A Launcher Load Frame next to a B-1 B Lancer at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on January 9.

US Air Force/Senior Airman Josiah Brown

• US Air Force weapons loaders at Dyess Air Force Base revived a capability unused for three decades.
• In January, airmen used a Launcher Load Frame to pre-load munitions that were then loaded on a B-1B bomber.
• With an LLF, airmen can pre-load bombs away from prying eyes before taking the entire thing to the aircraft.

The US Air Force has recently released some interesting photos showing the activity carried out a Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, earlier this month.

In fact, on January 9, 2023, personnel of the 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron used the Launcher Load Frame (LLF) to pre-load a munition package that was then loaded on a B-1B Lancer.

The concept for pre-loading munitions has been around since the B-1 first entered service but has gone unused for 30 years until 7 AMXS resurrected the capability. Using LLF, weapons loaders can pre-load munitions on a launcher, under the cover of a facility, prior to transporting the entire launcher/munition package to the flight-line for loading on the aircraft.

The photos released by the Air Force show the LLF packed with 2,000-pound GBU-31 JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) being loaded on the internal weapons bay of the BONE (the nickname of the B-1 — from “B-One”).

A US Air Force weapons load crew member helps transport a Launcher Load Frame at Dyess Air Force Base on January 9.

US Air Force/Senior Airman Josiah Brown

The capability was thought for use with nuclear bombs, but the B-1 bomber’s mission was reviewed in 1994 and the type converted to conventional-only weapons with a physical conversion that took place between 2007 and 2011, with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Nevertheless, the LLF will now be used to generate conventional munitions packages out of the view of near-peer intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The use of LLF is just the last in a series of upgrades to the B-1 fleet aimed at making the Lancer more capable in the conventional scenario. Other upgrades announced in the past are the internal bay capacity increase and the return of external hardpoints that were deactivated following arms treaties with Russia.

The external hard points were initially thought for the B-1’s nuclear strike mission too, but they could be used to carry JASSMs (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles) and, possibly, hypersonic weapons externally.

A Launcher Load Frame is raised into a B-1B at Dyess Air Force Base on January 9.

US Air Force/Senior Airman Josiah Brown

The expansion of the BONE’s capabilities proceeds even though the US Air Force is preparing to replace the B-1 with the new B-21 Raider sixth-generation stealth bomber.

The divestment of 17 B-1B aircraft from a fleet of 62 Lancers has been completed in September 2021. In accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act, the 17 B-1B aircraft were retired from a fleet of 62, leaving 45 in the active inventory.

According to the Air Force Global Strike Command, out of the 17 retired, one went to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, as a prototype for structural repair actions; one went to Edwards AFB as a ground tester; and one went to Wichita, Kansas, to the National Institute for Aviation Research for digital mapping; and one went to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, as a static display for the Barksdale Global Power Museum.

The remaining 13 aircraft will be stored at the boneyard at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB in Type 4000 storage. Four of those will remain in a reclaimable condition that is consistent with Type 2000 recallable storage.

H/T to Ryan Chan for the heads-up!

A Tesla car dealership in Maplewood, Minnesota.

Michael Siluk/Getty Images

• Tesla has confirmed that the US Department of Justice asked the company for documents.
• The documents were related to the EV company’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features, per a public filing. 
• The company is already under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Tesla has confirmed that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) asked for documents related to the EV company’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features.

In a public filing released on Tuesday, the company said it had “received requests from the DOJ for documents related to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features.”

The company said in the filing: “To our knowledge, no government agency in any such ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred.”

Reuters reported in October that Tesla was facing a criminal probe from the DOJ over the company’s claims the vehicles can drive themselves. The news outlet cited three people familiar with the matter.

Tesla is already under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The federal agency launched its investigation after it identified 11 cases of Tesla cars crashing into first-responder vehicles. The organization has since escalated the probe.

According to a report from the administration, 273 crashes between July 20, 2021, and May 21, 2022, involved Tesla’s assisted driving software.

Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features require constant human supervision. In 2016, Tesla introduced a feature that detects when a driver had their hands on the steering wheel and could disable the driving assist if the driver kept their hands off for too long. 

Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

David Baker runs the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington.

Ian C Haydon/UW Institute for Protein Design

• A researcher is developing a nasal spray using custom proteins that could protect against COVID-19.
• David Baker believes it’s possible to make a similar spray that protects against even more viruses.
• But it will take a while before that nasal-spray cocktail is available.

A prominent researcher has designed a nasal spray that he hopes will protect people from getting sick with COVID-19. For him, it’s an early step toward his ultimate goal of crafting a virus-fighting cocktail that could work against several common infections.

The spray, in development by David Baker at the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, aims to block the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering cells and activating the immune system in the first place.

Baker’s lab plans to start early human testing of the nasal spray later this year to make sure it’s safe and test its efficacy. The lab has reported promising results in mice.

If it works, Baker wants to take the idea a step further — what if a nasal spray could protect against not just COVID-19, but also the flu and the common cold? Baker believes that a cocktail of proteins, delivered up a person’s nose every few days, could provide meaningful protection from the most common respiratory viruses.

Baker’s lab has spun out eight companies in the Seattle area, including Monod Bio and A-Alpha Bio. Baker won a Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize in 2021 for his work on protein design. 

A researcher at the University for Protein Design.

Ian C Haydon/UW Institute for Protein Design

To be clear, Baker’s spray is different from a vaccine. Vaccines stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight off an invading pathogen. Baker’s spray contains proteins designed to stick to the parts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that it uses to enter human cells, rendering them inert.

The spray will need to prove itself in several successively larger clinical trials before it becomes available more broadly, a process that typically takes years. Even if it wins approval, Baker said there’s not yet a viable business model for this kind of therapeutic — another hurdle that will need to be overcome.

Baker and his lab are also working on sprays for the flu, MERS, and RSV. Baker told Insider that nasal sprays for these viruses are about halfway through animal trials right now, with no human trials scheduled yet.

Using AI, his ultimate goal is to create a nasal spray that’s full of proteins that can block many different viruses.

Baker said that researchers could ask an AI engine, which he compared to the image-generator DALL-E, to spit out protein designs that can counteract rhinovirus, MERS, SARS-CoV-2, and the flu. Then the proteins could be manufactured and placed in a nasal spray.

Completely new proteins designed with AI could theoretically be made to deal with very specific problems — like latching onto the right part of a virus to block it from getting a foothold in human cells.

Baker said that designed proteins are more stable than naturally occurring proteins, so they won’t degrade before they make it to one’s nose. And the proteins are potent, so you can pack a lot of different types of proteins in the spray without losing effectiveness.

It’ll probably be a while before we can bid goodbye to the winter sniffles. But the next time you come down with a cold, take some comfort in knowing it might not always be this way. 

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York and Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

• House Republicans accidentally gave Democrats a supermajority on a new panel they created.
• Under the resolution passed by voice vote on Tuesday, Democrats would get 9 seats on a 12 member panel.
• But the plan is to actually have 21 seats on the committee, and the error will almost certainly get fixed.

In an apparent error, House Republicans passed a resolution on Tuesday that would give Democrats a supermajority on a new select subcommittee probing the “weaponization” of the government.

In a resolution that sought to expand the committee to 13 members up to 21, drafters made an apparent typo, which was first noted by Politico’s Kyle Cheney.

The resolution, which was put forward by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and passed by voice vote, stated that the subcommittee would have “not more than 12” members, and that “not more than 9 shall be appointed in consultation with the minority leader.”

That would give Democrats a 9-3 supermajority. In reality, the plan is for the committee to have 12 Republican members and 9 Democratic members, and the error will almost certainly be corrected before the committee convenes.

“This is just the latest evidence that this MAGA clown show was never serious,” a Democratic committee aide told Insider, relishing the apparent typo.

The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which will be housed under the House Judiciary Committee and likely chaired by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, was first established by a vote on the House floor in January.

Every single Democrat voted against it.

The committee emerged out of Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become speaker, and was among the concessions he made to GOP hardliners. It’s been granted sweeping powers to investigate the executive branch — including the Department of Justice and intelligence agencies — as well as private companies.

—Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 1, 2023