Despite 2020 not being what most of us expected, as we head into 2021 and leave this year behind it's important to remember it wasn't a complete s*** show - OK, it mostly was.
But, as Facebook's Martin Harbech has pointed out to his followers, there have been some pretty impressive technological and scientific advances made.
In a post on LinkedIn, Harbech explained that while 'Covid defined 2020' it wasn't the only major thing to happen.
Advert
It was also the year SpaceX had its first ever commercial spaceflight after the company joined forces with NASA to launch Crew Dragon earlier this year.
Declaring the flight a success in November, NASA's administrator Jim Bridenstine said: "I'm extremely proud to say we are returning regular human spaceflight launches to American soil on an American rocket and spacecraft.
"This certification milestone is an incredible achievement from NASA and SpaceX that highlights the progress we can make working together with commercial industry."
Advert
Harbech went on to praise the clever folks who announced a major breakthrough in solar power technologies after they discovered how to 'upconvert' non-visible light into high energy light to generate electricity.
Yeah, this is all over my head, too, but its set to transform solar technology by making it more efficient and cheaper, according to scientists.
Professor Tim Schmidt from UNSW Sydney who was on the team who helped make the discovery, said at the time: "The energy from the sun is not just visible light.
"The spectrum is broad, including infrared light which gives us heat and ultraviolet light which can burn our skin.
"Most solar cells... are made from silicon, which cannot respond to light less energetic than the near infrared.
Advert
"This means that some parts of the light spectrum are going unused by many of our current devices and technologies."
And if that's not enough to make you think 'huh, maybe 2020 wasn't all awful', Harbech then mentioned the discovery of a new enzyme that breaks down plastic in hours and could be an absolute game changer for the plastic pollution problem.
Of course, no list of 2020 achievements would be complete without a massive 'well done' to everyone who was involved in the various successful Covid-19 vaccines that are currently being rolled out across the world.
Harbech also pointed out that this year, the Internet saw its biggest ever 'stress test' as millions of people worked and learnt from home for the first time when countries went into lockdown.
Advert
He then moved on to companies such as Tesla and Zoom that have managed to flourish during the pandemic - with Zoom helping us all to stay in touch. Even if those Zoom quizzes we're a bit naff.
If you need more convincing, you can check out Harbech's full post here.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: World News, Interesting