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Bell Labs Plants Nanograss to Cool Mobile Chips

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the ever-so-careful-watering-of-electronics dept.

LoadWB writes "TechWeb has an article about Bell Labs' new liquid cooling technology for mobile processors. The tech, called 'nanograss' is described as 'tiny tubes that spray liquid on chip hot spots.' The use of this cooling technology reduces the power required to actively remove heat from mobile processors. Other applications are possible, but it seems it was primarily developed for use with mobile CPUs."

9 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. But doesn't that mean ... by jrl87 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That we will have to refill whatever liquid they spray on the chip periodically.

    And you know it will be some over priced propriatary form of water ......

    1. Re:But doesn't that mean ... by frazzydee · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't think that the price of the liquid would be too much of an issue, since:
      1: it only sprays minute amounts
      2: you could always choose to fill it up with another liquid instead (anybody know the going price for liquid nitrogen?
      I think the real issue is if the average person be willing to open up their computer every few months to fill up the tank. Most average users i know would not be very willing to do that.

    2. Re:But doesn't that mean ... by Erratio · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The system would probably designed so that the life of the cooling system would be long enough that the laptop would be outdated (on a decent scale) by the time it needed some kind of maintenence. A planned lifetime of about 5 years or so. When the time came the solution would probably be just to replace the mechanism rather than refill it (not to say that you couldn't do it anyway). The cost vs. life would be affordable though, and not having to worry about a way to refill the liquid would allow for greater control over the heat, and cheaper production costs. And for the non-techies who may have to endure this...the percentage would probably be about the same as laptop fans dying now.

      --
      I don't try to be right, I just try to make people think
  2. Where does the energy go? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You still have the problem of getting the energy from the cpu out of the computer, just because you move it from the chip to the liquid doesn't really help all that much in itself. You still have all the same old problems. Apparently they have managed to come up with something, but it doesn't really seem to be such a great innovation as it is being hyped up to be..

  3. So, they invented swet by Dan+Aloni · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I hope it doesn't come with odors.

    --
    0x2b or not 0x2b, the answer is -1
  4. Re:Will the pipes clog? by King_TJ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, probably so.... but since it's a *closed* system, this would presumably not ever happen unless part of a "nanotube" broke off and started floating around in the fluid, or something along those lines.

    It's sort of like saying "A hard drive sounds like a cool idea. But wouldn't a small amount of dust gum it up?" Yep - but that's why they're sealed, air-tight, and initially built in clean rooms.

  5. Cost? by Bl33d4merican · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sure...this is a great idea, but how much will it cost? Anybody else remember the days where a good cpu fan cost significantly more than the $20 it does today? Not to mention the cost of refilling the coolant. Yes, you will have to do that. Those of us who have a car know that the radiator fluid must be changed ...oh every five to eight years or so. Keeping in mind the a computer's life span is much shorter, but also taking into account that a computer is often left on and running for days on end, it would probably have to be replaced at least once or twice. I also doubt this is something most users could do--and even some techies might have problems. (Is the coolant toxic?) How much would it cost to have somebody 'service' your computer's cooling device? If such problems aren't answered I doubt the product will be viable in the home-use market.

    --

    Every windows user is a sadomasochist.

  6. New marking on CPUs: This Side Up by chiph · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wouldn't this require a CPU to be operated in only one orientation?

    Chip H.

  7. Crack! Splash! D'oh! by IntergalacticWalrus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Cooling liquids in portable devices. Sounds like a bad idea to me. What if you break it? That would most definitely not be fun.