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Editor’s note: A version of this press release appeared on The University of Texas at Austin’s site. 

By Mary Fetzer

By Jamie Oberdick

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The biggest question an entrepreneur faces is a simple one: Are there enough potential customers to turn my big idea into a business? A trio of Penn State researchers were selected recently for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National I-Corps Program to find an answer for their own big idea.  

By Mariah R. Lucas

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Earthquakes are notoriously hard to predict, and scientists currently rely on seismic hazard maps to predict the likelihood of an earthquake to strike a particular region. Jacques Rivière, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics (ESM) and of acoustics, received a five-year, $750,000 Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to advance the use of ultrasound sensors to image lab-based earthquakes and better understand the precursory events that lead to them. 

By Ashley WennersHerron

By Mariah R. Lucas

UNIVERISTY PARK, Pa. — The tumor suppressor protein p53, known as "the guardian of the genome," protects the body’s DNA from daily stress or long-term damage by triggering the cells to make repairs or to self-destruct. But mutations in the p53 gene that codes for the protein can prevent it from performing its job, making errors accumulate in the genetic code and leading to diseases like cancer.