Hurricane Isaias was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone a day after making landfall on Florida’s northern Gulf Coast, where it brought torrential rain and damaging winds. Isaias, the first named hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, continued moving through south-eastern parts of the United States. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across Florida, Alabama and Georgia lost electricity, while all three states declared emergencies. Storm warnings were lifted after expiring on

Once regarded as an awkward agricultural leftover, rice husk is increasingly being turned into a tough, long-lasting material for buildings. In 2023, contractor David Fine faced a difficult assignment. He had been brought in to renovate an upscale ski condominium complex in Park City, Utah. The site’s design requirements were unusually demanding. The older condos had started to deteriorate beneath the town’s deep, powdery snow, which can remain on the ground for much of the lengthy winter. The