New technology has dramatic chip-cooling potential for future computers

These two infrared images show the cooling effect of an experimental device that uses small "ionic wind engines" developed at Purdue. The red image shows the hot surface of a mock computer chip heated to about 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit), and the blue image demonstrates that the device was able to cool the surface to about 35 degrees Celsius (95 F). (Birck Nanotechnology Center image)