As a young patent lawyer in the early 1960s he went behind the Iron Curtain and brought back the metal sutures that gave birth to U.S. Surgical Corp. and the technology to make soft contact lenses.

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Researchers at Wake Forest University recently developed a new type of light bulb that uses field-induced polymer electroluminescent technology to create a soft white, full spectrum light that could last a decade.

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And there is a limit to what technology can achieve: deft hands are needed for soft fruit.

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Mr. Marcombes is a soft-spoken, earnest electrical engineer and self-proclaimed geek who loves technology and electronics.

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With Refine Edge technology from Adobe Photoshop, even hard-to-select areas with soft edges are easily captured when making selections.

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But building a giant battery using dry-cell technology would require thousands of individual cells - about the size of a soft drinks can - to be strung together in a massive installation.

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The included software also provides prepress professionals with the option to enhance soft proofing accuracy using test and report features approved by UGRA (the Swiss Center of Competence for Media and Printing Technology).

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