Cooling PCs with a heartbeat
posted July 19th 2004 10:15AM
Japanese firm Eamex has developed a pump that they say could form the basis of anything from artificial hearts to
liquid cooling systems for laptop computers. It uses a plastic that expands or contracts when a small amount of
electricity is passed through it, on the same principle as artificial muscles. In a laptop, it achieves cooling
performance that's 2X-3X better than conventional pumps, creates no sound or vibration, and can be made smaller and
cheaper than anything around at the moment. And as the manufacturer notes, the operating frequency of 1Hz is close to
the pulse of the human heart. Despite our status as willing passengers on technology's heady voyage toward the future,
the idea of our laptop sitting there with its innards pulsing creeps us out just a bit.
[Via Slashdot Japan]
The heartbeat light on my Studio Display is annoying as hell but not creepy. I hope this thing doesn't pulsate over my leg while in use.