Link: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111293

As computer chips shrink and performance goes up, a lot of heat is generated. Anyone who has had a laptop sitting near their nether regions for any appreciable length of time can attest to that. Cooling fans are power hogs and can get quite loud.

Rather than risk sterility or -- heaven forbid -- give up their powerful portables, Developers Dan Schlitz and Vishal Singhal of Thorrn Micro Technologies, Inc. have created an ultra-small "fan" prototype with no moving parts. Using the same technology as household silent air purifiers, the cooling array has no moving parts and can move air at a rate of up to 2.4 meters per second in lab tests as compared to airflows of 0.7 to 1.7 meters per second from larger, mechanical fans the National Science Foundation web site says.