Reducing kids’ fear of the dentist

In the future, children will associate a trip to the dentist with fun and relaxation rather than with fear, if Georgia Houston has her way. Houston, a graduate student in industrial design in EVDS, recently completed a master’s degree project that recommends improving the appearance of severe looking dental instruments, the incorporation of calming symbols and exercises, and a hand controller with an alarm function to encourage distraction from painful stimuli and reassurance to the child that they can communicate distress.

Research tackles sticky questions

Velcro, Superglue and Post-It Notes—three things that started out as obscure inventions but are now indispensable for everyday life. So what will the next idea to stick with modern society look like? The answer may lie in the tiny toes of a humble lizard. The latest development in gekkotan adhesive research is a paper by U of C professor Anthony Russell, one of the world’s leading experts on the gecko family of lizards, and graduate student Megan Johnson published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology. It’s one of the only studies to look at how a gecko’s unique toe pads enable it to move through its natural habitat. “Once we conquer how it works, it could be reasonably cheap to manufacture and the possible uses are endless,” says Russell.

U of C bookstore phases out plastic bags

The University of Calgary Bookstore has discontinued the use of plastic bags, joining a growing number of retailers opting for greener retail practices. The bookstore began to gradually phase out the plastic bags last fall, encouraging students and staff to use cloth bags. Since then, the store has been using up its inventory of plastic bags and will now only offer cloth bags for $2 each.