Latest news with #TheTerminal

The world's busiest international airport is shutting down. What's next?

Sydney Morning Herald

28-05-2025

Business
Sydney Morning Herald

The world's busiest international airport is shutting down. What's next?

When Dubai International (DXB) first opened in 1960, its runway was a strip of compacted sand. Fast forward 65 years and it's the busiest international airport on the planet, processing 92.3 million passengers last year alone (when including domestic passengers, it's pipped by Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson as the world's busiest). More of a luxury shopping mall with planes, DXB far outshines any of our airports and if, like Tom Hanks in The Terminal, you were ever stranded there, you probably wouldn't mind too much. Where else can you buy a Rolex, a Rolls-Royce and a McChicken sandwich before your 3am boarding call? It's basically The Ritz with baggage claim. Unsurprisingly, though, it's beginning to feel the strain. Hemmed in by highways and residential areas, DXB has nowhere to bulge, so last April UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced that operations would slowly be phased across to Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International (DWC), located 61 kilometres to the south of DXB, when its expansion is completed in 2032. Backed by the desert, this hyper-modern, AI-purring, mega-hub will be aviation's new darling with 400 aircraft gates (compared to the current 29) and poised to handle 260 million passengers per year once it's fully operational. With DXB being gently nudged aside like a beloved grandparent who's just a little too slow for today's high-speed air travel, what will become of the empty site? Dubai isn't the kind of city to let nearly 3000 hectares of prime urban real estate, just a 15-minute drive from downtown, gather sand. This is a place that built a ski slope in the desert and named islands after continents. They dream big, so something more innovative and headline-worthy is also likely. We game-planned some potential scenarios and explored how other decommissioned airports around the world have been reinvented to see where Dubai might take inspiration. Let's taxi down the runway of possibilities.

The Age

28-05-2025

Business
The Age

The world's busiest international airport is shutting down. What's next?

New parents' 'surreal' Edinburgh hospital stay after tiny baby born 14 weeks early

Edinburgh Live

23-05-2025

Health
Edinburgh Live

New parents' 'surreal' Edinburgh hospital stay after tiny baby born 14 weeks early

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info The parents of a baby who was born in Edinburgh 14 weeks early have opened up on their 'surreal' stay in hospital. Jenna and Liam Wilson went into hospital around 25 weeks into Jenna's pregnancy, after she experienced swelling in her feet and high blood pressure. Six days later, baby Ellis was born - weighing just 1lb 13oz. Jenna, 29, said their seven-week stay in Simpsons Neonatal Unit at the Royal Infirmary became 'their own bubble'. As the family look forward to Ellis' first birthday on August 1, the couple say that they 'wouldn't even have their baby' if it weren't for the staff at Simpsons. Liam, 32, is now planning a 40-mile walk from Forth Valley Hospital in Stirling to the Royal Infirmary, to raise funds for Simpsons Special Care Babies. The couple want to make the 'brutal reality' a little bit easier for other families who may be in similar situations. Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Liam said: "Jenna and I were expecting our first child in November last year. "At the end of July, she had a bit of swelling in her feet and high blood pressure, but was feeling completely fine within herself. We went to the hospital to get her blood pressure checked and basically never came back out. "She went in at around 25 weeks, and Ellis was born six days later on August 1. We lived at the Royal Infirmary for seven weeks. "They've got some rooms for families in the neonatal unit inside Simpsons so we lived there." (Image: Supplied) The parents, who live in Stirling, were moved to the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh after it became clear that Ellis would need to be born early. Once he was strong enough, they were moved through to Forth Valley Hospital - which has led to Liam's walk between the two hospitals. Liam continued: "We got out of hospital at the end of October, day before Halloween, when he was around three months old. "He went home on oxygen initially, to help with his breathing, because he's got chronic lung disease. He's off oxygen now and breathing fine, it's quite common with babies born early. "It might affect him for a few years, we won't really know until he grows up." With Ellis now in good health, Liam and Jenna have said the realities of what has happened are setting in. Looking back on their stay in hospital, Jenna said: "It was quite surreal. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox "But it became very, very normal as well. The outside world became a bit scary, it was like we'd never seen outside before. "It was really bizarre, because you were just so focused on everything that was going on inside the hospital." Liam added: "I don't know if you've seen the film The Terminal with Tom Hanks, but it was a bit like that. "He's stuck in the airport, and we were effectively the same, but in a hospital. It would be 11pm and we'd go downstairs for a walk and the place would be completely empty. "Most people would be out in the pub or for a nice meal and we'd be walking the corridors." While the couple struggled during their time in the hospital, they praised the 'incredible' staff at Simpsons who helped them through. (Image: Supplied) Jenna continued: "Simpsons saved his life more than, more than once. "The people, the staff, the doctors, the consultants, we wouldn't have our baby at home if it wasn't for these people. Every single person we came across helped me and Liam more than they ever knew as well. "Even just telling us about their weekends was nice because we didn't have a social life, so we lived our life through them. As well as taking incredible care of our son as well.' Jenna and Liam said one of their biggest challenges came after leaving the hospital, as they attempted to readjust into life. Liam said: "You kind of go from two full months of being around people to nothing. They become like family." Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Jenna continued: "We were so focused when we were in the hospital, we were in survival mode. It was 100 per cent on Ellis and him getting better. "I've struggled since I came home, because it hits you like a ton of bricks. The situation we went through wasn't a normal thing, and that's not how pregnancy is meant to go." Liam said: "We didn't have time to worry about ourselves really. "We just had to get through the day. It's strange in a way because as Ellis got better, that's probably when it was harder for us. "We had to learn how to socialise again in a way." (Image: Supplied) When we asked Liam and Jenna if they had any advice for parents who may be in similar situations, Jenna said: "I wouldn't have gotten through that situation had I not had Liam. Whether its your partner, or a family member or just someone you can be vulnerable around - you need that. "It's impossible to do it on your own. It's really difficult.' Liam added: "I think remembering it's OK to have a day where you find things tough and you feel like you can't do it. "We've seen other parents who were kind of burning themselves out or they wouldn't go for lunch. I think that's what kept us going, the fact that we would go and we would have a proper meal to kind of refuel almost." You can find Liam's fundraiser for Simpsons Special Care Babies here.

BBC Strictly Come Dancing Janette and Aljaz on 'awful' time after major life decision

Yahoo

05-04-2025

Entertainment
Yahoo

BBC Strictly Come Dancing Janette and Aljaz on 'awful' time after major life decision

Strictly's Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec have been forced to move back down south after finding their dream home in Cheshire two-years-ago. The dancing duo spoke The Mirror about the move, after Aljaz's return to Strictly made life and commuting too hard for their family. "Awful, awful, absolutely awful," Aljaz, 35, said. READ MORE: EastEnders star Kellie Bright says 'this is it' as she announces new career move away from the show READ MORE: Inside the life of Gogglebox's Helena Worthington from job to quirky home "Moving home is one of the last things you want to do, let's be honest. And it doesn't matter how you do it, if you get someone to help you with it, if you do it yourself. The reality is you're going to be looking at cardboard for a foreseeable amount of time." With their toddler Lyra being their main priority, the couple felt the pressure of balancing everything was too much. Aljaz added: "It's very stressful and it takes so much longer with a little one, especially a toddler, because she finds it hilarious opening the boxes, and you don't want to stop her either. So yeah, you kind of find your toothbrush in the outside garage or something." The couple were devastated to leave the personal memories they made in the house as they prepare to embark on a joint 19-day tour, A Night To Remember. Janette, 41, said Aljaz's move back to Strictly made sustaining a family difficult as she commutes twice a week. "It was a mix of two things," Janette says of the reason behind the move. "Obviously, we loved being up north and we fell in love with the house because that was the first home that Lyra lived in. A lot of her first moments were all in that house. There were just so many beautiful memories in that house and the people up north are just such incredibly kind, warm, loving people. There's a real sense of community there. "We tried it this year with me commuting to London for It Takes Two and Aljaz staying down in London for the whole series of Strictly. In retrospect, we spent some very, very minimal time together as a family. Lyra and I were traveling up and down twice a week, staying in hotel rooms to try and make it work. "It's just not feasible for us to do that because the priority is family and spending time together and Lyra's well-being and that is not going to be sustainable if Aljaz is going back to Strictly, which hopefully he is. "So we thought it's better to be closer to London and at least we have slightly more guarantee that Lyra will have a bit more normalcy in her life. She'll be home, she'll be going to the same nursery, she'll be in the same kind of routine, and then we'll get to really spend more time together as a family than not. But never say never about going back up north, because we did love it up there." Aljaz added: "I stayed in a hotel for four months in a row at one point. I felt like Tom Hanks in The Terminal!" For Janette, it will be the calm lifestyle in Cheshire that she will miss most. "We loved living in the countryside so much," she said. "When we moved back down close to London, I said to Aljaz that the only way we could do this is if we could find a house that is in the countryside again, because we just love the green and the space. "Lyra wakes up in the morning to bird chirping and dew on the grass and views of just green and horses. We've got these beautiful little deer [Muntjac] that live near us as well. That is priceless more than anything else for me, the the space of green and fresh air that you get in the countryside." Although they now juggle an even busier lifestyle, they wouldn't change a thing, loving their life with Lyra. Aljaz said: "It's like flipping a pancake. It's been the most wholesome and the most loving experience from day one. It changes your life completely. Anyone who has children knows that you find a new love that you didn't know existed before. You think you love something so much, and then you realise, Oh, I can love something even more. "She's brilliant. She has completely come into our life. Of course, like we said, now you have to schedule everything, but she's such a little trooper. She's been in more hotels before she's two years old than most people do in their lifetime! She's been on tours, she's been traveling to America, to everywhere! She's so good, and I think that she just brightens up every single day." Janette added: "Aljaz and I have always been really in love and had a beautiful marriage, and we really feel like we've always been a team in life, and now we're a team as parents. She's become the new priority of us and I think that's been the biggest change. Which we want, of course, that's what we want to experience! We're obsessed and we love her.

NASA astronauts return home after major delay. Their extended stay could have health consequences

Yahoo

15-03-2025

Health
Yahoo

NASA astronauts return home after major delay. Their extended stay could have health consequences

On March 14, a journey that was originally supposed to be a little over a week — but was stretched out to nine months — came to an end. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were selected for the first crewed test flight on Elon Musk's Starliner and were only supposed to stay at the International Space Station for 10 days, but when NASA discovered several helium leaks and propulsion system issues on the spacecraft, the agency decided to send it back empty until another mission could be sent up to get the astronauts. This isn't like some low-gravity version of "The Terminal," in which travelers are stuck in limbo due to some administrative glitch. Space can have devastating and profound health effects on astronauts, which means Williams and Wilmore's extended stay on the ISS could result in pronounced impacts on their bodies. Launching into space requires undergoing g-force more than double that of what we experience on Earth, which former NASA astronaut Dr. Sandy Magnus once described as feeling like having a '70-pound gorilla sitting on your chest.' But that's the last of gravity astronauts feel before reentering the Earth's atmosphere once their mission is complete, and once they enter orbit they will spend the rest of their time in space floating in their seats. But the effects of gravity — or lack thereof — are just the beginning of how space manipulates the human body. Everything from worsening eyesight to genetic changes to skin rashes that develop upon arrival — even no longer feeling accustomed to the touch of fabric on one's clothes — have been reported in people who have gone to space. 'In general, the environment in space causes an accelerated model for disease, and what we kind of say is an accelerated model for aging,' said Dr. Afshin Beheshti, director of the Center for Space Biomedicine at the University of Pittsburgh. 'But you don't age faster, it's just that all of the things associated with aging, like cardiovascular risk or cognitive issues … Everything is kind of sped up in space because of that environment." This week, four astronauts took off to the ISS, where the spacecraft will pick up Williams and Wilmore before returning home. At this point, Williams and Wilmore have been in space for nine months, joining just eight other astronauts who have spent more than 200 days in space. (NASA astronaut Frank Rubio holds the record at 371 days.) From what we know about the impacts of space on health, it will take them some time to recover from the journey. 'When we get back, even to lift a pencil we will feel the weight,' Wilmore said in a CNN interview last month. 'That's the transition back.' That's in part because on Earth, the force of gravity constantly acts on the skeleton, which stimulates bone-building cells called osteoblasts that maintain our bone density. Without that force, bone density and muscles can atrophy and weaken, with bones becoming 1% less dense for every month spent in space without any measures performed to combat bone Williams and Wilmore exercise daily to mitigate these effects, they will still likely have experienced significant bone density loss when they get back. Upon landing, Wilmore and Williams will be met with medical teams who can help them get started on a 45-day post-mission recovery program, said NASA's Lead Flight Surgeon Dr. Stevan Gilmore. "They work closely with trainers, dedicating two hours each day to return to their pre-flight baseline state of health and fitness," Gilmore wrote to Salon in an email. "Generally, most crewmembers' physiological systems recover within this timeframe." For comparison, after NASA astronaut Scott Kelly spent one year in space, he had to learn how to walk again, Beheshti said. 'Being a year in space like that, it definitely takes a while for them to recoup the damage done,' Beheshti told Salon in a phone interview. Kelly participated in the Twin Study conducted by NASA, in which several biomarkers of his were compared to his twin brother (Sen. Mark Kelly) who stayed on Earth. After the space flight, Kelly had more symptoms of heart disease than his brother and showed symptoms of something called Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS), in which blood and cerebrospinal fluid travels upward from the legs to the head without the force of gravity, impacting the brain and vision. "He wasn't wearing glasses before he went, but he came back and started wearing glasses," Beheshti said. Additionally, disruptions to the body's internal clock can affect astronaut's sleeping and eating cycles. Some studies have also shown that astronauts' cognitive processing speeds were slower in space, although these changes returned to baseline upon return to Earth. Similar results were found in research testing cognition in civilians who went to space. "Sometimes people actually perform better in space, and they're more even more focused, in a way," said Dr. Chris Mason, a professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. "But sometimes people get a little slower. It really depends on the crew member." Radiation is also much stronger in space without the protective ozone layer on Earth to buffer it, and it can have several impacts on the body at the cellular level. For each week that astronauts spend on the ISS, the radiation they experience is equivalent to about one year's worth of exposure on Earth, although this can vary depending on how many solar flares or cosmic rays in space occur. That radiation has been shown to impact the cell's mitochondrial function, which can have downstream effects on the body, Beheshti said. 'The mitochondria is your bioenergetics, so your energy in your body is produced by all of the mitochondria in your cells,' Beheshti said. 'When the bioenergetics are damaged, you can imagine that it has detrimental effects … impacting your immune system and circadian rhythm.' Exposure to radiation at these levels has been associated with an elevated risk for heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative disorders that affect the eyes. Researchers have been able to measure several biomarkers in astronauts who went to space and found that exposure to radiation and antigravity significantly impacts immune function as well. In one 2024 study published in Communications Biology, Mason found that astronauts who spent time in space had longer telomeres, or structures at the end of chromosomes which protect DNA. Although longer telomeres have been associated with youth, they are also linked to certain cancers. Mason's research also found that several genes involved with the immune system were activated with space flight, presumably as a mounted response to the stress the body is put under in these conditions. 'There are also anti-inflammatory markers called interleukins which get activated, and we've seen some of them in almost every mission, so we would expect that they would also have them here,' Mason told Salon in a phone interview. 'We see a lot of genes for DNA repair get activated, like the body is detecting some of the damage and then repairing that damage, which is a normal adaptive response.' These effects increase the longer astronauts are in space, although about 95% of these cellular changes return to baseline within a few weeks of astronauts returning to Earth, Mason said. For Kelly, 90% of gene changes that he experienced returned back to normal within six months. In Mason's study, telomere changes returned to baseline within days, he said. Still, there are individual differences that can influence how quickly an astronaut bounces back and scientists are constantly researching what influences disease risk for astronauts. Scientists haven't yet figured out a way to fully block radiation, which interacts with the body as fast-moving invisible particles that can break up DNA. However, efforts are underway to test new small molecules in rodents that could improve resistance to radiation. This could have implications not just for astronauts in space but patients on Earth having to undergo invasive radiation therapies for cancer. Others are studying whether an induced form of 'artificial hibernation" could protect against some of the harmful effects of radiation. In recent studies, stimulating the same process that squirrels and bears go through in the winter has been shown to reduce the toxicity of radiation. 'When there's radiation damage caused to your body, you create reactive oxygen species and that causes downstream things to to impact your immune system and things like that while also suppressing your mitochondria,' Beheshti said. 'But when your body shuts down in that hibernation state, like in these animals, those reactive oxygen species stop getting produced as much, and then there seems to be less damage caused by the radiation.' Commercial space flight has taken off in recent years and billionaires like Musk are increasingly pushing a move to Mars, and these issues highlight the innate challenges humans — who have evolved over millions of years to live under the influence of Earth's gravity and atmosphere — face in trying to expand our reach in outer space. Wilmore and Williams will undoubtedly require some time to recover from their long journey, but they dedicated years to preparing for the experience. Still, they don't seem too bothered by the extra time they spent in orbit. 'I think both of us will be a little bit sad when that feeling of space leaves us after about 24 hours,' Williams said in the CNN interview last month. 'That means that physically the spaceflight came to an end.'

Latest news with #TheTerminal

The world's busiest international airport is shutting down. What's next?

The world's busiest international airport is shutting down. What's next?

New parents' 'surreal' Edinburgh hospital stay after tiny baby born 14 weeks early

BBC Strictly Come Dancing Janette and Aljaz on 'awful' time after major life decision

NASA astronauts return home after major delay. Their extended stay could have health consequences

Get Started Now: Download the App