American Scientist

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. Mapping the Creative Mind

by Roger E. Beaty, Yoed N. Kenett

Network science and brain-imaging studies are uncovering how we transform knowledge into inspiration.
(July–August, 2020)

9. What Parkinson's Reveals About the Artistic Spark 

by Matthew Pelowski, Blanca T. M. Spee, Alby Richard, Paul Krack, Bastiaan R. Bloem

Neurological changes can activate the artistic brain.
(July–August, 2020)

8. When the Answer Comes in a Dream

by Deirdre Barrett

Creative breakthroughs during sleep
(July–August, 2020)

7. How Art Can Heal 

by Girija Kaimal

Nonverbal therapy helps people work through trauma and build resilience.
(July–August, 2020)

6. What Might Happen to COVID-19 Over Time?

by Katie L. Burke

The novel coronavirus is unlikely to go away completely after its first outbreak. People are only beginning to grapple with what comes next.
(May–June, 2020)

5. The Women Who Discovered RNA Splicing

by Pnina Geraldine Abir-Am

Most scientists who played key roles in this Nobel Prize–winning breakthrough disappeared from public memory. Why does this injustice persist 40 years later?
(September–October, 2020)

4. Stop Me If You've Heard This Theorem Before

by Daniel S. Silver

There is mathematics in humor. Don’t laugh—or maybe do.
(September–October, 2020)

3. The Rise of Parkinson's Disease

by E. Ray Dorsey, Todd Sherer, Michael S. Okun, Bastiaan R. Bloem

Many cases of this increasingly common neurodegenerative disease are preventable, and we may now know how.
(May–June, 2020)

2. The Argument for Music Education

by Nina Kraus, Travis White-Schwoch

Musicians’ brains show striking benefits.
(July–August, 2020)

1. The Elusive Dingo

by Pat Shipman

Neither quite domesticated nor entirely wild, these canids defy easy zoological categorization.
(September–October, 2020)