In another vote, advisers recommended adding language on the shot’s risks to the vaccine’s information sheet, which is already required by law.

The committee’s focus on Covid-19 vaccines reflects Kennedy’s long-held suspicion of them. Since taking office in February, Kennedy has canceled a half-billion dollars in mRNA vaccine research and separately ended a major contract with Moderna, one of the Covid vaccine manufactures, for work on a pandemic bird flu vaccine.

During Friday’s meeting, CDC scientists presented extensive data on the safety and efficacy of the Covid vaccines. They also explained in detail how the agency tracks Covid hospitalizations and said the agency has a “rigorous and standardized process” to determine whether hospitalizations are classified as being due to Covid-19.

During the discussion portion of the meeting, committee members made several unfounded claims. Robert Malone, a former mRNA researcher who has spread vaccine misinformation, questioned whether there is actually evidence of disease protection from the Covid shots. “Are there any well-defined, characterized correlates of protection for Covid, yes or no?” he demanded.

Cody Meissner, a pediatrician at Dartmouth College, responded that there is “a reasonable measurement of neutralizing or binding antibodies that correlate with protection against symptomatic infection in the first few months” after vaccination.

At one point, Hilary Blackburn, a pharmacist on the committee, questioned whether the Covid vaccine could be connected to her mother’s lung cancer diagnosis, which occurred two years after receiving a Covid vaccine. She said she is aware of four other individuals in her small hometown diagnosed with the same kind of cancer. “Is it related to the vaccine?” she asked.

In a tense exchange about potential birth defects associated with the Covid vaccines, some ACIP members pressed manufacturer Pfizer about eight birth defects that occurred in a group of pregnant women who received the company’s vaccine and two birth defects that occurred in an unvaccinated group. Alejandra Gurtman, who heads vaccine clinical research and development at Pfizer, replied that those rates are comparable to rates of congenital abnormalities seen in the general population.

Carol Hayes, a liaison with the American College of Nurse-Midwives who was present during the meeting, clarified that most birth defects arise during the first trimester of pregnancy, and in the cited study, mothers received the vaccine at 12 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

At Friday’s meeting, the committee also reversed a decision it made just a day before. On Thursday, advisers voted to no longer recommend the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine to children under age 4. Yet puzzlingly, it voted to maintain coverage of that vaccine through the federal Vaccines for Children program, which provides free vaccines to low-income children and those without insurance. On Friday, they voted that the program should not, in fact, cover it.

On Friday, advisers also voted 11 to one in favor of tabling a decision on whether to delay the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine until one month of age. The committee had discussed that vaccine extensively on Thursday, though it’s unclear why the committee was asked to look into the potential change at all, as the hepatitis B vaccine has been given to newborns in the US since 1991.

Infants get the vaccine before leaving the hospital because the virus can be passed from an infected mother to the baby during birth. Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection that can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. The vaccine is highly effective at preventing infection in newborns.

Chari Cohen, president of the Hepatitis B Foundation, tells WIRED there is no scientific rationale for delaying the hepatitis B vaccine until one month after birth and she worries about an increase in hepatitis B infections if the panel eventually recommends delaying the immunization.

“We will likely see more babies and young children who become infected,” Cohen says. “From a public health infrastructure perspective, we are concerned that this risk-based approach will miss preventing infection to babies born to infected moms.”

Up to 16 percent of HBV-positive pregnant women don’t get tested for hepatitis B, so screening doesn’t capture all infected mothers.

“We do not understand the motivation or rationale for this debate,” Cohen says.

The United States and China may have agreed on a deal to prevent the social platform TikTok from being banned in the US—if you take US president Donald Trump’s word for it. After a long-awaited call between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping on Friday, Trump announced victory on Truth Social: “The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!”

As for any details on the agreement, good luck. Specifics around the shape and scope of the deal remain largely unclear as of Friday afternoon. More importantly, there’s been no official word from the Chinese government on whether it has agreed to the terms.

“China’s position on the TikTok issue is clear: The Chinese government respects the wishes of the company in question and would be happy to see productive commercial negotiations in keeping with market rules lead to a solution that complies with China’s laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides,” says China’s official readout of the call, which was posted on the website of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The deal being proposed by the Trump administration involves Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz leading a group of investors to take a roughly 80 percent stake in TikTok’s US operation, according to The Wall Street Journal. Oracle, which has worked closely with TikTok since 2020, would continue to store US user data on its domestic servers. The new, US-controlled entity would use licensed technology from ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to create a similar content recommendation algorithm to the one TikTok currently employs.

“Any details of the TikTok framework are pure speculation unless they are announced by this administration,” a White House spokesperson tells WIRED.

Key questions remain, for example, on how much control Oracle and ByteDance would each have on TikTok’s US data and algorithm. Trump’s Truth Social post suggests that he will meet with Xi again at the APEC Summit in South Korea in late October, meaning details could emerge after that.

On Thursday, during a joint press conference with UK prime minister Keir Starmer, Trump boasted that the US should receive a “tremendous fee plus” for brokering the TikTok deal. It’s not clear what fee he’s referring to—WIRED asked multiple White House officials, but none replied.

The White House also credited Vice President JD Vance—the top conduit between Silicon Valley billionaires and the West Wing—for playing a key role in the deal. A White House official told WIRED that Sean Cooksey, an adviser to Vance, was “at the forefront” of negotiations on behalf of the vice president.

US efforts to ban TikTok started during Trump’s first term in 2020. Months before he left office, Trump threatened to ban TikTok and another Chinese app WeChat. The Biden administration rescinded Trump’s executive orders on the topic but continued to scrutinize TikTok. The US congress eventually passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications (PAFACA) Act in April 2024. This gave TikTok two options: divest from its Chinese ownership before January 19, 2025, or risk a federal ban.

With its sleek design and groundbreaking aerodynamics, the Airbus RACER isn’t just a prototype—it’s a symbol of Europe’s commitment to clean aviation.

Brice Makinadjian and Stephane Deport, both engineers at Airbus Helicopters, looked on proudly as a sleek blue-and-white helicopter zipped over the crowds at the Paris Airshow in June 2025.

Slicing through the air was the Airbus RACER (Rapid and Cost-Effective Rotorcraft), an advanced prototype designed to be faster, quieter and more fuel-efficient than conventional helicopters.

This high-speed, low-emission rotorcraft is redefining helicopter flight by blending the speed of an airplane with the agility of a rotorcraft—all while slashing CO₂ emissions by approximately 25% compared to a conventional helicopter of the same weight category.

How it started: A European team effort

The RACER’s roots go back to the EU’s Clean Sky 2 program (2014–2024), the largest research program for aviation ever launched in Europe.

This public-private collaboration between the European Commission and the European aeronautics industry funded the development of innovative, cutting-edge technologies to reduce the aeronautics sector’s environmental impact.

The support provided under Clean Sky 2 made it possible for the various components of the RACER—such as aerodynamics, engine integration and rotor systems—to be incrementally refined before being tested together in the demonstrator built by Airbus, a leading European aerospace company.

“This partnership has been fundamental,” said Makinadjian. “We could not have done this without European collaboration and support.”

The development of the prototype has involved over 40 European companies and research organizations from 13 countries. “We have access to the best of Europe,” said Makinadjian. “It is the European spirit at its finest.”

Cleaner future for European skies

The RACER is also part of Europe’s mission to make flying greener. Under the European Green Deal, the EU has pledged to become climate neutral by 2050, and aviation is no exception.

The EU’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy sets the goal of having zero-emission aircraft ready for market by 2035. This would mark a major step toward climate-neutral aviation and a cleaner future for European skies.

Why does this matter? As Axel Krein, executive director at the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (2025–2035)—Clean Sky 2’s successor—pointed out, aviation is a powerhouse for Europe’s economy. It supports 13.5 million jobs and contributes over €1 trillion to the European economy. That is 3.6% of all jobs and 4.4% of Europe’s GDP.

For Krein, the importance of the RACER demonstrator for Europe is evident. Such new designs will help secure Europe’s aerospace leadership in the future.

“Currently, Europe has a market share of 58% of new civil aircraft worldwide, so Europe’s aviation leadership is strong. But it is not guaranteed,” he said. “Global competition and geopolitical shifts are threatening this leadership.”

Stealth and speed

After over 10 years in development, the new technologies being showcased in the RACER prototype could become an essential part of helicopter design over the coming decade.

The RACER’s sleek aerodynamic design and side-mounted lateral rotors give it a cruising speed of over 440 km/h—over 50% faster than regular helicopters.

One of the factors is the reduced air and wind resistance, or drag, as it moves through the air. This is 2.5 times lower than in other helicopters of the same weight.

“We have a lower drag than the smallest helicopters on the market today,” said Makinadjian.

The main rotor was redesigned, reducing its speed, to increase stability. At the same time, two wings were added at the sides with lateral rotors to provide forward thrust.

This means that the RACER can fly like an airplane in certain flight phases, using its wings and lateral rotors to glide forward, making it effectively a cross between a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft.

Eco-mode

The innovative Eco Mode system is another standout feature, similar to the start-stop function in modern cars, that will soon be tested on the RACER. Developed by Safran, the Eco Mode involves putting one of the two engines on standby during cruise flight, allowing the other to operate at a more optimal and energy-efficient power setting.

This mode of operation not only reduces CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption by around 15%, but also increases the distance that can be covered by the helicopter.

“We can fly at 350 km/h on only one engine,” said Deport. “But we also need to be able to restart the other engine instantly to keep it safe.”

Overall, the improved aerodynamics and innovative design allow the RACER to use 25% less fuel than slower, conventional helicopters. As the team gears up to begin testing the Eco Mode feature, they expect to achieve even more fuel savings.

In addition to commercial transport, the developers predict that the RACER could be ideal for emergency medical services and search and rescue operations because of its speed and efficiency.

“Emergency response helicopters need to be fast and noise reduction is key to perform operations close to inhabited areas,” said Makinadjian.

From cars to choppers

A total of 40 partners collaborated on the creation of the RACER. One unexpected partner in the RACER’s journey was KLK Motorsport, an SME from Germany specialized in high-performance mechanical engineering, lightweight structures and advanced composite materials.

Better known for its expertise in car racing rather than aerospace, KLK co-developed the RACER’s canopy—the sleek, enclosure over the cockpit that needs to handle airflow efficiently to optimize aerodynamics.

Their involvement highlights one of the RACER’s greatest strengths: the wide collaboration that went into its development, which brought in the expertise of major industry players, but also specialized SMEs and leading research organizations.

“Working with people outside aerospace is invigorating,” said Makinadjian. “The creation of new parts for car racing moves at lightning speed. When we told them they had five years to develop a ‘very innovative and light’ canopy, they were surprised,” he laughed. “In racing, everything needs to be delivered yesterday.”

Flying into the future

The RACER prototype took to the skies for the first time in April 2024. More than a year on, it has logged around 35 hours of flight time, but there is plenty more testing ahead.

Despite their deep involvement in the design, engineers Makinadjian and Deport have yet to fly in the RACER themselves. “Only eight people, besides the test pilots, have been able to,” said Makinadjian. “We’re still on the waiting list.”

Tests continue at the Airbus Helicopters’ headquarters in Marignane, near Marseille in southern France. Early results are encouraging. But Makinadjian and Deport are still working hard to finetune the technical details. For them, this is just the start.

What excites them most is simply being part of the journey. “If you’re an aerospace engineer, this kind of project only comes along once in a lifetime,” said Makinadjian. “To go from nothing to seeing your design take flight—it’s magical.”

As the RACER continues its test flights, it is not just pushing the boundaries of rotorcraft speed—it is charting the course for a new era of more fuel-efficient, smarter aviation in Europe.

This article was originally published in Horizon the EU Research and Innovation Magazine.