The Iowa Board of Regents’ granted approval of the description, budget, and schematic design of a new $33.5 million building for psychological and brain sciences on April 21. Construction of the new 66,470-square-foot facility at Gilbert Street and Iowa Avenue will begin in the summer of 2017.

Jim Schroeder, a graduate student in physics and astronomy, has built an instrument to study the physical principles that produce the northern lights. Schroeder will use his $126,000 fellowship from the National Science Foundation to test his instrument this month at UCLA.

Ion Vasi, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Iowa who studies why consumers are drawn to local food and farmers markets, says grocery-aisle gardens fit with a trend in local food in the U.S. and around the world.

The University of Iowa has its first seismometer. The next time you walk around the first floor of Trowbridge Hall, check out the monitor outside Bill Barnhart’s office. You might just witness an earthquake.

Russell L. Ciochon, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Iowa, says while Gigantopithecus, the King Louie ape is about 400,000 years old, he approves of its inclusion in the new Jungle Book film.

The all-new production of “The Nutcracker” for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago will first be seen at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where it will play Dec. 1-4 at the Hancher Auditorium.

What does the Red Queen in “Alice in Wonderland” have to do with biology? “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” Sexual reproduction protects species by continuously shuffling their genes. A UI-led team bolstered the theory by studying snails’ resilience to parasitic worms.

The awards are presented annually by Governor Branstad to top students in 10 ROTC programs at seven universities. The awards honor the cadets for leadership, academics, and military achievement.

UI honors top student employees

The Joffrey Ballet will take to the new Hancher stage this December to perform choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s reimagining of the classic Nutcracker ballet.

The future home to studio arts on the University of Iowa campus is in its final stages of construction. Check out the latest progress on the flood-recovery project in this "Iowa Now" photo gallery.

Check out the latest progress on the new home for the University of Iowa School of Music in this “Iowa Now” photo gallery.