Alien life could be hiding in underground lakes on Mars, scientists reveal

MARS may be teeming with life in lakes found a mile underneath its south pole, say researchers.

A complex system of underground water ways found on the Red Planet has been likened to those in Antarctica, home to strange shrimps and swimming sea cucumbers.

Prof Elena Pettinelli, co-author of the findings by Roma Tre University in Italy, said: “The presence of sub-glacial lakes has the potential for the existence of microbial life.”

Prof Roberto Orosei, of Italy's National Institute of Astrophysics in Bologna, said: "The existence of a single sub-glacial lake could be attributed to exceptional conditions such as the presence of a volcano under the ice sheet.

"But the discovery of an entire system of lakes implies their formation process is relatively simple and common – and these lakes have probably existed for much of Mars' history.

"For this reason, they could still retain traces of any life forms that could have evolved when Mars had a dense atmosphere, a milder climate and the presence of liquid water on the surface, similar to the early Earth."

Analysis of data from the Mars Express orbiter found the lakes are rich in salt, which lowers water’s freezing point.

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Watch Paris Fashion Week Now

Paris Fashion Week runs from Sept. 28 through Oct. 6. We’ll see Christian Dior and Kenzo, Thebe Magugu Maison Margiela. We’ll be providing shows right here.

The presenting body is the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, where you can also watch the entire season of shows.

Wales Bonner

“Since her breakout collection in 2015,” we wrote of Grace Wales Bonner’s namesake label, “she has been patching her way toward a grand theory of style that connects fashion to history, to art and to Black culture.”

Mame Kurogouchi

Situationist

U.S. eases travel advisory for Guatemala and Nicaragua

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Monday it was now advising Americans to reconsider travel to Guatemala and Nicaragua as well as Eswatini in southern Africa, after issuing an advisory to avoid all travel early in the coronavirus pandemic.

Microsoft Says Office 365, Teams, Other Online Services Down

Microsoft Corp. said Office 365, Teams and some of its other online services are experiencing service interruptions.

A company spokesman confirmed the outages, which are also impacting Exchange Online and OneDrive. He didn’t have any information on the reason or the time it will take to get the services up and running again.

Problems with some of these services were reported earlier on Monday by Downdetector, which aggregates user reports of issues. That suggests the outages have lasted at least two hours.

Office 365 packages popular Microsoft software such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel into an online subscription. Teams is a collaboration tool that integrates with Office 365. The disruption follows a similar incident last week when some users of Google’s G Suite cloud productivity tools experienced errors.

The outages may be more disruptive at the moment because so many people are working and studying remotely. Microsoft and Google’s offerings are used widely by schools and other educational organizations, which are conducting most classes over the internet.

Latest Democratic Relief Bill Would Extend Airline Aid to March

Airline workers facing mass job losses this week would get a six-month reprieve in a House bill that includes more than $28 billion in payroll assistance for the industry.

The latest pandemic relief package proposed by House lawmakers would give $25 billion to passenger carriers and $3 billion to airline contractors to cover their payrolls through next March. A previous measure to protect those jobs expires on Thursday and airlines have warned they will have to cut tens of thousands of jobs without additional relief.

The bill would also provide an additional $13.5 billion for airports, which have been hit as hard as airlines by dramatic drops in passengers during the pandemic. At least 25% of the aid must go to airport restaurants and retailers under the House proposal.

While senators from both parties have endorsed the airline payroll money, the bill’s fate is uncertain in that chamber. Airlines have lost about 68% of passengers compared to 2019, according to the latest seven-day average count from the Transportation Security Administration.

Tampa Bay Lightning beat Dallas Stars in NHL Stanley Cup Final

The Tampa Bay Lightning won the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history with a 2-0 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday.

The victory saw the Lightning, who won their maiden Stanley Cup in 2004, clinch the best-of-seven championship series 4-2.

The entire Stanley Cup Final was held in Edmonton, one of two Canadian hub cities for the playoffs, to help limit travel and minimize COVID-19 risks.