Health
President Trump signed an executive order directing HHS to review the childhood vaccine schedule. The accompanying assessment found the United States recommends at least 84 doses across 57 shots against 18 diseases in 2024, compared with 23 doses in 7 shots against 7 diseases in 1980. The order directs the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to update the schedule, with HHS recommending the list be trimmed to 11 prioritized vaccines and HPV doses cut to one. The directive has encountered references to ongoing legal challenges and opposition from some medical organizations over public health considerations.
Additionally, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a Lyme disease initiative that includes a multi-million-dollar CDC pilot program with the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, the Indian Health Service, and the Wampanoag Tribe to reduce ticks on wildlife. HHS also announced up to $2.5 million in new LymeX innovation challenges, NIH-backed research on Alpha-gal syndrome, and a public-private collaboration with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. Kennedy stated a goal of cutting Lyme cases 25 percent by 2035 from 2022 levels. NIH currently invests roughly $50 million annually in Lyme research and $122 million across tick-borne diseases. Some observers have criticized the collaboration with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, alleging it directs patients toward unproven treatments for chronic Lyme disease.
Coming out of the USDA, Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the Great American Cotton Plan, a four-pillar effort to support the domestic cotton industry after five years of negative returns and projected $2.6 billion in losses across nine million planted acres. The plan includes a “Plant Not Plastic” campaign, raises the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills payment rate from 3 to 5 cents per pound, prioritizes cotton processors in Rural Development loan programs, expands trade missions to Indonesia and Bangladesh, and lifts the seed cotton reference price by 14 percent beginning fall 2026. Some accounts have expressed concern that the “Plant Not Plastic” campaign could negatively affect industries dependent on synthetic fibers.
In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into glyphosate contamination in food, issuing Civil Investigative Demands to Bayer, PepsiCo, and other manufacturers. Paxton’s office cited the World Health Organization’s 2015 classification of glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic” and research linking the herbicide to endocrine disruption, infertility, kidney disease, and autoimmune conditions. The office noted that more than 250 million pounds are sprayed annually in the United States, that over 70 percent of American adults now carry detectable traces (up from 12 percent in 1993), and that desiccation accounts for more than 90 percent of glyphosate residues in food. Paxton’s office expressed concern for children consuming oat-based cereals, cookies, and breakfast bars, since major firms import oats from countries where pre-harvest desiccation remains permitted. The probe also examines whether food companies have misled parents through health claims. Bayer has described the office’s claims about glyphosate safety as inaccurate and misleading while stating it is cooperating with the inquiry.
In other news, adult cigarette smoking in the United States reached a record low, with new CDC survey data showing roughly 9 percent of adults currently smoke. The rate has declined from 42 percent in the mid-1960s. Electronic cigarette use held steady at about 7 percent in 2025. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids described the decline as a public health achievement that has saved millions of lives and billions in healthcare costs. However, some posts have raised concerns about potential setbacks from recent reductions in certain CDC smoking prevention programs.
Energy
A team led by Professor Seung Jun Hwang of POSTECH and Professor Jaeyune Ryu of Seoul National University has shown that catalyst performance in batteries and fuel cells can be improved by adjusting the electrical environment around a catalyst. By placing positively charged cations near the active site, the researchers increased the share of the desired oxygen reduction reaction pathway from roughly 12 percent to 52 percent while reducing energy input. The researchers say the same principle could apply to carbon dioxide conversion and green hydrogen production.
Technology
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a low-temperature process for stacking high-performance single-crystalline silicon circuits, advancing monolithic three-dimensional chips. The team transfers ultrathin silicon nanomembranes onto finished layers using bonding at no higher than 200 degrees and replaces conventional transistors with junctionless designs. Three stacked layers of 625 transistors each achieved yields between 98 and 100 percent with performance comparable to standard silicon. The team is working with IBM, Intel, and TSMC to bring the process into industrial foundries, with results published in Nature. The development addresses thermal constraints in stacking but takes place alongside other industry approaches, such as chiplets and backside power delivery.
European Politics
The Save Europe Act, a European Citizens’ Initiative launched by Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek, surpassed 100,000 signatures within three days. The initiative calls for halting non-European immigration, creating a Europe-wide remigration framework, tightening borders, accelerating deportations, and removing welfare-based pull factors. Under EU rules, a citizens’ initiative reaching one million valid signatures must receive a formal Commission response. Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán publicly endorsed the petition. The effort has also drawn criticism linking it to far-right networks and figures.
US Politics
The U.S. House passed a War Powers resolution on June 3, directing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from armed hostilities with Iran, in a 215–208 vote with four Republicans joining Democrats. The resolution now moves to the Senate, although analyses have described the measure as largely symbolic, noting the Senate is unlikely to pass it and, if it did, would likely be vetoed by Trump.
Sources
Texas AG Probes Glyphosate in Food, Targets PepsiCo and Bayer
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has initiated an investigation into glyphosate contamination in food, with major manufacturers such as PepsiCo and Bayer being subjected to the probe.
HHS Unveils Major Lyme Disease Initiative with $2.5M in Challenges
HHS also announced three new LymeX innovation challenges, offering up to $2.5 million in total prize funding to accelerate breakthroughs in public awareness, treatment, and patient care.
US Adult Smoking Rate Falls to Record Low of 9%
The cigarette smoking rate among U.S. adults dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 11 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released this week.
New Low-Temp Process Stacks Silicon for Denser 3D Chips
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a way to stack high-performance silicon circuits directly on top of one another, a breakthrough that could help the semiconductor industry keep increasing computing power without shrinking transistors further.
USDA Unveils Great American Cotton Plan to Revive Farms and Ditch Synthetics
The Trump Administration is committed to ensuring American cotton once again becomes the fiber of choice with the Great American Cotton Plan — a bold effort to restore profitability for cotton producers, strengthen rural economies, rebuild domestic textile manufacturing, and bring American cotton back into the products families use every day.
Save Europe Act Hits 100,000 Signatures in Three Days
Europe is not a waiting room for the world, rather it is our home.
Trump Orders Sharp Cut to U.S. Childhood Vaccine Schedule
…Found that the United States currently recommends more childhood vaccines than any peer nation, including more than twice as many vaccine doses as some European nations.
Electric Fields Supercharge Battery Catalysts, Lifting Efficiency from 12% to 52%
This study demonstrates that reaction properties can be precisely controlled solely through the surrounding electrical environment, without changing the structure of the catalyst itself.
House Narrowly Backs Resolution to Curb U.S. Military Action Against Iran
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on June 3 directing the withdrawal of U.S. troops from armed hostilities with Iran, in a closely divided 215–208 vote.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: Epoch Times, Texas Scorecard, Bayer, Legal Insurrection, and the CDC.
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