Questions you'd like answering, regardless of how trivial they may seem

[Alex321]

Why are the best surgeons called eminent ?

For the same reason the best people in any professional field are called eminent.

The dictionary definition of the word is "Famous, respected, or important".

 

[Punkawallah]

Why are the best surgeons called eminent ?

AFAiK it comes from the Latin for ‘protuberant’.

 

[AndyRM]

Interesting. How does a machine differentiate between the different materials?

If your local recycling centre is anything like mine, machines aren't really involved. Humans do the sorting.

 

[Animo]

If your local recycling centre is anything like mine, machines aren't really involved. Humans do the sorting.

I always assumed that was the case, hence my original question as to why it would be preferable to now have glass mixed up with everything else.

 

[DRM]

Interesting. How does a machine differentiate between the different materials?

I haven't got the slightest clue, but I saw the various waste electronic items going up the conveyor belt , and saw the bags filling up with the separated items, the thing did vibrate quite violently, and this must have been key to how it worked, as the various materials would have different weights/density to them

 

[DRM]

If your local recycling centre is anything like mine, machines aren't really involved. Humans do the sorting.

And once separated , then all your plastic waste goes to a recycling facility in Washington, where it gets bailed up and shipped off to eventually be ground up into pellets to make more plastic stuff

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I saw a programme about how it is all separated a while ago

They started off with a vibrating conveyor belt that basically just got everything spread out and spread out
then passed it under a massive magnet that grabbed all the iron and steel and took it of elsewhere
Then it passed under another magnet thing that induced a current in other metals - mostly Aluminium - and then another magnet thing could grab all that

Then they had a camera linked up to a computer that could detect glass by the shape. Thing about that was that it could easily see anything like a bottle
unless it was black - the optics could not see black bottles!
Plastic bottle were grabbed the same way further on

I am sure this had developed a lot with AI being able to detect other things more easily but that was how it was done in that place at the time

I suspected when I was watching it that they were probably hiding the more "mucky" bits but the front end bits were pretty impressive

 

[glasgowcyclist]

AFAiK it comes from the Latin for ‘protuberant’.

Not quite.

They were distinct words in Latin, with different meanings.

Eminent is from Latin eminentem, present participle of eminere: to stand out, project; be prominent, be conspicuous.

Protuberant is from Latin protuberantem, present participle of protuberare: to swell, bulge, grow forth.

 

[Alex321]

And once separated , then all your plastic waste goes to a recycling facility in Washington, where it gets bailed up and shipped off to eventually be ground up into pellets to make more plastic stuff

That, of course, depends on your local council.

Ours (Vale of Glamorgan) sends most of the plastic to Roydon Recycling, who recycle some in England and some in Wales.
This is the Welsh plant - https://roydon.com/roydon-bottle/

Vale of Glamorgan are also expanding the trial of kerbside soft plastic recycling to the whole county from next week - with that being recycled into bags for life and other plastic bags at a plant in Barry.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Spotted today in an optician shop's window. How does wearing a contact lens induce 'family fun'?!🤔

 

[Alex321]

Spotted today in an optician shop's window. How does wearing a contact lens induce 'family fun'?!🤔

View attachment 804260

It is referring back to this advert (same one, two sources)

View: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2383848018708109


https://www.instagram.com/reels/DViXu4oAMxM/