To Cool Computer Chips, Tiny Water Pipes

Each year, as electronic devices get smaller and capable of performing more outlandish functions, engineers in the back rooms of computer chip manufacturers sweat a little more. The exponentially-increasing number of transmitters that can be placed on a circuit board (a phenomenon known as Moore's law) brings with it one major technological obstacle: a rise in heat produced by the electrons that zip through the tiny wires on each chip. Computer engineers have experimented with many different solutions to the heat problem, including fans and heat sinks. Yesterday, IBM announced a radically new approach, and unveiled stacks of chips cooled by thousands of hair-thin pipes filled with flowing water. An IBM spokesperson said the need for a new tactic became apparent as the company worked on its 3D chips, which are stacked on top of each other instead of arranged side-by-side in the traditional manner. This arrangement reduces distances between ...