I think what you're confused with is matching against the special variable $_, not list context vs scalar context. Note that this: 
$_ = "1.0 and 2.4 and 310 and 4.7 and so on";
@a = m/([\d|\.]+)\D+/g;
print "@a\n";

#result
#1.0 2.4 310 4.7

[download]
can be rewritten as this 
$_ = "1.0 and 2.4 and 310 and 4.7 and so on";
@a = ($_ =~ m/([\d|\.]+)\D+/g);
print "@a\n";

#result
#1.0 2.4 310 4.7

[download]
without changing the meaning whatsoever. Your two examples only differ in that the first matches against a defined scalar, whereas the second matches against $_.

In reply to Re^3: Scalar Vs. List context by jrsimmon
in thread Scalar Vs. List context by biohisham

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