Timothy Schaffert will read from his new novel, "The Swan Gondola," at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.

Kevin and Cindy Spencer are renowned magicians who not only present amazing performances, but also share their craft in a variety of therapeutic settings. The University of Iowa’s Hancher will present Spencers—Theatre of Illusion at the Englert Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 16. at 3 p.m.

After each of the eight football victories earned by the University of Iowa this season, head coach Kirk Ferentz was quick to credit a team effort. That extends to Dr. Ned Amendola, a silent contributor who does most of his "coaching" behind the scenes.

New research from the University of Iowa College of Public Health supports the claim that tele-emergency services can successfully extend emergency care in rural hospitals. A summary of the research was published in the new February edition of Health Affairs.

An examination of predicted societal advances that never came to pass includes a shorter work week; in fact, the opposite has happened, notes UI professor Ben Hunnicutt, “Americans are working about five weeks a year longer than they did in 1976."

The University of Iowa Public Policy Center has received three grants totaling $17.2 million to fund automotive safety research and the development and implementation of a national education campaign to help drivers understand the safety systems in their vehicles.

UI Women in Science and Engineering hosted about 90 girls in third through sixth grade for a day of information about science careers and hands-on science activities, including making lava lamps and volcanoes.

Wilfrid Nixon, a civil engineer who studies winter road management at the University of Iowa, estimated that 20 percent of state, county, and local highway departments that plow snow have begun using beet juice or a similar product for road deicing over the last decade.

Iowa City Police received a report of a strong-arm robbery at the north entrance of the Old Capitol Mall, which houses the University Capitol Center at 9:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 3, 2014.

UI professor Ingo Titze and colleagues studied the accuracy and effectiveness of voice voting, concluding that this type of vote is extremely unreliable and that even just one boisterous participant can distort the perceptions of a judge.

As heart disease continues to be one of the major causes of death in Iowa, UI Health Alliance has joined with a team of health-care officials throughout the state to offer affordable mobile heart screenings to detect heart disease and stroke.

Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Marian Clark will read from her memoir, "Sixty-Something and Flying Solo: A Retiree Sorts it Out in Iowa," at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.