Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Dec. 12, 2021.
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Most popular stories on GeekWire
The Omicron COVID-19 variant is surging in the Seattle area with speed that has the potential to overwhelm health care systems and disrupt workplaces, scientists and health officials said Friday at a media briefing. … Read More

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Amazon is poised to transform a major swath of this city, much as the company reshaped Seattle during the past 15 years. … Read More

Early data from the University of Washington suggest that the Omicron COVID-19 variant may already be spreading rapidly in Washington state. The data are from samples analyzed by a quick method, and will need to be confirmed. … Read More

Science magazine has revealed its breakthrough of the year: Artificial intelligence discoveries that predict how proteins fold, forged by researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design and Alphabet’s DeepMind. … Read More

Editor’s note: This story was update with information from Amazon about the cell phone policy. … Read More

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the multibillion-dollar clean-tech initiative created by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is leading a $65 million funding round to back Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space’s effort to create a new breed of fully reusable rockets — and believe it or not, there’s a climate change angle. … Read More

Citizen, the app that allows people to monitor and participate in public safety watching and reporting, is officially expanding to Seattle after testing in the city for a few months. … Read More

Maritime Blue, a Washington state public-private coalition focusing on environmentally friendly technologies for the maritime industry, has been awarded $500,000 in the first stage of a clean-tech challenge funded by the federal government. … Read More

Health officials in King County are anticipating a likely surge of the fast-spreading Omicron COVID-19 variant, said county health officer Dr. … Read More

Sometimes it’s about the little things. … Read More