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Using only elementary arguments, Cassels solved the Diophantine equation (x-1)³ + x³ + (x+1)³ = z² (with x, z ∈ ℤ). The generalization ${(x-1)}^k+x^k+{(x+1)}^k=z^n$ (with x, z, n ∈ ℤ and n ≥ 2) was considered by Zhongfeng Zhang who solved it for k ∈ 2,3,4 using Frey-Hellegouarch curves and their corresponding Galois representations. In this paper, by employing some sophisticated refinements of this approach, we show that the only solutions for k = 5 have x = z = 0, and that there are no solutions for k = 6. The chief innovation...