The long-solved problem of the best-fit straight line:application to isotopic mixing lines by  Richard Wehr and Scott R. Saleska Scientists in a wide variety of disciplines are commonly confronted with the problem of how to fit a straight line to data points that were measured with uncertainty in both X and Y. Much of the scientific literature gives the impression that this is an unsolved problem, but it was actually solved in… Read More

30 leading scientists (led by Nobel laureate Mario Molina, and including 3 from U. of Arizona: Scott Saleska, Jonathan Overpeck, Joellen Russell) respond to EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s doubt that human-emitted CO2 is a cause of warming. The letter notes that “focusing on disagreements over details, or among a few individuals on the margins of consensus, or on the uncertainties that are part of any accurate statement of scientific knowledge, misses the big picture:… Read More

Paper in 3 March 2017 issue of Science:  Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition Ph.D. student Carolina Levis and her mentor Flávia Costa, both at Brazil’s National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), lead 100+ authors in this novel analysis of the massive database of tree surveys previously assembled by Hans ter Steege and colleagues. Their conclusions (published in the March 3 issue of Science): “modern tree communities in Amazonia are structured to… Read More