Teaching kids to care for their teeth is not always the most joyful task. But thanks to a new interactive exhibit at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, it finally can be.

Michigan Live reports that the exhibit, called “Chew On This!”, is funded by the Delta Dental Foundation. Their $25,000 grant opens the opportunity for elementary-aged kids to visit the exhibit and get up close with dental health.

“Good oral health is closely linked to overall health and school and life success. That’s why teaching children at an early age about taking care of their teeth and mouths is so important,” Teri Battaglieri, Delta Dental Foundation director, said in a press release, according to Michigan Live. “We are proud to partner with Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum in order to give thousands of children an outlet to learn about oral health in a fun and enriching setting.”

While 84.7% of children ages two to 17 visited a dentist between 2014 and 2015, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this exhibit might increase their understanding of what exactly goes on in the human mouth. According to the museum’s website, visitors can explore a giant lower jaw that has cavities, fillings, plaque, and swollen gums. Children can also put on dental coats and use large toothbrushes, floss, and dental instruments to clean the teeth. Check on inpatient rehab.

Visitors are also encouraged to interact with a grocery store simulation, where they face the challenge of choosing teeth-friendly foods. Teeth explorers can then hop over to the Teeth Discovery Center where they can try out microscopes, magnifying glasses, and dental tools.

The museum also has resources available for students and teachers eager to take a bite out of this learning experience. According to the museum’s website, the Delta Dental Foundation also provided $20,000 for field trip grants. If you are an educator of preschool through fourth grade students, you can apply for field trip funding online.

The “Chew On This!” hands-on exhibit was produced in collaboration by the Delta Dental Foundation and Impression 5 Science Center. The exhibit will be open through December.

Lasers have long been a popular theme in the science fiction genre, but scientists and engineers are continuing research to find ways to make use of them in the real world. In fact, lasers have become an extremely popular hair removal method; cosmetic industry figures find that laser hair removal is the most popular aesthetic procedure for women under the age of 35 and is second only to Botox for women over 35 years old. But the newest development in lasers stems from a half a million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to Flint Township’s Baker College, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The grant money will go towards expanding the college’s photonics program, which includes lasers.

“We are working to get photonics — the science and technology of light — into the mainstream of science and technical education at all levels,” said Anca Sala, the dean of engineering at Baker College. “This will draw more young people into the field early on.”

A typical engineer’s salary can vary widely, from $50,000 to $150,000, but having knowledge of photonics definitely puts a recent engineering graduate ahead of the game. Very few higher education institutions offer degree programs in the field; Sala said there are only between 25 and 30 universities nationwide to offer such programs. Baker College’s program is a two year degree in photonics and laser technology.

Sala said that photonics is becoming a highly sought after skill set for many Michigan companies and industries. Baker’s program started back in 2013 and currently enrolls about 30 students a year, but officials hope to boost that number up to 300.

Photons are microscopic light particles with virtually countless scientific uses, Sala explains. They’re used in flat screen TVs to project light and create images. They can be used to gauge depth perception; they’re able to be bounced off surfaces in order to determine how close or far away an object is. But most importantly, medical professionals are using them for surgeries.

Sala also says that photons are used in the manufacturing industry to cut steel, and she feels as though this use can also be applied to weaponry.

“If you can cut through steel, you can shoot something down,” she said.

The grant totals $512,000 and will be used to expand the photonics program into other academic institutions. The photonics lab at Baker College will also be updated, and labs at Auburn Hills and Jackson will be constructed as well. Some of the curriculum developed with the help of the grant money will also be used in other schools of varying grade levels.

Ultimately, Sala hopes this grant will serve as the fuel to ignite a flame of passion for engineering and laser technology in school-aged children.

“Right now,” she said, “science-fiction has become reality.”

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has but one simple goal.

“We want to bring our educators back into the city,” he said at a recent news conference.

That’s his motivation for adapting a new housing program designed to give educators and other school employees a 50% discount on homes in the city. At a time when major cities have effectively priced their own teachers out of the housing market, Detroit is trying to put its many unused homes to good use.

The homes that are eligible for discounts are all a part of the city of Detroit’s Land Bank auction program.

While discounts are already given to city employees and retirees, an announcement was made last week to extend the program to include educators and school employees of Detroit Public Schools Community District as well as charter schools and private schools.

The Detroit Free Press reports that since its initial implementation in 2015, the city has approved 1,609 employees to bid on city properties, according to land bank spokesperson Craig Fahle, who also says the bank owns around 30,000 properties in total.

About 44% of home buyers look online for properties as it is, and those interested in bidding on properties can now do so from the Land Bank’s website.

Nikolai Vitti, DPSCD Superintendent, feels that the expansion will help to fill a growing number of open positions within the school district.

“More importantly than that, it allows us to go back to an age when our teachers were directly linked to our schools and the community, which builds a better relationship with our students.”

Vitti says there’s currently “too much disconnect” between educators and students, largely due to the distance.

Detroit Federation of Teachers executive vice president Terrence Martin says he understands the “advantage of having that relationship with the children you service.”

“It’ll create a better teaching and learning environment for our students,” he said.

Ultimately, Cornerstone Charter Schools co-founder Clark Durant sees the program as nothing less than “a fabulous opportunity for all of the kids in the city,” but cites the biggest challenge as attracting school employees.

“We’re ahead of our enrollment goals and we’re looking for teachers,” Durant said.

The auto industry is experiencing some trouble after its fourth straight month of decline. This has many automakers looking for potential solutions to their declining sales.

Yet this decline continues on despite hefty consumer discounts, low interest rates, and looser loan terms than ever before. With 43% of car buyers financing their vehicles, these favorable conditions should be attracting more buyers. Yet there is already strong evidence that 2017 will fall short of the record year seen in 2016.

Industry consultants Autodata puts the industry’s sale rates at 16.51 million vehicles this year, which is the lowest rate since 2015. However, the auto industry has been bracing for this downturn since their record sales of 17.55 million new vehicles in 2016. Unfortunately, some overly generous lending terms may have had unintended consequences.

“It’s financially risky, leaving borrowers exposed to being upside down on their vehicles for a large chunk of their loans,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ executive director of industry analysis.

All three of the Detroit-based auto makers reported declines in July, with wide ranges for their hits. General Motors lost 4.7%, and Fiat Chrysler suffered a 7% loss. Foreign-based brands like Toyota are faring a little better, seeing a 2% increase in the last month.

Even automakers are starting to trim their forecasts for what the future sales look like, with General Motors lowering theirs to the “low 17-million” range, a more positive outlook than some others.

“U.S. total sales are moderating due to an industry-wide pull-back in daily rental sales, but key U.S. economic fundamentals clearly remain positive,” Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief economist, said.

In addition to this, the U.S. has seen a shift in demand for automakers in the last five years, with SUVs and truck models now accounting for nearly two-thirds of the demand. This has led to more expensive trucks, and the average transaction price is rising sharply. KellyBlueBook reports that the average auto transaction is now $34,442, a 2% increase from year-to-year.

“As the industry enters a ‘post-peak’ environment for new-car sales, more pressure will be placed on transaction prices,” said Tim Fleming, an analyst for KelleyBlueBook.

This could lead to a risk of job cuts to the industry, should it come under greater pressure.

More than 50% of the United States’ products require some form of welding. Of those, the most well known would be from the auto industry, with cars requiring assembly by welding more often than not.

But the U.S. auto industry is staring at a rocky future, according to some reports. And with it contributing billions to the U.S. economy each year, that could mean trouble ahead for a lot of affiliated industries.

The industry saw a massive amount of growth in recent years, showing a dramatic recovery from the Great Recession in 2008. The last two years, in particular, have shown record sales in the auto industry.

So how could the industry be in trouble?

The auto industry is slowing down and dropping in monthly sales as demand continues to fall. This has been a continuous theme, with June and the five months prior all showing the trend. Assembly plants that build passenger cars experienced the largest hit with a 2% fall in employed workers on the factory floors.

And analysts don’t see an end to the trend soon.

“There’s been a consistent reduction in plant output in the last six months, and what is ahead in the next six months could be pretty startling,” Ron Harbour, an auto manufacturing expert at the consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

In contrast, however, factories making sport utility vehicles and trucks are doing well, largely thanks to the lower gas prices. Small truck sales rose 4% from the year before, and the President himself touched on the issue of gas prices.

“Gas prices are the lowest in the U.S. in over ten years! I would like to see them go even lower,” said President Trump.

Sales aside, even the factories making sports vehicles and trucks are not creating a great deal of employment or constructing new plants. They’ve also slowed to a halt. And without new plants or employees, the industry isn’t likely to grow more than a few percentage points.

“The industry has dramatically expanded employment in the United States in the last several years, but the growth is just not there anymore,” Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said.

Even the auto parts industry has taken a hit from the slow growth, with O’Reilly being an example. Their stock dropped 20% recently as sales were shown to be lower than expected.

Experts speculate that the industries trend will continue for the foreseeable future, and so far the market shows no signs of otherwise.