MIT designs computing component that uses waste heat 'as a form of information'

A close up of a computer processing chip, its center square bright yellow and the surrounding chip glowing orange and red with heat while the rest of the circuit board is a dark blue.

Scientists at MIT have published a proof of concept for new analog computing components that could allow electronic devices to process data using the heat they generate.

In a study published Jan. 29 in the journal Physical Review Applied, the researchers designed microscopic silicon structures that precisely control how heat spreads across the surface of a chip.