Lots of projects I see on Trending only have lots of views, not lots of hearts and stars. So what better way to judge than how many viewers hearted and starred? (Equation inside the Calc sprite.)
There's also a problem here: What it a project has 1 view, 1 star, and 1 heart? Projects could get on Trending too quickly. So.... Hearts and stars should influence the popularity, too, just not as much as views.