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Today Business News : Daimler , the German auto company that makes Mercedes-Benz, has slashed its 2019 profit expectations by hundreds of millions of euros. The financial downgrade, announced Sunday, is the latest fallout from the diesel emissions scandal that has rocked the German auto industry. The company said that “various ongoing governmental proceedings and measures relating to Diesel vehicles” will affect the company’s second quarter earnings for the 2019 fiscal year. It said it expects an increase in expenses related to those proceedings. German automakers have faced years of scrutiny regarding harmful emissions that diesel vehicles produce. That scrutiny stems from a 2015 admission by another German automaker — Volkswagen (VLKAF) — that it rigged millions of diesel engines to cheat on emissions tests. The revelation trashed confidence among consumer and regulators in diesel technology and cost Volkswagen tens of billions of dollars in recalls, legal penalti...

Technology News : The U.S. Census Bureau is using new high-tech tools to help get an accurate population count next year as its faces challenges tallying people of color who live in remote places and can be wary of the federal government.The agency is using aerial photos of rural communities and hard-to-reach areas to verify addresses and determine where to send workers to ensure everyone is counted, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said. Satellites and planes take photos, and bureau employees compare the housing captured in the images to digital maps from the last census, in 2010. It takes a fraction of the time needed by workers in the field. The agency has used geographic technology since 1990 but has never had access to such accurate tools from the air, said Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop, head of the bureau’s geography division. That technology — known as geographic information system, or GIS — uses computers to analyze neighborhoods, land formations, rivers and oth...

Daily life hacks : After every party it’s time to clean up and Mount Everest is no different. The record number of climbers crowding the world’s highest mountain this season has left a government cleanup crew grappling with how to clear away everything from abandoned tents to human waste that threatens drinking water. Budget expedition companies charge as little as $30,000 per climber, cutting costs including waste removal. Everest has so much garbage — depleted oxygen cylinders, food packaging, rope — that climbers use the trash as a kind of signpost. But this year’s haul from an estimated 700 climbers, guides and porters on the mountain has been a shock to the ethnic Sherpas who worked on the government’s cleanup drive this spring. Moreover, the tents are littering South Col, or Camp 4, which, at 8,000 meters (26,240 feet) is the highest campsite on Everest, just below the summit. The high winds at that elevation have scattered the tents and trash everywhere. “The alti...

Science News : For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, Britain is obtaining more power from zero-carbon sources than fossil fuels. The milestone has been passed for the first five months of 2019. National Grid says clean energy has nudged ahead with 48% of generation, against 47% for coal and gas. The rest is biomass burning. The transformation reflects the precipitous decline of coal energy, and a boom from wind and solar. National Grid says that in the past decade, coal generation will have plunged from 30% to 3%. Meanwhile, wind power has shot up from 1% to 19%. Mini-milestones have been passed along the way. In May, for instance, Britain clocked up its first coal-free fortnight and generated record levels of solar power for two consecutive days. Why does it matter? The shift is being driven by the need to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases that are over-heating the climate. The electricity sector was seen as the easiest place to start...

Technology News : The changes – which mean UK internet users may have to prove their age – were due to start on 15 July after already being delayed from April 2018. The culture secretary confirmed the postponement saying the government had failed to tell European regulators about the plan. Completing the notification process could take up to six months. In the House of Commons, Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said an “important notification process was not undertaken for an element of this policy”. All you need to know about the under-18 porn block How do your porn habits compare? Does pornography still drive the internet? He said the UK government had failed to inform Brussels about key aspects of the scheme. Mr Wright apologised for the delay and said it was still the government’s intention to bring in the age-checking system. No silver bullet The plans for compulsory age-checks for UK porn viewers – which the government has described as a world-fi...