"What mattered in 2011? Zeitgeist sorted billions of Google searches to capture the year's 10 fastest-rising global queries and the rest of the spirit of 2011."
this isn't surprising, the people who are most likely to search for pop culture crap are also more likely to follow "trends" and now that every trending american 10 year old with a smartphone can do a google search, that's what you get.
the google zeitgeist isn't a solid insight into what's on people's minds in 2011. it's just a HUGE cross-section of people with a computer (EVERY REGULAR ASSHOLE) searching for what they see on the news.
here are the top US science trends to make you feel better.
1. comet elenin
2. robert bunsen
3. moon phases 2011
4. honey badger
5. pierre de fermat
6. google gravity
7. h2o2
8. chloroform
9. thomas edison
10. brain
