Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Environmental reporter Sue Surkes and science and health writer Nathan Jeffay appear on today's podcast with host Jessica Steinberg.

Nathan discusses if Israel is in the calm before an intense Omicron-induced storm, and what COVID-19 life looks like right now in these parts/

Surkes talks about new Israeli research regarding bat mothers and how they teach their young to navigate.

She also speaks about the Negev becoming part of the world's first mapping of underground fungal networks, the circulatory and communications systems that link above ground plants underground.

IMAGE: A medic collects a swab sample from a woman at a COVID-19 drive-through testing site in Jerusalem on November 29, 2021. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.