Communications of the ACM
Syracuse University Researchers Work to Make Computers Faster
Researchers at Syracuse University are trying to increase computer processing speeds by taking advantage of the physical properties of transpiration.
Credit: Fossbytes.com
Syracuse University researchers are studying a phenomenon known as passive liquid flow, or transpiration, to increase computer processing speeds.
Transpiration occurs when water travels, often against gravity, up through a confined space without any outside pressure, and the researchers found transpiration acts as an especially effective cooling system. Syracuse professor Shalabh Maroo compared the process to the pressure that drives liquid in the soil up tree roots and trunks, and he says this same concept can be applied to computer technology.
By looking at the process at an atomic level, the researchers will be able to create a mechanism for cooling computer processors more efficiently.
"We want liquid to automatically go toward the heating surface, and as liquid comes close to a hot surface, it will evaporate," Maroo says.
She notes the researchers want to develop a method to get liquid to move from a cooler to a heated surface passively. If they are able to integrate it with compute processor chips, there will no longer be a need for external devices such as a cooling pump.
Maroo notes this passive cooling mechanism is a way to keep up with the future demands of technology.
From Daily Orange (NY)
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