Thursday, December 1 12:00 AM ET

Geek Parents Using Cooling Technology Instead of Medicine to Lower Fevers

Ann Arbor, MI – Geeks familiar with using technology to solve their problems have turned to advanced cooling solutions instead of pharmaceuticals to lower fevers in their children.

"I was working on my rig in the basement installing a new water-cooling system when my daughter came down with a 103 degree fever," said Fernando Ferringer of coolingyourkids.com. "I knew we didn't have any Tylenol, and that's when I had a 'Eureka' moment."

Ferringer connected the water-cooling system and a couple of heatsinks to his daughter and reduced her fever. "I figured the system cools down my processor which runs a lot hotter than my daughter. Why couldn't it cool her down? She did scream a bit when her hair got tangled in the fan, but we took care of that."

Now Ferringer regularly uses PC cooling technology to help his sick kids and set up his website to share his knowledge with others. "I'm always hoping my kids will get sick so I can try out something new," he said.

Young parents familiar with the internet and computers have flocked to the site. "Lots of bad things can happen when you give your kids medicine. They could barf up grape-flavored Motrin permanently staining the sheets, or the product could've been tampered with. I feel much better smearing thermal paste on their forehead and strapping on a Zalman," said Kurt Ullery of Indianapolis.

"I had hoped watercooling would reduce the noise the kids produce though, but it didn't so I had to use duct tape," said Ullery.

CoolingYourKids has grown rapidly and has spawned several other copycat sites like kidmodifier.com and peltierbabies.com, that also hope to take advantage of the craze.

Ferringer does not recommend taking a Dremel to your kids and putting Lexan panels or neon lights in them. "Those are just for show and really aren't necessary for cooling or performance."