service is known to us by its more commonly used codename, PRISM. The PRISM system is a collection of digital photographs, files stored somewhere and sent somewhere, emails, chats, videos and video conversations. This information is taken from nine leading Internet companies. The US government claims that these activities helped capture Khalid Wazzani, a naturalized US citizen whom the FBI accuses of plotting to blow up the New York Stock Exchange.

The diagrams released by Snowden show that the NSA, among other things, uses real-time surveillance tools in its activities. Agency analysts can receive notifications about a user connecting to the service or sending a letter, as well as about entering a particular chat.

The rapid growth of digital information is attracting the attention of both the private sector and government agencies. Recycling these streams is becoming a promising undertaking.

In July, Snowden released a top-secret report describing software that allows you to browse hundreds of different databases. Snowden argues that these programs allow the lowest-level analyst to interfere uncontrollably in other people's information exchange processes. The report gives examples: “My client speaks German but is based in Pakistan. How can I find him? or “My client uses GoogleMaps to find their destinations. Can this information be used to determine his email address?” The described program allows, by asking one such question, to simultaneously search 700 servers scattered all over the world.

Where can this data be taken?

Dogs trained to search for explosives sometimes raise a panic when there is no explosive nearby. This error, called a false positive, is common. Something similar happens in the field of data collection. This is when a computer program catches some suspicious data set and draws an erroneous conclusion based on it. In such cases, vast arrays of information are a circumstance that increases the likelihood of failure.

Have you ever wondered where the offers coming to your mailbox from a variety of companies come from? They are formed by a certain algorithm based on your own interests that have left their mark on the Web. It is believed that target marketing leads to sales expansion.

In 2011, British researchers developed the Bus Bomb game. 60% of the players who got the role of "terrorists" were hunted down using the DScent program. Her actions were based on recorded "purchases" and "visits" of a particular site, taken under control. The ability of a computer to automatically find a match between video files from security cameras and the fixation of purchases made can be perceived as a blue dream of law enforcement agencies who care about our safety. But for civilian freedom fighters, ubiquitous surveillance is a major concern.

The US Department of Justice accused Reality Lee Winner of leaking a secret National Security Agency report on Russian interference in the presidential campaign. Her case will be indicative, experts are sure

Reality Lee Winner (Photo: Reality Winner / Facebook)

On Monday, June 5, the US Department of Justice accused 25-year-old Reality Lee Winner, an employee of one of the companies working for the National Security Agency (NSA), of being involved in leaking a classified report on Russian hacker interference in US elections. Winner was arrested on June 3, and the charges were brought after The Intercept published the key points of this report.

Winner was among six employees who printed the report, according to The Washington Post. She is now under arrest and faces up to ten years in prison for violating the espionage law. The secret report was leaked to US intelligence after an American journalist contacted the NSA asking for comment on the document. He also provided the Office with a copy. This intensified an internal investigation, citing FBI data.

Winner is the only employee of the NSA contractor company that emailed the journalist, the FBI files say. On June 3, during interrogation, she allegedly admitted that she "intentionally" printed out a secret report, took it out of the office, saved it and sent it to journalists. According to the FBI, Winner understood that the information could harm US interests and be used by another state, writes The Washington Post.

“Releasing classified information without permission endangers the security of our country and undermines public confidence in the government,” said US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. “People who are trusted with classified information and who make a promise to protect it should be held accountable when they violate that obligation.”

At the same time, a campaign has already begun in defense of Winner. Alleged Reality whistleblower Lee Winner needs support. She is a young woman who is being accused of a courageous attempt to help us learn more,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Later, WikiLeaks $10,000 for information about The Intercept reporter, who framed Winner by giving the US authorities a printout of the NSA report and the number of the report from which it was possible to calculate it.

On May 16, US President Donald Trump is to find in the ranks of the American intelligence agencies those who are leaking information to the media about his communication with representatives of Russia. The statements came in response to accusations that he disclosed secret information about the plans of the Islamic State (IS, the group banned in Russia) during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the first half of May. In February, Trump said the constant leaks were hindering his administration and complicating his relationship with U.S. intelligence. Then he instructed the Ministry of Justice to investigate the leaks.

What is the NSA report about?

A classified NSA report claims that Russian intelligence agencies carried out cyberattacks on polling station software providers and sent out 122 fake (phishing) emails containing documents with malware. According to the report, the systems were hacked by employees of the Russian Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GU RF Armed Forces; until 2010 - GRU) in August 2016. The purpose of the attack was to obtain information about the software solutions used in the voting system. The NSA believes that the hackers focused on collecting data related to the US voter registration process, as well as private manufacturers of machines that store voter list information. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the data that was collected as a result of this cyber attack did not relate to the vote count and could not compromise the election results, The Intercept emphasizes.​

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov commented on the information about the interference of the GRU in the US presidential election. “Apart from this statement, which is absolutely untrue, we have not seen any other information, we have not heard any, let’s say, arguments in favor of the reliability of this information, and, accordingly, we strongly refute the possibility that such a thing could be,” Peskov said, adding that the Kremlin was not familiar with the NSA report.

Headquarters of the National Security Agency (Photo: Patrick Semansky / AP)

Leakage as a means of political struggle

Information leaks are becoming an increasingly common way of political struggle in America, especially since the publication of classified information always has an international resonance, said Pavel Sharikov, an expert at the Institute for the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “Previously, such actions fell under the category of “betrayal of the motherland” and occurred infrequently. Today, after the publication of materials transmitted by Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, this is becoming a fashionable trend,” Sharikov added.

However, exposing employees of the presidential administration collaborating with the media is very reminiscent of "tightening the screws," the expert believes. He does not rule out that very high-ranking representatives of the White House are involved in the "stuffing" and "leaks", and it is possible that their ultimate goal is to achieve a restriction of freedom of the press. “Together with the increase in the number of leaks, it is extremely difficult to figure out which information is a “leak” and which is alternative truth or fake news. So it’s understandable why this area is becoming a priority for the Trump administration, ”the expert concludes.

The cases of Manning, Snowden and others show that "severe punishment for whistleblowers" occurs under any president, Mark Kramer, an expert at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, told RBC. Therefore, the case of Reality Lee Winner is not out of the ordinary. However, she cannot be compared to Snowden, as she only released one report to the press, while Snowden released millions of classified documents, Cramer added.

During the presidency of Barack Obama, nine legal cases were brought against the organizers of leaks and leaks. The administration used the espionage law to prosecute not spies, but government officials who spoke to journalists, The New York Times journalist James Reisen noted in December 2016.

The most famous whistleblowers in US history

Daniel Ellsberg- former US military expert and employee of the American think tank RAND. Disappointed with the actions of the American leadership during the Vietnam War, in June 1971 he gave The New York Times a secret collection of "American-Vietnamese Relations, 1945-1967: A Study" (the so-called "Pentagon Papers"), in which he himself took part. . The report was commissioned by US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. It noted that the administration of President Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) provoked the escalation of the Vietnam War, despite the president's own statements that the United States did not seek to expand it. A lawsuit was initiated against Ellsberg. He faced up to 115 years in prison, but evidence-gathering practices that violate human rights (phone tapping, illegal searches) led to a broad public movement in his support. Ellsberg was acquitted. The secret collection was completely declassified 40 years later, in 2011.

Julian Assange is an Australian programmer who founded the online resource WikiLeaks in 2006, which in 2010 published nearly 100,000 classified documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This data was shared and later published in the world's leading publications, including The Guardian, The New York Times, Der Spiegel and Al-Jazeera. In particular, the documents and videos contained information about the death of civilians in Afghanistan due to the fault of the US military, which caused a wide international outcry. In June 2012, Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and in August of the same year received political asylum there. It is located there at present.

Chelsea (Bradley) Manning A former US Army soldier who was arrested for transferring to WikiLeaks a video of a helicopter attack on civilians and Reuters journalists, who were mistaken by the military for terrorists, near Baghdad in 2007. He was also suspected of leaking tens of thousands of classified documents about the war in Afghanistan. In March 2011, he was charged with 22 charges. Court hearings in his case began in mid-December 2011. At trial, he pleaded guilty to ten counts. In August 2013, the court sentenced him to 35 years in prison. During the years spent in custody, Manning changed his gender and name to Chelsea. In January 2017, former US President Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Manning, who was released on May 17.

Edward Snowden- a former employee of the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States, who in early June 2013 handed over to The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers secret NSA data that revealed a scheme for total surveillance of American intelligence services around the world using information networks. According to the Pentagon, Snowden stole 1.7 million classified files. In June 2013, Snowden was accused in absentia of espionage, and he was put on the international wanted list by the US authorities. The informant fled first to Hong Kong and then to Russia, where he received temporary asylum in August 2013. A year later, he was issued a residence permit in Russia for three years, which was extended in 2017 until 2020.

The CIA documents codenamed Vault 7 and called it the agency's largest document leak. The first part was called Year Zero, it includes more than 8.7 thousand documents and files that were stored in an isolated internal network of the headquarters in Langley.

Year Zero, according to WikiLeaks, demonstrates the intelligence agency's ability to hack Apple iPhone, Android and Microsoft Windows smartphones, as well as Samsung TVs. In addition, the department has the ability to bypass encryption and intercept messages in WhatsApp and Telegram messengers.

At the same time, according to Wikileaks, the CIA has lost control of most of its hacker arsenal, including malware, viruses and trojans.

Smartphones

The CIA's hacking programs are created by the Engineering Development Group (EDG - a division of the Directorate of Digital Innovation (DDI)), which in turn is one of the five main directorates of the CIA. The EDG is responsible for the development, testing, and support of all malware, viruses, and other software used by the CIA in its covert operations around the world.

Smartphone hacking programs at the CIA were handled by the Mobile Devices Division (MDB), which developed programs that allow remote hacking and control of phones. With their help, special services can access the user's geolocation, his audio and text messages. In addition, malware can activate the camera or microphone without the owner noticing.

According to WiliLeaks, the intelligence agency may have exploited up to 24 vulnerabilities in Android smartphones. This allows the CIA to bypass protection in popular instant messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and others). The vulnerabilities were found by the CIA either on their own or obtained from colleagues at the FBI or NSA.

Due to the popularity of the iPhone and iPad among the political and business elite, the CIA department directed special efforts to develop programs to access these devices.

Manage Samsung TVs

The CIA also has the Integrated Devices Division, which created the Weeping Angel program, according to WikiLeaks. It "infects" Samsung's Smart TVs, causing the allegedly turned off device to record indoor conversations and transmit them to a secret CIA server.

It is noted that the malware for Samsung TVs was developed by the CIA department in conjunction with the British Security Service (MI5).

In addition, in 2014, the CIA conducted a study on the possibility of infecting the control systems of modern cars and trucks. WikiLeaks believes that with the help of such a program, the CIA could carry out assassination attempts that would be impossible to solve.

Computers

The CIA also made serious efforts to gain access to computers running Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

The agency used both automated infection and malware control programs (Assasin and Medusa) and CD/DVDs, USB drives, and programs to encrypt data in image files to infect computers.

In addition, the Network Devices Branch (NDB) has created automated platforms for attacking network infrastructures (HIVE, Cutthroat, Swindle).

The project collects and maintains a "library of methods" of hacker attacks that were developed in other countries, including Russia. With the help of Umbrage and similar projects, the CIA can leave "fingerprints" of certain hacker groups.

Umbrage components, among other things, are programs for collecting passwords, viewing webcams, destroying data, and bypassing anti-virus programs.

Secret base in Germany

WikiLeaks also exposed the CIA's secret hacker base. By the end of 2016, the intelligence service's hacker unit is believed to have numbered more than five thousand people. However, some operations are developed and carried out not only at the CIA base in Langley, but also at the US Consulate General in Frankfurt.

According to the project, from Germany, American cyber intelligence conducts operations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. At the same time, hackers in Frankfurt work under diplomatic cover, they are issued diplomatic passports.

Apple, Snowden and Durov - about the publication of WikiLeaks

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden)

Our universe is so huge that it is extremely difficult to comprehend its entire essence. We can try to mentally embrace its vast expanses, but each time our consciousness flounders only on the surface. Today we decided to bring some intriguing facts that are likely to cause bewilderment.

When we look into the night sky, we see the past

The first presented fact is able to amaze the imagination. When we look at the stars in the night sky, we see starlight from the past, a glow that travels through space many tens and even hundreds of light years before reaching the human eye. In other words, whenever a person glances at the starry sky, he sees how the luminaries looked once before. Thus, the brightest star Vega is located at a distance of 25 light years from Earth. And the light that we saw tonight, this star left 25 years ago.

In the constellation of Orion there is a remarkable star Betelgeuse. It is located at a distance of 640 light years from our planet. Therefore, if we look at it tonight, we see the light left during the Hundred Years War between England and France. However, other stars are even further away, therefore, looking at them, we are in contact with an even deeper past.

The Hubble telescope allows you to look back billions of years

Science is constantly evolving, and now humanity has a unique opportunity to consider very distant objects in the universe. And it's all thanks to NASA's remarkable engineering development of the Hubble Ultra-Deep-Field Telescope. It is thanks to this that NASA labs have been able to create some incredible images. So, using images from this telescope between 2003 and 2004, a tiny patch of sky containing 10,000 objects was displayed.

Incredibly, most of the objects displayed are young galaxies acting as a portal to the past. Looking at the resulting image, people are transported 13 billion years ago, which is only 400-800 million years after the Big Bang. It was he who, from a scientific point of view, laid the foundation of our Universe.

Echoes of the Big Bang penetrate the old TV

In order to catch the cosmic echo that exists in the universe, we need to turn on the old tube TV. At that moment, while we have not yet tuned the channels, we will see black and white interference and characteristic noise, clicks or crackles. Know that 1% of this interference is made up of cosmic background radiation, the afterglow of the Big Bang.

Sagittarius B2 is a giant cloud of alcohol

Not far from the center of the Milky Way, at a distance of 20,000 light years from Earth, there is a molecular cloud consisting of gas and dust. The giant cloud contains 10 to 9 billion liters of vinyl alcohol. By discovering these important organic molecules, scientists have gained some clues to the first building blocks of life, as well as their derivatives.

There is a diamond planet

Astronomers have discovered the largest diamond planet in our galaxy. This massive chunk of crystal diamond Lucy is named after the Beatles song of the same name about diamond skies. The planet Lucy was discovered at a distance of 50 light years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus. The diameter of the giant diamond is 25,000 miles, which is much larger than the Earth. The weight of the planet is estimated at 10 billion trillion carats.

The path of the sun around the Milky Way

The Earth, as well as other objects in the solar system, revolve around the Sun, while our luminary, in turn, revolves around the Milky Way. It takes the Sun 225 million years to complete one revolution. Do you know that the last time our star was in its current position in the galaxy, when the collapse of the super continent Pangea began on Earth, and the dinosaurs began their development.

The largest mountain in the solar system

There is a mountain on Mars called Olympus Olympus, which is a giant shield volcano (analogous to the volcanoes found on the Hawaiian Islands). The height of the object is 26 kilometers, and its diameter stretches for 600 kilometers. For comparison: Everest, the largest peak of the Earth, is three times smaller than its counterpart from Mars.

Rotation of Uranus

Did you know that Uranus rotates relatively to the Sun practically "lying on its side", unlike most other planets, which have less axial deviation? This gigantic deflection results in very long seasons, with each pole receiving roughly 42 years of continuous sunlight in the summer and a similar time of perpetual darkness in the winter. The last time the summer solstice was observed on Uranus was in 1944, the winter solstice is expected only in 2028.

Features of Venus

Venus is the slowest rotating planet in the solar system. It rotates so slowly that it takes longer to make a complete revolution than it does to orbit. This means that a day on Venus is actually longer than its year. This planet is also home to constant high CO2 electronic storms. Venus is also shrouded in clouds of sulfuric acid.

The fastest objects in the universe

It is believed that neutron stars rotate the fastest in the universe. A pulsar is a special type of neutron star that emits a pulse of light, the speed of which allows astronomers to measure the speed of rotation. The fastest rotation is recorded at the pulsar, which rotates at more than 70,000 kilometers per second.

How much does a neutron star spoon weigh?

Along with an incredibly high rotation speed, neutron stars have an increased density of their particles. So, according to experts, if we could collect one tablespoon of matter concentrated in the center of a neutron star, and then weigh it, then the resulting mass would be approximately one billion tons.

Is there life outside of our planet?

Scientists do not leave attempts to identify an intelligent civilization in any other place in the Universe than the Earth. For these purposes, a special project called "Search for extraterrestrial intelligence" has been developed. The project includes the study of the most promising planets and satellites, such as Io (moon of Jupiter). There are indications that evidence of primitive life may be found there.

Scientists are also considering the theory that life on Earth could have happened more than once. If this is proven, then the prospects for other objects in the universe will be more than intriguing.

There are 400 billion stars in our galaxy

Undoubtedly, the Sun is of great importance to us. It is the source of life, the source of heat and light, the source of energy. But it's just one of the many stars that populate our galaxy, centered on the Milky Way. According to the latest estimates, there are more than 400 billion stars in our galaxy.

Scientists are also looking for intelligent life among the 500 million planets orbiting other stars, with indicators of distance from the Sun similar to the Earth. The research is based not only on the distance from the star, but also on temperature indicators, the presence of water, ice or gas, the right combination of chemical compounds and other forms that can build life, the same as on Earth.

Conclusion

So, in the entire galaxy, there are 500 million planets where life could potentially exist. So far, this hypothesis has no concrete evidence and is based only on assumptions, however, it cannot be refuted either.

Loeb and Guilshon calculated that the merger of supermassive black holes would have to eject stars with a wide range of velocities. Few of them would reach near-light speed, but the rest would accelerate seriously enough. For example, says Loeb, there could be more than a trillion stars in the observable universe that move at a speed of 1/10 of the speed of light, that is, about 107,000,000 kilometers per hour.

Since the movement of a single isolated star through intergalactic space will be quite dim, only powerful telescopes of the future, such as scheduled for launch in 2018, will be able to detect them. And even then, most likely, such telescopes will only be able to see stars that have reached our galactic environs. Most of the ejected stars most likely formed near the centers of galaxies and were ejected shortly after their birth. This means that they have been traveling for most of their lifetime. In this case, the age of the star will be approximately equal to the time that the star travels. By combining the travel time with the measured speed, astronomers can determine the distance from the star's home galaxy to our galactic neighborhood.

If astronomers can find stars that were ejected from the same galaxy at different times, they can use them to measure the distance to that galaxy at different times in the past. By looking at how this distance has changed over time, it will be possible to determine how fast the universe is expanding.

two merging galaxies

Ultrafast wandering stars may have another use. When supermassive black holes collide with each other, they create ripples in space and time that display the intimate details of black hole mergers. The eLISA space telescope, scheduled to launch in 2028, will detect gravitational waves. Since ultrafast stars form when black holes are about to merge, they will act as a kind of signal that will point eLISA to possible sources of gravitational waves.

The existence of such stars would be one of the strongest signals that two supermassive black holes are on the cusp of merging, says astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Although they may be difficult to detect, they will represent a fundamentally new tool for studying the universe.

In 4 billion years, our galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy. The two supermassive black holes at their centers will merge, and the stars could also be ejected. Our Sun is too far from the center of galaxies to be ejected, but another star might hold habitable planets. And if people still exist by then, they could potentially land on this planet and go to another galaxy. Although, of course, this prospect is far, like no other.