Inverse Daily

10 people who shaped how we think about Covid-19 in 2020

These stories helped inform our understanding of Covid-19's place in history.

Welcome to 2021, Inverse Daily. And welcome again to our final 2020 year-end report.

In today's newsletter, we're taking a look back at the difficult year of 2020, and also looking ahead to what's (hopefully) a better 2021.

Sit back and take it all in. We're back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

This is an adapted version of the Inverse Daily newsletter for January 5, 2021. Subscribe for free and earn rewards for reading every day in your inbox.

5 good habits formed during the pandemic

There's no way to sugarcoat the Covid-19 pandemic. But amid the destruction, the pandemic has also forced change.

From how we handle cash to what we wear and how we work, life in 2021 and beyond is going to feel a lot different.

Still, several recent studies on pandemic life suggest some adjustments drove examples of positive change.

In a year full of hardships, these are positive trends we can carry into 2021.

Lessons learned from a year of catastrophe and change →

More from the past year:

10 smart diet tips for 2021, supported by science

It's no secret 2020 pushed mental and physical health to the limit.

As the new year begins, you might find yourself looking to nutrition as a means to supercharge the immune system, shed the so-called "quarantine 15," or stave off disease.

But in a wellness world flooded with fad diets, "miracle" cleanses, immune boosters, and superfoods, choosing what and how to eat becomes complicated.

To filter out the sham solutions and zero in on evidence-based strategies, here are 10 diet tips pulled from influential scientific studies Inverse reported on in 2020.

Reboot your diet in the new year →

Go even further:

The 20 most stunning space images of 2020

Prepare your eyeballs, because 2020 was a big year for space.

We saw close-up pictures of asteroids, history-making rocket launches, beautiful planetary nebula, and much, much more.

Revisit some of our favorite captures from the past year in this gallery.

Feast your eyes →

More space pics:

5 discoveries that changed our understanding of the brain in 2020

Scientists are making progress in mapping the world inside our brains.

New findings published in 2020 on the inner workings of our extremely complicated brains gave us critical insight into how and why we feel, how our actions leave lasting impacts on our bodies, and what forces drive our experience of the world.

Further studies, all published despite the pandemic, suggest how the brain responds to stress, what we hear as we die, where consciousness may begin, and the toll of loneliness.

Here are five findings Inverse reported on that blew our minds.

It was a busy year for neuroscience →

More from the brain:

10 people who shaped how we think about Covid-19 in 2020

The frontlines of the war on Covid-19 offer views of a disease that politics and misinformation scraped away. There are only people suffering and those trying to help.

Over the course of 2020, Inverse reported on people who were informing our understanding of Covid-19, from a moderator of the subreddit dedicated to debunking false claims about the disease, to a Chicago nurse who may never smell or taste again, to the people who make up a "long-hauler" support group, and even a detective searching for the next Covid-19 in animals in Africa.

Below is a look back at some of those singular stories reported on by us this year. We're sharing them again to shine another light on the work of these people as we enter 2021, with the hope their experiences can shape how more people think about, and prepare, for the road ahead.

These stories helped inform our understanding of Covid-19's place in history →

Read more:

Looking for one more thing? We found the most underrated sci-fi movie on HBO Max.

Thank you for reading! We're back to our normal Inverse Daily schedule tomorrow.

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