Review: Good Omens finale (mostly) sticks the landing

Review: Good Omens finale (mostly) sticks the landing

fivenewscrypto    mai 17, 2026   

It's been a three-year wait, but Prime Video finally released the series finale for Good Omens: a 90-minute single episode that sought to wrap everything up in a neat little bow. Verdict: Truncating the final season so drastically definitely hurts the first half of the series finale, which feels chaotic and rushed. But once that stupendous on-screen chemistry between co-stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen kicks back in, the old magic shines through, strong as ever, giving us a fitting end to this beloved comic saga.

(Spoilers below for all seasons.)

Here's a brief recap, since it's been a minute since the S2 finale. The series is based on the original 1990 novel by Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett. Good Omens is the story of an angel, Aziraphale (Sheen), and a demon, Crowley (Tennant), who gradually become friends over the millennia and team up to avert Armageddon. Season 2 found Aziraphale and Crowley getting back to normal, when the archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) turned up unexpectedly at the door of Aziraphale’s bookshop with no memory of who he was or how he got there. The duo had to evade the combined forces of Heaven and Hell to solve the mystery of what happened to Gabriel and why.

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Solar power production undercut by coal pollution

Solar power production undercut by coal pollution

fivenewscrypto    mai 17, 2026   

Coal is by far the most polluting fuel that we use. It produces the most carbon emissions per unit of energy, and impurities in the coal produce a lot of sulfur dioxide aerosols, as well as nitrous and nitrogen oxides. Then there’s the coal ash that’s left behind, which typically contains a lot of toxic metals. The health benefits of displacing coal power are typically estimated to be well above the costs of the new generating equipment. 

But a new study suggests that the problems with coal-derived pollution go beyond health; it interferes with other power sources. Researchers have found that aerosols, both natural and human-derived, significantly reduce the power we could be getting from solar panels, to the tune of hundreds of terawatts a year. And a lot of those aerosols come from burning coal.

A big impact

The new work, done by a team in the UK, is based on a new global inventory of solar facilities. This started with known inventories of solar facilities, and was supplemented with AI-analyzed satellite imagery and crowdsourced records of locations. Satellite images were then used to determine the size of these facilities, and location-tagged weather data could then be used to estimate their power production.

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Weather-monitoring firm hangs dark cloud over customers’ heads by forcing new app

Weather-monitoring firm hangs dark cloud over customers’ heads by forcing new app

fivenewscrypto    mai 17, 2026   

Weather-monitoring company AcuRite is forcing device owners to use a new companion app on May 30, frustrating some long-time customers.

AcuRite, which sells devices such as weather stations, indoor thermometers, and rain gauges, began emailing customers last month that they’d soon have to control their devices with the AcuRite Now iOS and Android app. AcuRite first launched the app in June 2025 to control a new weather station, the AcuRite Optimus. However, owners of AcuRite devices had still been able to use the My AcuRite app, which launched in 2016.

Soon, however, My AcuRite will no longer be available, making AcuRite Now the only official app for controlling AcuRite devices. The website for the My AcuRite app currently reads:

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Three's a party: US, China, and now Russia are on the prowl in GEO

Three's a party: US, China, and now Russia are on the prowl in GEO

fivenewscrypto    mai 17, 2026   

The world's leading space powers desperately want to know what the others are up to high above the equator. For more than a decade, the US military has operated a fleet of "inspector" satellites designed to sidle up to other spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit and take pictures. China started launching its satellites for a similar mission in 2018.

Ars has written about these activities in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) before, but the last few months have seen a couple of interesting developments. First, Russia has now joined the fray with the recent arrival of its own suspected inspector (or attack) satellite in GEO. Second, the US Space Force is poised to order more—perhaps many more—reconnaissance satellites of its own to send into the geosynchronous belt.

GEO is special. The laws of orbital mechanics mean a satellite in this type of orbit, some 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) over the equator, moves around the Earth at the same rate as the planet's rotation, causing it to hover over the same location. Commercial and military-owned geosynchronous satellites typically spend years in the same location, or slot, to provide communications services to users.

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Ebola outbreak with uncommon strain erupts in Congo and Uganda; 65 deaths

Ebola outbreak with uncommon strain erupts in Congo and Uganda; 65 deaths

fivenewscrypto    mai 17, 2026   

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday confirmed an Ebola outbreak in the Northeastern Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Officials in Uganda subsequently reported that the deadly hemorrhagic disease had spilled over the border, with one "imported" confirmed case identified in Kampala, the capital.

So far, the DRC has reported 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones. Although it is now just being reported, the outbreak already ranks around the 10th largest Ebola outbreak to date.

This marks the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC since the virus was discovered in 1976. But unlike almost all of the country's past Ebola outbreaks, preliminary laboratory results suggest that the current outbreak is not caused by the Zaire Ebola virus strain. Further genetic sequencing is ongoing today to determine the strain causing the illnesses.

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Send the arXiv AI-generated slop, get a yearlong vacation from submissions

Send the arXiv AI-generated slop, get a yearlong vacation from submissions

fivenewscrypto    mai 17, 2026   

AI-generated slop has shown up everywhere, including in the peer-reviewed literature. Fake citations, unedited prompt responses, and nonsensical diagrams have all slipped past editors and peer reviewers, and it's not always clear if there are any consequences for the people responsible.

Now, it appears that a number of scientific fields will be enforcing rules against AI-generated problems even before peer review or journals get involved. One of the people involved in the physics and astronomy preprint server arXiv used a social media thread to announce that any inappropriate AI-produced content submitted to the server will result in a one-year ban and a permanent requirement that future publications undergo peer review before the arXiv will host them.

Thomas Dietterich, in addition to being an emeritus professor at Oregon State University, is heavily involved with arXiv, serving on its editorial advisory council and on its moderation team. So he's in a good position to understand the organization's policies, although we have also reached out to arXiv leadership for confirmation, but have not yet received a response.

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OpenAI feels “burned” by Apple’s crappy ChatGPT integration, insiders say

OpenAI feels “burned” by Apple’s crappy ChatGPT integration, insiders say

fivenewscrypto    mai 17, 2026   

OpenAI is reportedly exploring legal options after Apple's ChatGPT integration into its products didn't live up to the AI firm's expectations.

When the deal was announced, Apple likened features linking Siri to ChatGPT to its now-infamous deal embedding Google search in the Safari browser, insiders granted anonymity to discuss the "strained" partnership told Bloomberg. And the promise of that excited OpenAI, which expected the deal "could generate billions of dollars per year in subscriptions," an OpenAI executive granted anonymity to discuss the partnership told Bloomberg.

Instead, OpenAI suspects Apple intentionally failed to promote the integration and fears that the deal may have damaged the ChatGPT brand, sources said.

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