"We're actually in the process of making a synthetic face, " he said.

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In fact, the Air Force has already begun testing a program to certify coal-based synthetic fuels for the B-52 bomber, a process that may lead to synthetic fuel use in all of its planes.

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Diehr, in which the Supreme Court upheld a patent for curing synthetic rubber that covered the process of checking temperatures and pressures and adjusting them according to a set of specified parameters.

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