Editor’s Note: CNN’s 5 Things newsletter is your one-stop shop for the latest headlines and fascinating stories to start and end your busy day. Sign up here.
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! There’s a simple way to test your overall health: see how long you can stand on one leg. Grip strength and other physical skills decline as we age — but researchers say the ability to balance on one leg deteriorates at the fastest rate.
Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day:
5 things
1️⃣ Cold case solved: Kathy Halle disappeared in 1979 while heading to pick up her sister in North Aurora, Illinois. The 19-year-old’s body was found weeks later. Now, authorities have linked her death to a suspected serial killer.
2️⃣ Biggest lake shrinking: The Caspian Sea is receding fast, its water level dropping five feet since 2005. Some experts fear the Caspian — a saltwater lake that is the world’s largest — is being pushed to the point of no return.
3️⃣ 7 days until Halloween: Still deciding on what you’re going to be for Halloween? Google has released its top 25 trending costumes, including a viral Olympic athlete and characters in “Beetlejuice” and “Poppy Playtime.” Here’s the full list.
4️⃣ Space flight delay: A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts is heading back to Earth, expected to splash down in the predawn hours of Friday. However, it won’t be carrying two Boeing Starliner test pilots who thought their mission, which began in June, would only last a week — and who will need to catch a ride home from SpaceX.
5️⃣ Machine journalism: A radio station in Poland is experimenting with AI-generated presenters instead of human hosts to try to reach younger listeners. A journalist and former employee called it “a dangerous precedent.”
Watch this
🤖 Cello-playing robot: If AI-generated radio presenters weren’t enough, a robot recently performed as a cellist alongside a live orchestra. You can hear what it sounded like. The composer said he expects robotic performances will become an art form but won’t replace human musicians.
Top headlines
• House GOP committee that oversees elections hired two former Trump officials involved in 2020 fake elector scheme
• Los Angeles district attorney says he’ll recommend resentencing in decades-old Menendez brothers’ murder case
• $478 million Powerball winning ticket sold in Georgia
Check this out
🐛 Big bug: It’s hard to imagine a nearly 9-foot-long millipede-like creature roaming the earth. The massive Arthropleura lived nearly 300 million years ago and has mystified scientists. A recent fossil find has helped solve an enduring mystery about this creepy prehistoric creature.
Quotable
💍 High standards: The rapper paraphrased his BFF Martha Stewart’s explanation on why she won’t be appearing on “The Golden Bachelorette” TV show anytime soon.
Quiz time
A CNN reporting team was recently held captive by an armed militia while trying to report on what’s considered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Where were they?
A. Venezuela
B. Sudan
C. Papua New Guinea
D. Ukraine
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.
Good vibes
😎 We like to wrap things up on a positive note: A cancer diagnosis is a gut-punch, and sometimes the only people who understand what you’re going through are close friends and family. When Jenna Fischer (from “The Office”) first learned she had breast cancer, she immediately called her friend, fellow actress Christina Applegate. Her “salty language” and sage advice as a breast cancer survivor helped Fischer prepare for her recovery journey. Fischer has undergone chemotherapy and said the best advice she received was “live your life during this process.”
Thanks for reading
🧠 Quiz answer: B. CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Scott McWhinnie and Brent Swails were detained in Darfur, Sudan, while trying to spotlight the underreported conflict and humanitarian crisis there. Test your knowledge with CNN’s weekly news quiz in tomorrow morning’s 5 Things newsletter.
📧 Check out all of CNN’s newsletters.
5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Kimberly Richardson, Chris Good, Meghan Pryce and Dan Wine.