As confidence in the C.D.C. wanes, states are asserting more control over their vaccine policies, creating a fragmented public-health system. Last week, former officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned members of Congress that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, was endangering the nation's welfare by dismissing evidence and expertise in favor of his own vaccine skepticism. Kennedy "censored C.D.C. science, politicized its processes, and stripped leaders of independence," Debra Houry, the agency's former chief medical officer, said in a hearing this past Wednesday. The following day, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ()--the scientific panel that influences U.S. vaccine policy more than any other body--began a chaotic and contentious two-day meeting about updating the country's vaccination recommendations. The committee's members had been handpicked by Kennedy, some of them joining just days before. Several of's decisions, which were announced last week, will have limited practical impact.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey tells Fox News Digital he is excited about opportunities to advance American energy dominance and beat China in AI. EXCLUSIVE: 'King Coal' still reigns as one of the most affordable, reliable and transportable sources of energy – and the U.S. still has a lot of it, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey told Fox News Digital in an interview at the National Governors Association's winter meeting. Morrisey acknowledged America's ongoing race with China to be the most powerful nation in terms of both energy development and AI technology. West Virginia, he said Saturday, seeks to lead the way. "I'm still very hopeful that there's a future for coal," Morrisey said.

Heather Potters is trying to get to the point. On a stage at Denver's Air & Space museum, a 182,000 square-foot space filled with decommissioned aircraft, she stands in front of a PowerPoint and describes her company's no-needle syringes, which can deliver vaccines by accelerating the liquid into a superfast stream that punctures the skin. Two Air Force jets point their noses at each other to her left, facing off, just like Potters and the other participants in tonight's NASA iTech competition. Here at NASA's iTech competition, the co-founder of PharmaJet is vying for access to expert advice from the space agency. She and 14 other researchers are pitching diverse terrestrial technologies that they hope to level up to space.