Omicron's not the last variant we'll see. Will the next one be bad?

Earth is at the center of a 1,000-light-year-wide 'Swiss cheese' bubble carved out by supernovas | Omicron's not the last variant we'll see. Will the next one be bad? | Pentagon launches new UFO office. Not all believers are happy about it. Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( January 12, 2022 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [Earth is at the center of a 1,000-light-year-wide 'Swiss cheese' bubble carved out by supernovas]( [Earth is at the center of a 1,000-light-year-wide 'Swiss cheese' bubble carved out by supernovas]( (Leah Hustak (STScI)) Earth is slap bang in the middle of a 1,000 light-year-wide bubble with a dense surface birthing thousands of baby stars. Researchers have long wondered what created this "superbubble." Now, a new study suggests that at least 15 powerful star explosions inflated this cosmic bubble. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/12) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] COVID-19 [] [Omicron's not the last variant we'll see. Will the next one be bad?]( [Omicron's not the last variant we'll see. Will the next one be bad?]( (Joao Paulo Burini via Getty Images) The new year rode in on a wave of omicron cases, but will this be the last of the variants, or will a brand-new "variant of concern" emerge in 2022? Experts told Live Science that they wouldn't be surprised if a troublesome new coronavirus variant crops up this year — but that it's difficult to predict how quickly that variant would spread, how well it would evade the human immune system or whether it would cause more severe disease than prior versions of the virus. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/12) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Space Exploration [] [Pentagon launches new UFO office. Not all believers are happy about it.]( [Pentagon launches new UFO office. Not all believers are happy about it.]( (Bettmann/Getty Images) A new office in the Pentagon will investigate sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) — but longtime UFO enthusiasts are skeptical. According to NBC, putting the new "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" program in the purview of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security has some UFOlogists upset, as they don't exactly trust the military to reveal whatever truth is out there. "This is a subject with a provable history of secrecy, and anything that lacks a new openness about the information is subject to more, possibly inappropriate control," Ron James, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Mutual UFO Network, which investigates such sightings, told NBC News. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/11) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] In the Sky [] [A massive asteroid will zip past Earth next week. Here's how to spot it.]( [A massive asteroid will zip past Earth next week. Here's how to spot it.]( (Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images) An enormous asteroid more massive than two Empire State Buildings is heading our way, but unlike the so-called planet-killer comet in the recent movie "Don't Look Up," this space rock will zoom harmlessly past Earth. The stony asteroid, known as (7482) 1994 PC1, will pass at its closest on Jan. 18 at 4:51 p.m. EST (2151 GMT), traveling at 43,754 mph (70,415 km/h) and hurtling past Earth at a distance of 0.01324 astronomical units — 1.2 million miles ( nearly 2 million kilometers), according to NASA JPL-Caltech's Solar System Dynamics (SSD). Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/12) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: Can dogs tell the difference between human languages? (Learn the answer [here]() [Vote]( [Yes]( [Vote]( [No](   [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:livescience@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( Future US LLC © 10th floor, 1100 13th Street, Suite #1000, N.W Washington, DC 20005