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The title here on HN has been butchered into nonsense. The only possibility for "them", as written, is "enzymes", which isn't the case.
by 0xTJ 4y ago
The title here on HN has been butchered into nonsense. The only possibility for "them", as written, is "enzymes", which isn't the case.
- gnicholas 4y agoI have one word for you: Plastics.
- teaearlgraycold 4y agoI wish I could give out HN Gold
- midoridensha 4y agoI assumed this to be the missing word based on my prior knowledge of recycling, petroleum, etc. Still, the title should have included this. How did such an obviously bad title get through the review process?
- gnicholas 4y agoIf you're referring to the scientific review process, the title of the actual article is even more opaque: > Sourcing thermotolerant poly(ethylene terephthalate) hydrolase scaffolds from natural diversity If you're referring to HN, there is no formal review process — it's just upvoting/flagging. If a title issue is caught early enough, the submitter can change it. Sometimes @dang comes in and cleans things up.
- culi 4y agoThe title used in the linked article isn't so bad though a bit long: > Scientists Discover Enzymes That Could Make It Cheaper To Recycle Waste Polyester Textiles and Bottles Than Making Them From Petroleum The subtitle is also quite helpful: > Using Machine Learning, NREL-Led Team Discovered Variants of 'Plastic-Eating' Enzymes Adapted To Deconstructing All Varieties of PET—Even Durable Crystalline Varieties
- simonh 4y agoWithin the context of the sentence, the only subject previously mentioned in the sentence that 'them' could refer to is enzymes. Yes bringing in external assumed context we can deduce it's talking about plastics, but OP is clearly critiquing the sentence as written. Also I'd suggest avoiding cheap snark like that, even when you're actually right it's still not a good look.
- vanderZwan 4y agoIt's not snark, it's a humorous reference to a very famous movie scene[0] that later became even more famous due to being quoted in Civilization IV[1] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaCHH5D74Fs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaCHH5D74Fs [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPur5HzHLhM&t=9m5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPur5HzHLhM&t=9m5s
- gnicholas 4y agoAs vanderZwan said, I was not being snarky. This was a funny reference (which led another commenter deemed worthy of "HN Gold"—if such a thing existed) to the popular movie The Graduate. I'm sorry if it came across as snark to those unfamiliar with the quote. Based on the upvotes (currently 30, never negative), I'd say most folks got it. Just to be clear, I had the exact same confusion that 0xTJ had about the referent of "them" in the sentence. If 0xTJ hadn't commented already, I might have made a similar comment myself! I see the title has been changed, although honestly I find the new title rather opaque.
- legerdemain 4y agoBetter title: "Scientists discover enzymes that could make it cheaper to recycle them than make them from petroleum."