American Scientist

In compiling a top-10 list of this year’s most popular blog posts on American Scientist's website, we decided to look at what you—our readers—have been reading the most. So here they are!

10. Does In-Person Schooling Contribute to COVID-19 Spread?

by Jennifer Dowd, Chloe Gibbs, and Lindsey Leininger

Two new well-designed studies indicate that in-person schooling does not contribute to SARS-CoV-2 transmission when baseline community spread is low, but does when it is high.
(Macroscope — January 29, 2021)

9. More on Trustworthy Science

by The Editors

Efforts to build confidence in research are not new.
(The Long View — June 16, 2021)

8. Integrating Big Data Into Surveillance Models to Inform Decision-Making for COVID-19

by The Editors

A Q&A with Shweta Bansal, provost’s distinguished associate professor of biology at Georgetown University, with interview by neurophysiologist and science communicator Kiki Sanford.
(From The Staff — April 12, 2021)

7. Entanglement and Choice

by Kindra Thomas

In this podcast, astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi discusses his memoir, A Quantum Life.
(Science Culture — November 15, 2021)

6. Seeing the Unseeable

by Peter Pesic

A new documentary film provides a fly-on-the-wall view of two recent endeavors to understand black holes: the work of the Event Horizon Telescope team to make the first picture of a black hole, and a theoretical initiative to resolve the black hole information paradox.
(Science Culture — March 4, 2021)

5. Bettering the Lives of Animals

by Flora Taylor

Barbara J. King, an expert on animal cognition and emotion, suggests steps we can take to begin living more harmoniously with our fellow creatures.
(Science Culture — June 12, 2021)

4. Venus Tectonics Look Like Pack Ice

by Paul Byrne

Earth’s nearby neighbor seemed inactive, but new maps and models have exposed its complex volcanic and crustal deformation surface features.
(The Long View — July 12, 2021)

3. What Science Writing Owes to Its Religious Origins

by Adam Shapiro

The models of science engagement that have become de rigueur over the past generation aren’t able to handle the sheer flood of bad-faith argumentation that pervades public discourse. What insights does history offer?
(Macroscope — November 17, 2021)

2. Preparing for Tomorrow’s Pandemics, Today

by Amanda Rossillo in collaboration with Science Communicators of North Carolina.

We need to be prepared to treat new emerging viral infections before they begin infecting us.
(From The Staff — June 25, 2021)

1. An Antidote to Climate Despair

by Katie L. Burke

The book All We Can Save is an anthology of essays and poems by a diverse group of feminist climate experts and activists. A project has grown out of the book that aims to nurture a climate community "rooted in the work and wisdom of women."
(Science Culture — June 11, 2021)