They can afford to equip their tinkerers and visionaries with the most advanced materials, instruments, and knowledge, and the result has often been a superior capacity for innovation.

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Advanced science instruments aboard future spacecraft, such as the proposed European Plato mission, could find many more Earth-mass planets orbiting Sun-like stars.

BBC: Telescope sees smallest exoplanet

The rest of the technology sector performed well Tuesday, as fellow chip companies Advanced Micro Devices and Texas Instruments increased 2.2% and 2.6%, respectively, while other firms such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard also enjoyed gains.

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Other competitors in the technology sector include: Advanced Micro (AMD), Intel (INTC), and Texas Instruments (TXN).

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