2019's Most Popular Articles
By The Editors
The most popular 2019 articles on our website.
December 23, 2019
From The Staff Communications
In compiling a top-10 list of this year’s most popular magazine articles on American Scientist's website, we decided to look at what you—our readers—have been searching for the most. So here they are!
10. No Simple Answers for Insect Conservation
Media hype has missed the biggest concern that ecologists and entomologists have about six-legged life: how little we know about it.
(May–June, 2019)
9. Creatures of the Deep Karst
by Tom Devitt
Research on the fauna living in aquifers is urgently needed as they become endangered by groundwater overdraft.
(September–October, 2019)
8. Moonshot Computing
by Brian Hayes
Getting to the Moon required daring programmers as well as daring astronauts.
(May–June, 2019)
7. Dying for a Drink
Overuse, population growth, and climate change are turning water into a powerful tool for conflict in many parts of the world.
(September–October, 2019)
6. Expanding Consciousness
by Lars Chittka and Catherine Wilson
Bees and other insects show signs of possessing complex self-awareness, but if the scope of conscious beings widens, where will it end?
(November–December, 2019)
5. AI Is Blurring the Definition of Artist
Advanced algorithms are using machine learning to create art autonomously.
(January–February, 2019)
4. Open Science Isn't Always Open to All Scientists
by Christie Bahlai, Lewis J. Bartlett, Kevin R. Burgio, Auriel M. V. Fournier, Carl N. Keiser, Timothée Poisot, and Kaitlin Stack Whitney
Current efforts to make research more accessible and transparent can reinforce inequality within STEM professions.
(March–April, 2019)
3. Plastics, Plastics Everywhere
Studies in the Great Lakes and beyond highlight the ubiquity of microplastics in our rivers and drinking water.
(September–October, 2019)
2. A Hawaiian Renaissance That Could Save the World
This archipelago’s society before Western contact developed a large, self-sufficient population, yet imposed a remarkably small ecological footprint.
(July–August, 2019)
1. The Grammar of the Elements
by Abhik Ghosh and Paul Kiparsky
Did the Sanskrit alphabet influence Mendeleev’s periodic table?
(November–December, 2019)
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