TechCrunch:
CPU fans have a certain steampunkian quality to them. They’re loud, annoying, and collect all sorts of debris as they run, whirring endlessly and eventually failing. This new heatsink – more like an impeller coupled with a brushless motor – is the latest in heatsink technology and promises quiet and efficient heatsinkery in the future.
NRM writes "Sandia National Laboratories has developed a cost-effective robotic hand with enough dexterity to mimic human hand movement in the hope it could be used in disarming improvised explosive devices, or IEDs."
Looks pretty cool, but there are some issues that would have to be ironed out. For example, you can't just have the metal heatsink spinning naked like that. If you did, someone idiot would chop their finger off and you would get sued. Another example is that if a wire inside your PC case touches it, it will get chopped up. So because of this they'll have to add a plastic cover to the device, which will accumulate dust.
This would work in the limited space of a console. Instead of having a heatsink and a fan with this thing the heatsink is the fan. One less component to install and it's much more efficient.
I wonder if it was MS, Sony or Ninty who got the thing for "CPU cooling"