EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – There’s a surprising amount of science in a bag of potato chips. Researchers have spent decades developing potatoes for chip makers that can grow in all kinds of climates, avoid diseases and pests, sit in storage for months and still deliver a satisfying crunch.

Bill Cassidy’s roles as a lawmaker, a doctor and a political candidate will collide on Wednesday as he questions Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in two high-stakes Senate hearings.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the U.S. military will no longer require all American troops to get the flu vaccine, citing “medical autonomy” and religious freedom.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – For the first time, scientists have measured the instantaneous mind-blowing power of jets blasting from a black hole.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) – Vaccination programs across Africa have saved tens of millions of lives over the past two decades, but progress is slowing in some countries, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, amid warnings that cuts to United States aid risk leaving millions of children unprotected.

PORT SUDAN, Sudan (AP) – Famine. Massacres. And now badly needed food and other supplies are under strain. Sudan on Wednesday entered a fourth year of war that’s been called an “abandoned crisis,” as a new Middle East conflict throws into shadow the fighting that has forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

NEW YORK (AP) – When Tiffany Davis has a question about a symptom from the weight-loss injections she’s taking, she doesn’t call her doctor. She pulls out her phone and consults ChatGPT.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Food and Drug Administration will hold a meeting this summer to consider easing restrictions on more than a half dozen peptide injections, a group of unapproved therapies that have become popular among wellness influencers, fitness gurus and celebrities.