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In the past five years, more satellites have been launched into Earths atmosphere than the preceding 60 years combined. And now, scientists believe that climate change is set to increase the number of old satellites that will turn into floating obstacles. Thats according to a study published last week in the Nature Sustainability journal by a team of aerospace engineers at MIT. The researchers examined how greenhouse gases are impacting Earths upper atmosphere and, in turn, the objects orbiting within it. They found that, as emissions increase, theyre actually altering the natural process that allows satellites to fall out of orbit and disintegrate, resulting in a kind of space junk pile-up. If this trend continues, it could have ripple effects for everything from weather tracking and broadband internet access to national defense. Captured by astronaut Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station, this long-exposure photograph showcases Earth’s city lights, the upper atmosphere’s airglow, and streaked stars. The bright flashes at the center are reflections of sunlight from SpaceX’s Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit. [Photo: NASA] How the atmosphere naturally removes space junk Most satellites are located within low Earth orbit, or around 400 to 1,000 kilometers above the planets surface. Under normal conditions, after these satellites reach the end of their lifespans (when their engines can no longer maintain enough velocity for orbit), natural atmospheric drag pulls them down to lower altitudes, where air molecules cause them to disintegrate before ever reaching the Earths surface. Its essentially the atmospheres natural space junk cleaning protocolbut climate change might be slowing it down. William Parker is a graduate student at MITs AeroAstro program, and he served as the lead author on the new study. Parker explains that greenhouse gases have a warming effect within the troposphere (the atmospheric layer closest to Earth), but in further layers, they actually have the opposite effect. Because greenhouse gases keep heat trapped close to the Earth, more distant layerslike the thermosphere, where the majority of satellites orbitare actually cooling down over time. That cooling leads to contraction, Parker says. The whole atmosphere is sort of shrinking. As the atmosphere shrinks, he adds, so, too, does the natural drag force thats supposed to pull satellites downward. That means that there’s less atmospheric density for the satellites to experience, which means that we don’t have this cleaning force in low Earth orbit that we’ve always had to rely on. Preventing a satellite debris pile-up As the atmospheres natural cleaning force diminishes, satellite operators may soon encounter a significant build-up of debris in low Earth orbit. Experts theorize that, beyond a certain critical mass, such a build-up could lead to something called The Kessler Effect: a series of space collisions that snowball as debris increases. Just this past year, Parker notes, Space Xs satellite service Starlinkwhich operates around 60% of all active satelliteshad to perform 100,000 collision avoidance maneuvers to prevent space collisions. If we don’t take action to be more responsible for operating our satellites, the impact is that there are going to be entire regions of low Earth orbit that could become uninhabitable for a satellite, Parker says. If nothing is done to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the MIT teams simulations show that the maximum satellite capacity in low Earth orbit could decrease by 50% to 66% by 2100. In a more likely scenario where some effective climate action is taken, Parker says the capacity is still predicted to drop by 24% to 33% in that same time frame. Currently, satellites play a central role in global weather tracking, access to internet service, online banking, national defense protocols, and more. If satellite operators have to spend more and more energy avoiding obstacles, providing those essential services will become increasingly difficultand expensive. It’s going to mean that all of the products that we get from space are going to be degraded, because satellites now have a secondary objective, Parker says. The primary objective has always been to collect data or to provide some service, like connection to the internet. Now, the secondary objective is just to make sure that you don’t get destroyed in a collision with a debris object. It’s something that operators have only had to start worrying about in the last five to 10 years. The long-term solution is taking more action to eliminate greenhouse gas pollution. In the meantime, Parker says, satellite operators should try to operate at lower altitudes to ensure that theres enough drag to remove debris from the atmosphere, as well as taking proactive steps to return spacecraft from orbit before they can even become debris. He also believes that a real set of international space traffic management rules could help prevent overcrowding. There used to be this mantra in the space industry that space is big, and that’s an excuse to not treat it with the respect that it should be treated with, Parker says. Thats outdated, and we need to do a better job at managing this resource that we have and sharing it in an equitable way.
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E-Commerce
Everyone knows pain. It’s the most common ailment people experience, from a headache to a stubbed toe to a sore back. Treating pain can be as straightforward as popping a pill. But for people experiencing chronic painlike the lingering aftereffects of chemotherapy or the slow rehabilitation after a major car accidentmedication is rarely enough to fully erase the pain. When the patient experiencing chronic pain is a child, the stakes can feel even higher. To help children experiencing chronic pain, a new kind of clinical space has been created that goes way beyond handing out medication. The Stad Center for Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine is a holistic clinic that combines Western medicine, rehabilitation, psychological care, and less conventional forms of pain management, including hypnotherapy, acupuncture, and meditation. In its newest location, designed by the architecture firm NBBJ and opening next month in San Francisco, the architecture of the clinic plays a significant role in this multifaceted approach to treating pain. [Photo: NBBJ/courtesy UCSF] It was specifically designed in a way to start the healing before children even see the first doctor, says Dr. Stefan Friedrichsdorf, medical director of the Stad Center. The clinic features nature-inspired decor, alcoves, and furnishings. Two themes, underwater and redwood forest, appear throughout the clinic and are given playful, almost interactive elements to encourage engagement among younger patients. One wall in the lobby features a projected digital waterfall over a forest scene, and its flowing water responds to the movement and touch of children who come near it. Natural-looking materials, abundant daylight, and spacious common areas are intended to exude calm. We’re one of the very few places that really show that our goal is to help children and adolescents and young adults to get back to normal life and get rid of the pain, Friedrichsdorf says. [Photo: NBBJ/courtesy UCSF] Rethinking the waiting room Part of the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospitals system, the Stad Center is a five-year-old clinic that builds off Friedrichsdorf’s previous working building a similar pain center in Minneapolis. When the opportunity arose to build a brand new space at UCSF, Friedrichsdorf flew the NBBJ design team out to Minneapolis to see how this holistic approach to treating pain works. In addition to its inclusion of non-Western medical and healing modalities, Friedrichsdorf’s multidisciplinary approach avoids some of the spatial separations that can slow the delivery of care. [Photo: NBBJ/courtesy UCSF] The biggest difference between this new clinic and most health care spaces is that it does not have a formal waiting room. To reduce the anxiety that young patients can experience in hospital settings, the clinic was designed to make a smooth transition from the outside to a consultation area, exam room, or therapy space. The lobby is one point of a circular pathway that leads to sitting areas, treatment rooms, and rehabilitation spaces. There are almost no right angles, and the designers used natural curves to inform its layout. [Photo: NBBJ/courtesy UCSF] Another major focus of the design was creating a space where the center’s team of multidisciplinary practitioners can meet with new patients, all together, to understand the pain conditions and plan out a course of treatment. That intake can take a long time, because we really want to spend the time to understand what brought the child to the clinic and then really think about what we would recommend for them, says Dr. Karen Sun, a hospitalist at the Stad Center. Friedrichsdorf explains that chronic pain can often be hard to detect, which leads many doctors to either ignore it or over-medicate it. Kids have often heard well, we don’t see anything on the imagery, therefore the pain is not real, therefore you’re crazy or you’re making this up, he says. I always tell my kids your pain is real, you’re not craz, you’re not making this up. I see this all the time. Now, what do we need to do to make sure that this pain goes away? [Photo: NBBJ/courtesy UCSF] A new approach to chronic pain The intake meeting with the clinic’s various practitioners helps the team understand the pain and identify the best interventions, be they medical, rehabilitative, or less conventional forms of healing. It feels very cohesive. It feels very much like things flow. And they leave with a really strong sense of what’s going to happen, Sun says. There’s none of this, Oh, we’re going to refer you to physical therapy and then you have to wait for three months. [Photo: NBBJ/courtesy UCSF] That physical therapist is typically in the room for that intake meeting, and the physical therapy gym is right down the hall. Same with the acupuncture and acupressure studios, meditation spaces, and more conventional medical exam and treatment rooms. One feature patients have responded to well in early testing is the multisensory room, which features dimmable lights, speakers built into chairs, a hanging swing, a climbing wall, and other interactive elements meant to help calm children with particular sensitivities. This is something quite fabulous and originally meant for children who have impairment of the brain or other senses, Friedrichsdorf says. However, we found that otherwise healthy kids and teenagers really, really enjoy this room. Pulling all these treatment types into one center means that patients can easily access whatever will help address their specific type of pain. We have found if we combine the best Western medicine and medications, interventions, surgery, rehabilitation, and psychology with those integrative modalities, that kids heal much faster and get back to life earlier, Friedrichsdorf says.
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E-Commerce
In 1865, a new department store opened in Paris called Printemps (which is French for spring). The architecture is a stunning Art Deco masterpiece, replete with mosaics, dramatic turrets, and enormous windows with dramatic displays of recent products. Today, it sits among other iconic Parisian landmarks, like the Galleries Lafayette store and the Opera. But back then, there was nothing nearby except a railway line that only carried cargo. When we opened our store on Boulevard Haussmann, it was a completely new area, says Jean-Marc Bellaiche, CEO of Printemps Groupe, the store’s parent company. It was a bet that this neighborhood would become hot and vibrant. It was a very successful bet. [Photo: Gieves Anderson/Printemps New York] This week, Printemps is making a bet on another neighborhood in another continent: New York’s Financial District. Over the past few years, the area has gone through a massive revitalization, as apartments, restaurants, and shops have moved in. Printemps is moving into the ground floor of a 50-story residential building at One Wall Street. Fifteen years ago, it would have been risky to move here, but it’s transforming in a big way, he says. Bellaiche says Printemps spent a lot of time thinking about the new dynamics in the Financial District. He points out that the area was once dominated by bankers, but there are many other businesses in the area now, including media, fashion, and technology. The Spotify headquarters are nearby, he says. He also finds it appealing that there are many new apartment complexes in the area, and families are moving in. It makes the area feel much more like a real neighborhood, one that we are now a part of, he says. [Photo: Gieves Anderson/Printemps New York] Printemps’s flagship store in Paris is a gargantuan 450,000 square foot operation that is spread out across three buildings, and features more than 1,500 brands. Bellaiche, who joined the company in 2020, has been instrumental in helping to think about Printemps’s future. Part of this has involved expanding beyond France to other markets. Printemps opened a Doha, Qatar, in 2022, and this New York store continues this investment in foreign markets. The New York store is about a tenth the size, and the company wanted to design a store that was somewhat cozier. It has a far smaller, more curated assortment of brands and products that are generally high-end, but that span a range of price points. While you can buy Louboutins in the shoe section, Nike Women is also doing a pop-up, offering affordably priced sneakers. We thought, what if Printemps had a pied-a-terre in New York, says Laura Lendrum, CEO of Printemps America. So we kind of took that idea literally, and designed the store around the concept of an apartment. [Photo: Gieves Anderson/Printemps New York] The company brought on Laura Gonzalez, a French interior designer, to help design the space. She worked with the Printemps team to create various rooms, much like you would have in a home, where you would want to spend time. The Red Room, which is a historic space in the One Wall Street building, has been transformed into a walk-in closet for shoes. Beauty products are displayed in a cozy bathroom inspired space with green tiled walls. There’s a cafe and a restaurant inspired by a breakfast nook and a dining room. There are plenty of plush sofas for you to sit on. [Photo: Gieves Anderson/Printemps New York] Designed for discovery Lendruma retail veteran who previously worked for Ralph Lauren, Gucci, and Saint Laurentsays the idea of creating a homey feel was very deliberate. For years, brick and mortar was in decline, even in the realm of high-end department stores. (Barney’s shuttered in 2020, after 97 years in business.) In the post-pandemic world, consumers’ appetites for retail has returned, but Lendrum says they don’t want to feel like the shopping experience is purely transactional. One way they signal this is by letting the customer choose how they want to spend their time in the store, rather than directing them towards particular sections to make purchases. In the IKEA model, the store directs you to go from point A to point B to maximize how much you will buy, says Lendrum. But here, our designer has made sure there is not a single path through the store. It isall about the poetry of shapes and curves; there are no straight lines. Everything is designed to encourage discovery and wandering. [Photo: Gieves Anderson/Printemps New York] Lendrum says that the team focused on creating lots of flexible areas which can be transformed from season to season, to keep things interesting for guests. This proved to be a challenge. In retail, architects don’t like creating flexibility spaces because the lighting and fixtures need to be adapted to the merchandise, Lendrum says. But Laura [Gonzalez] was willing to make it work. This means we can convert areas into brand pop-ups, cooking classes, book readingswhatever is interesting for the community. [Photo: Gieves Anderson/Printemps New York] Bellaiche says that the restaurants were another way of making the space less transactional, and more focused on hospitality. Printemps’s Paris flagship has more than 15 dining options, including La Perruche, a rooftop restaurant that has 1,000 seats, 400 of which offer a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Opera. Bellaiche wanted the New York store to be equally known for its dining. Printemps managed to bring on Gregory Gourdet, a James Beard award winning chef who opened the Haitian restaurant Kann in Portland, to develop a range of dining options, which will include fine dining and a café. As the Financial District keeps booming, and more families move into nearby apartments, Bellaiche hopes people will think of Printemps less as a place to shop for clothes or makeup and more as a regular destination as they go about life. We hope people will come in for their daily coffee and croissant, he says. We love seeing people come into the store every day. It allows us to develop an intimacy with them.
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E-Commerce
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