He tried to make a go of it by extracting fat patent licensing fees from technology companies, some of which paid up, but it seems licensing was not a sufficient strategy for Intellectual Ventures.

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So long as the price justifies it, and as technology finds new ways of extracting more from reservoirs, old platforms are having their lives extended far beyond their expected spans.

BBC: Statoil platforms

Applications for the technology extend beyond just injection, including the possibility of extracting tissue samples from a patient.

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Cloud seeding is a technology that facilitates rainfall by extracting the maximum amount of moisture from the atmosphere, condensing it around chemical pellets.

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