A function elegantly crafted to process a list of intervals, first sorting them by their start times to facilitate sequential analysis. It then iterates through the sorted intervals, comparing the current interval's start with the running end of the previously merged interval. If an overlap is detected, it extends the merged interval's end to encompass both. Otherwise, it finalizes the current merged interval before initiating a new one with the current interval. This process iterates through all intervals, effectively reducing the list to a set of non-overlapping intervals that cover all the ranges provided initially.