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The United States Air Force has crossed a significant threshold in autonomous warfare. Its YFQ-44A drone successfully fired a live AIM-one-twenty AMRAAM air-to-air missile in what the military is calling a world first. Human pilots remain in an oversight role, but the gap between remote control and true autonomy is narrowing faster than many expected.
Meanwhile, Intel is pushing the boundaries of chip fabrication with the first shipments of silicon produced using High-NA Extreme Ultraviolet lithography. This next-generation manufacturing process allows for far finer circuit patterns, and getting actual product out the door marks Intel's clearest signal yet that it intends to compete seriously at the leading edge of semiconductor technology.
And in a story that sits at the intersection of health and materials science, researchers say they have identified a supplement compound that may bind to microplastics inside the human body and help carry them out. The science is still early, but given how thoroughly microplastics have worked their way into our food, water, and tissue, the interest is easy to understand.
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