An international team of scientists published the first two genome sequences from a destructive group of plant pathogens called Phytophthora--a name that literally means "plant destroyer." The more than 80 species of fungus-like Phytophthora attack a broad range of plants and together cost the agriculture, forestry and nursery industries hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

Although similar to fungi, most fungicides are ineffective at controlling Phytophthora. The information gained from studying the genomic sequences of P. ramorum and P. sojae will help scientists devise strategies to combat not only these two species, but also other disease-causing Phytophthora.

P. sojae, an endemic pathogen of soybeans, is responsible for $1 billion to $2 billion in losses worldwide each year. P. ramorum is associated with sudden oak death, a disease that has devastated the nursery industry and oak ecosystems in California, Oregon and Washington state. More than 1 million native oak and tanoak trees have been lost to the disease. See NSF's press release for more on diseases caused by this plant pathogen.

Engineers have developed a system for taking anonymous cell phone location information and turning it into an illuminated traffic map that identifies congestion in real-time. The system takes advantage of the steady stream of positioning cues--untraced signals all cell phones produce whether in use or not--as they seek towers, and uses the positioning cues to produce average speeds and travel times for all roads with cellular coverage.

Developed by IntelliOne of Atlanta, Ga., the TrafficAid system could help guide drivers around tie-ups and also alert emergency responders on accidents and the progress of emergency evacuations by pinpointing clusters of cell phones. It is the first traffic-solution technology that monitors patterns on rural roads and city streets as easily as on highways.

Creation and development of TrafficAid was supported in part by a grant from NSF's Small Business Innovation Research program, which directly supports businesses and their partners in academia. Read NSF's "Real-Time Traffic Routing from the Comfort of Your Car" for more details on IntelliOne's accuracy.

In order to find out how some of the most dangerous hurricanes form, U.S. and French researchers are launching large, specialized balloons carrying nearly 300 instruments over wide swaths of Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. The eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean is out of range for U.S. hurricane-hunter aircraft, and forecasters have little skill predicting which systems brewing there will develop into hurricanes.

The first launch of a balloon with its instruments, called a driftsonde, took place at Zinder, Niger, on Aug. 28. In total, eight driftsondes will be released from Zinder during the peak period of hurricane formation over the tropical Atlantic. Data from the driftsondes will help characterize conditions that either foster or suppress hurricane formation. Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the French space agency, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, developed the driftsondes.

The research is funded by NSF, NCAR's primary sponsor, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See NSF's "High-Flying Balloons Track Hurricane Formation" for more on driftsondes.

NSF-supported scientists are developing innovative tracking and information-management technologies to unobtrusively follow the movements of wild animals. Multidisciplinary teams of biologists, computer scientists, and engineers are observing and tracking animals in their natural environment to learn exactly how animals spend their minutes, days and years.

Explore the latest animal tracking technologies, learn animal facts, and watch video clips of NSF-supported research at work in our newest Special Report.

Just how small do tracking sensors have to be to fit on a dragonfly? Find out as researchers use them to track Green Darner dragonflies during their annual migration.

Twenty years ago this month, a team of scientists--put together by NSF, NOAA and NASA--were on the ice in Antarctica studying the cause of the hole in the stratospheric ozone layer over the southernmost continent.

Their observations were the first definitive demonstration that humans are capable of affecting the entire global climate system and led to the Montreal Protocol, the first treaty to address the Earth's environment. This treaty--which was ratified by 29 countries and the European Economic Commission in 1989--was the first to address the Earth's environment.

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NSF: What would you consider the next grand research challenges for CMOP researchers? Baptista: Understanding the role of microbes in coastal margins, under varying influences of climate, ocean and humans, has to be the next big umbrella for CMOP.

NSF: What do you hope CMOP will accomplish over the long-term? Baptista: The center will study coastal margins and enable a transformative understanding of river-to-ocean ecosystems. We expect to build effective paradigms for integrated research, education and knowledge transfer—and we hope to export their elements across the entire coastal margin community. We want a future in which observation and prediction are used as commonly for the sustainable development of coastal margins as they are for weather forecasting.

NSF: How do you foresee the Center helping to educate the public? Baptista: A clearly important objective is to help the public recognize the benefits of ocean research. We will use a range of approaches, such as talking at rotary club-like settings, which has proven in the past to be effective. Giving the public access to ocean data in a friendly, yet pervasive way, is another approach. We expect to strategically place throughout the Pacific Northwest "Today’s Ocean" interactive kiosks. "Today’s Ocean" will also be an integral part of our Web site.

NSF: What's the biggest challenge that "coastal margin" scientists have to overcome in the next century? Baptista: We clearly need to understand the influence of climate on coastal margins, the role of coastal margins in global elemental cycles, and the impact of human activities. We need to realize that we are observing to understand, understanding to predict, and predicting to enable society to make wise decisions on management, development and preservation of river-to-ocean ecosystems and resources.

NSF: What's your favorite creature of the ocean? Baptista: For early Portuguese sailors, mermaids were creatures of wonder, and many never gave up hope of eventually seeing one. Maybe because of my Portuguese ancestry, my favorite water creatures have always been those that I have not--but hope to one day--see.

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