PC's Waste Heat Could Add To Processing Power

Urchin writes to tell us that physicists working in a new field called "phononics" claim that waste heat from a processor could actually be used to add to its power. "Crunching data coded using photons — photonic computing — is one example, and in 2007 researchers built the first workable optical transistor. But now the idea of computing using heat flow is gaining popularity among applied physicists. Heat travels through solid materials by means of phonons — ripples of vibration passing through a series of atoms. Those ripples can be used to send and store data in digital form: one temperature is read as 0 or 'off' while a second, higher temperature is interpreted as 1 or 'on.' Provided that the thermal memory is well insulated, it can keep its temperature — and data — intact for a long time."

Comments

I've got a better idea

[beef curtains]

If I understand this properly (and it's not 100% guaranteed that I do), this sounds like an excessively complicated solution that would yield relatively little benefit. The "sandwich" idea from TFA sounds especially counterproductive, if external power is required to keep the hot side hit & the cold side cold.

Instead of trying to harness waste heat to eke out a fraction of a percent of extra processing power, here's an idea: how about sucking that waste heat into a small insulated pipe with a low-voltage van, and running that pipe down to my feet? It's very cold near the floor of my apartment, and some warm air aimed at my tootsies would be greatly appreciated while I use my computer.

Maybe this pipe could have a little door I could close in the summer, when the additional warmth would be less welcome.