So the optical LASER causes the substance to "cool" or transfer heat from one side to the other. This heat will still be inside the computer case and still needs fans to pull it out...right? Additionally, any LASER case that Ive ever touched is hot (reference their heat sinks), so where is the added efficiency? This sounds like the once vaulted sonic refrigeration that never managed to materialize.

While I understand the criticism posted here of the technology, I do think this is a a great way to move heat away from sensitive components. In some respects it is a more complicated system than just a fan but it does allow cooling beyond ambient air temp. And it is just as complicated or less so than a liquid cooling system.

>>more energy efficient air conditioners and refrigerators that don't produce greenhouse gases.
Really? I didn't know my fridge emitted any greenhouse gases.
Now, if what is meant is that it would reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by a greenhouse-gas-producing power generating plant, I disagree again. Assuming it works to remove heat from one place, it will only move it to another place. Valuable? Yes. But it cannot be >100% efficient, so the overall effect will be to burn MORE fossil fuels.

jBar, so the laser over here is Hot, yes, but the cooling target is way over there... That's revolutionary. No more need to wrap your coper pipes in foam.
And MikeG... their not talking about Carbon: Yes, your refrigerator will eventually loose its refrigerant poke it's own little hole in the Ozone.

Is this like the wonders of Graphine ? The wonder substance that still isn't in one Real product. Or the new batteries that last ten time longer ? Been talking about that one for twenty years.

Oy, we got us a bunch of fun people here... Guys, all cooling systems move heat around, the question is how efficiently they do it. We aren't talking about defying entropy here, just about being a lot more efficient than compressors and fans, which would mean less electricity used, plus all the other benefits mentioned. And Jbar, your dvd player has a laser in it, does it get hot? Ever seen a laser pointer? Brian, waiting on the wonders of graphene? Patience, young Padawan. Let's enjoy contemplating the future, people, that's what this is about.

It makes me wonder if there might be an application in future hydrogen powered vehicles as hydrogen is best stored in cryo tanks and vehicle weight is always an issue.

Am I missing something? FREON in refrigerators was outlawed years (decades?) ago - there are no more ozone-depleting gasses used in refrigeration nowadays that I'm aware of. Not sure what gasses they *do* use now, but again, I would be very surprised if whatever-it-is turns out to be "harmful". Like, seriously, why go to all the effort to establish international bans on one bad-ass-gas, only to replace it with another?

christopher yes Freon was banned years ago, but new refrigerants are Azeotropic and Zeotropic blends of new refrigerants classified by their ODP (Ozone depleting Potential) and GWP (Global Warming Potential) all of which do not score a O in both classifications or are as energy efficient as Freon(R12) or R22 (being phased out of production) and now newer blends (R404a, R134a etc.) The current alternative to these are natural refrigerants such as ammonia and CO2 which do have 0 odp/gwp but carry other risks such as flammability and are toxic to humans.
So the potential for this technology could be enormous in the refrigeration industry and the environment.

I'd love to finally see a new method being brought to computer cooling. If the laser removes the heat to a higher heat reservoir, then a fan is needed to remove that heat although you can use a bigger and more quiet fan as with water cooling (no subzero cooling).
Adjusting how much you cool is important when your system can reach subzero temperatures, because that's when water condensation can become a serious problem for your components.
CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons) have high retention time and have CO2 equivalent emissions of in the thousands.