Influencers and the election, math whizzes, ‘rooms with a boo’: Catch up on the day’s stories

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👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! With the presidential election just a week away, Americans are emerging from a lengthy funk about the economy. A new survey found they’re more upbeat because of recent stock market gains and lower interest rates.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day:

5 things

1️⃣ Muddled messages: Social media influencers are playing a big role in this year’s US presidential election, but there’s no way to tell who’s getting paid for their endorsements. That means people are often left to judge for themselves.

2️⃣ Whiz kids: Two years ago, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson wowed their Louisiana teachers when they discovered a new way to prove a 2,000-year-old mathematical theory. They just published their work in a scientific journal detailing their original proof — plus nine more.

3️⃣ Firefly fossils: Scientists identified a previously unknown species of the beloved bugs that flickered during the time of the dinosaurs. They were trapped in amber from Myanmar dating back 99 million years ago.

4️⃣ ‘Rooms with a boo’: As interest in paranormal activity grows, some hotels are leaning into their spookier sides by offering guests ghost-hunting kits. Hospitality giants Marriott and Hyatt are getting in on the freaky fun by hyping their haunted hotspots and possessed properties.

5️⃣ Starbucks change: The struggling coffee chain is ditching its controversial olive oil-infused drinks less than a year after introducing them. The “Oleato” offerings will go away in early November as part of a broader plan to simplify a menu the new CEO dubbed “overly complex.”

Watch this

🚀 Lessons from space: CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines the effects that traveling through space has on astronauts. One interesting takeaway: The lack of gravity can cause the body’s messaging to the brain to go awry.

Top headlines

• CNN polls find Harris and Trump locked in close races in Arizona and Nevada
• Police searching for person who set ballot boxes on fire in Washington and Oregon
• Teri Garr, star of ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘Tootsie,’ dies at 79

142 years

❗That’s how long it took the US Navy to apologize for shelling and burning an Alaska Native village to oblivion.

Check this out

👻 Spooktacular: It wouldn’t be Halloween without some eerie vibes — even from space! A NASA satellite just captured a rare view of a glacier in western Antarctica that appears to be smoking. From the ground, it even looks like someone turned on a fog machine over the water.

Your health

👩‍⚕️ Hormone health: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals — also known as EDCs — are everywhere and could have many impacts, researchers say. Here’s what you should know.

Celebrity corner

⭐ ‘Complex thing’: Shawn Mendes took a break during a Colorado performance to share “the truth” about his sexuality. The Canadian singer said he decided to discuss it publicly after years of speculation.

Quiz time

🧙‍♀️ A large number of witches’ marks were found on the walls of a Tudor house in England. What are the overlapping Vs believed to be a call for protection from?
A. Visitors
B. Vultures
C. Vampires
D. Virgin Mary
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Good vibes

😎 We like to wrap things up on a positive note: For cancer patients, losing their hair during treatment can be demoralizing. An Irish startup company is working on a helmet with advanced scalp cooling technology to limit hair loss — potentially eliminating one drawback to chemotherapy.

Thanks for reading

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.
🧠 Quiz answer: D. Some believe the overlapping Vs, known as Marian marks, were for protection from the Virgin Mary.
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5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Tricia Escobedo, Meghan Pryce and Kimberly Richardson.

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