Chip firm takes the heat out of computers

The world of semiconductor technology continues to move ever closer to science fiction. That became apparent last week as manufacturer Superconductor Technologies tried to overcome the fearsome problem of heat dissipation by attempting a cryogenic solution.

Rather than using the traditional method of fans, the firm proposes to create chips at high clock speeds which rely on supercooled fluids.

It's not an entirely new idea. Cray, which makes some of the world's biggest machines, uses a fluid which sluices around the innards of a computer and cools it.

But now the company wants to apply the same technology to PCs. The biggest difficulty will be ensuring that the system is closed - supercooled fluids are dangerous - and in persuading different OEMs to adopt a standard casing.