As people spend more time indoors, a mountain of scientific research says spending time in nature is critical to health and increases longevity. That means being in fresh air, under trees and away from cars and concrete—on a regular basis. And, no, the Peloton doesn’t count.

For the millions of the world’s young people who will survive the pandemic, there’s still truly difficult news ahead. Not only will the COVID-19 recession give new entrants to the job market a rocky start to their careers, it will also put them at risk to make less money for decades, commit more crimes, have less satisfying family lives, and maybe even die earlier than luckier job seekers.

For all its comparisons to the human brain, AI still isn’t much like us. Maybe that’s alright. In the animal kingdom, brains come in all shapes and sizes. So, in a new machine learning approach, engineers did away with the human brain and all its beautiful complexity—turning instead to the brain of a lowly worm for inspiration.

In April 2020, during the first wave of COVID-19, Amsterdam’s city government announced it would recover from the crisis, and avoid future ones, by embracing the theory of “doughnut economics.”

The world we’re entering in 2021 will be far different than we imagined a year ago. Yet we begin the year armed with lessons from 2020, as well as new challenges, new opportunities, new beginnings, and renewed hope.

While the world faced unprecedented challenges in 2020, a number of innovative and potentially life changing ideas emerged, from the use of 3D printing for good to using drones to plant trees.