[extropy-chat] question from Ted Berger interview in Pop Sci

[pjmanney]

In the Ted Berger interview in Popular Science,

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/0e54d952c97b1110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

the writer says the following:

"For the past four years, Granacki has been trying to develop circuitry that could translate Berger's equations into electrical pulses.  The big mechanical hurdle has been figuring out a way to reduce the amount of heat generated by the transistors so that a chip won't damage healthy brain cells.  The solution was to create a more complex version of the same kind of digital circuit that performs computations for a family desktop, except far smaller.

"Jeff LaCoss... hands me a working model of the memory chip... lighter than a feather..."

What does the writer mean?  Do computer digital circuits not produce the same kind of heat as other circuits?  Or is its size the reason it doesn't produce too much heat to be placed in the deep interior of the brain?

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
PJ