David Bowie famously pondered whether there is life on Mars – and we might be one step closer to finding out.

Enough water to cover the surface of Mars has been found within its crust. The discovery has profound implications for our understanding of the planet and potentially providing "proof of alien life", said The Sun.

What has been found?
"Once upon a time," said Space, Mars had "lots of liquid water" on its surface, with oceans, lakes and rivers. That water "disappeared" about 3 billion years ago.

But data from a Nasa mission between 2018 and 2022 shows evidence of an underground reservoir of water. The space agency's lander carried a seismometer, which "recorded four years' of vibrations – Mars quakes – from deep inside the Red Planet", said the BBC.

The team employed the same techniques used to search for water on Earth, or to look for oil and gas. "There's a problem," however, said Forbes. This water is "deep", said Space – and there is no water at all in the crust above 5km deep (3.1 miles).

Why does this matter?
Despite their inconvenient depths, if the aquifers are there, they may "provide new insights into the dynamics of Mars’s desiccation", said The Economist. And if Mars "ever was the abode of life", they "may be the habitat of its last survivors".

We "haven't found any evidence for life on Mars", said Michael Manga, professor of planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, but "at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life".

What next?
Don't put your house on the market just yet. Reaching the water would "require drills far beyond anything that the current generation of Mars robots could carry", said The Economist.

Despite this, space scientists are thrilled by the development. The exploration may be expanded. Further seismometers could be sent to Mars and other planets and moons within our solar system in the future, said CNN.

"Spreading them out across Mars" would reveal variations within the planet's interior and provide a greater window into its diverse and complex history.

The Free Speech Union has condemned a local authority in Kent for imposing a "draconian" new order that threatens on-the-spot fines of £100 for swearing in the street.

Thanet District Council, which covers Margate and Ramsgate, has adopted a public spaces protection order (PSPO) that bans "language or behaviour causing or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any other person".

A 'detestable sin'
Swearing was made a criminal offence in Britain in the 1600s, when legislation described such words as "detestable sins". Bad language has also been the subject of curious etiquette. In "olden times", wrote Tanya Gold in the London Evening Standard, "taverns would have a public bar, where you could swear," and "a lounge bar, where you could not".

A great deal changed during the 1960s. The abolition of censorship in that decade "gave free expression" to many words and phrases that "previously had been deeply taboo", said the BBC.

Appearing in 1965 on a late-night live satirical programme called "BBC-3", Kenneth Tynan became the first man to say "f**k" on TV. The same decade also saw swearing begin to "make its way into the recording booth" of pop music, said Slate.

Turning the air blue
The word "c**t" first appeared in a British newspaper in 1987, said UnHerd. It cropped up in the unlikely context of a cricket match report in The Independent after the word was used in a disagreement between England captain Mike Gatting and umpire Shakoor Rana.

More recently, there has been a backlash against swearing in public. In 2011, Peter Foot, chair of the National Campaign for Courtesy, told the BBC that if you want to swear "in your own room, that's fine", but "if you're in a place where you're in earshot of other people" it can be "very distressing".

Thanet hits back
Flouting the new rule in Thanet will cost "sweary locals" £100 and must be paid within 28 days, said Your Local Guardian, but if the fine is paid in 14 days it will be reduced to £60.

But how successful the rule will be is open to debate. In July, when it was discussed at a Thanet District Council cabinet meeting, Cllr Rebecca Wing said: "The police have told us they won't enforce it."

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Isle of Skye: The Longhouse, Tokavaig
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Wiltshire: Bachelors Mead, Horton, Devizes
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Dorset: Woodhouse Fields, Uplyme
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The Ukrainian endgame
Wolfgang Münchau in The New Statesman
Ukraine's offensive in Russian territory "represents an abrupt twist" in the war, says Wolfgang Münchau. "It is a risky manoeuvre" that could give Kyiv a "bargaining chip during peace negotiations". But the conflict can't be "won by a stunt". Both sides still have "a lot to play for, but nobody will get everything they want". I think they will "agree somewhere in the middle" to a deal that will "have no winners" but will allow "both sides to claim victory". 

Public sector cashes in, private sector pays
Daily Mail editorial board
Six weeks into a Labour government, "it is already clear that its plan is to redistribute wealth from the private to the public sector", says the Daily Mail. "Latest to cash in are the train drivers", who accepted a 14% pay rise with "no strings attached". The government and the unions are now "practically indistinguishable". And "the only black hole" in the nation's books is the one Chancellor Rachel Reeves is creating through agreeing to "inflationary and growth-crushing pay claims. And they're still digging." 

Tommy Fury could now be condemned to irrelevance
Kuba Shand-Baptiste on the i news site
"The archetypal 'Love Island' couple is no more," writes Kuba Shand-Baptiste. Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury announced their "shock split" this week. The pair were "arguably the most successful" couple to emerge from the reality TV show, and Molly-Mae has since "carved out a level of success" other reality stars have failed to. Fury had "essentially" been the "Ken to her Barbie" – now "untethered", I have a feeling she is about to enter "an even more successful phase of her career".