"The new technology could help engineers design thinner laptop computers that run cooler than today's machines"... Not quite: this stuff would dissipate better the heat. To really run cooler, the CPU should *generate* less waste heat.

Blah, bla-blah blah blah. This has to be something like the fifth revolution in cooling that I've heard of since I started researching PC technology several years back. Where have we gotten? The only marketed advances in cooling have been... double the mass of metal, add heatpipes, spin up LEDs, go! The closest thing to an actual change in accessable technology has been "phase change" cooling, basically localized refridgeration delivered by a bulky, and often times, overly loud compressor/condensor etc what-ev. Those cost several hundred dollars and very few people have them, want them, or can afford them. Here's a revolution someone should attempt, manufacturing of a product line that advances the current state of technology.

If I'm reading this correctly, isn't this the same technology used by "Ionic Breeze" air filters (fanless design)? And hasn't this technology already reached the desktop? I remember seeing this in some desktop tower case.

Great, not only do we have laptops that can act as heaters, but as air filters too! Living in a cardboard box is coming closer to a reality. All you need is a do-all laptop!

I remember a research on using membranes, similar to speakers, to create airflow. I vaguely remember it being researched in something Texas, but I'm not sure.

I wasn't able to track it back afterward encountering it the first time.

Any idea what that was?

Sure the air will seem to be moving but is not. To us humans, it is like the wind chill effect. For in-animate objects, it is nothing. Ions are high voltages and one ion short will damage the computer. Also the dust build-up will be more and if not constructed correctly can make the dust stick to walls. This "technology" will not fly off the paper and into computers.

Using speakers can be used a lot more effectively in a small area and provides longer lifespan than traditional active cooling methods like fans.

The best way to minimize heat build-up in computers is to create very, very efficient processors that are based on VLIW or look into optical technology.