<p>Milnes David, an IBM engineer in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., inspects the chilled innards of a radiator-equipped IBM computer. These cooling systems are developed at the Energy Efficiency Center in Poughkeepsie.(Photo: IBM Corp.)Story HighlightsCooling computer server farms takes a lot of energy, so the feds are looking for more efficiencyMost data centers use a quarter of their total energy use for coolingThe new technique sends cool water through pipes; the water heats up as it passes near microchips</p><p>POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. At IBM Corp.'s plant here, the engineers and technicians have been rigging up big IBM servers with cooling systems that work on much the same principle as the radiator in your vehicle, all to keep the computers from running hot and heavy from hefty online and credit-card sales.</p><p>With holiday shopping, the swiping and online commerce drives those computers to run hot and heavy. You may have experienced delays lately when a merchant's system was sluggish because of computer or network overload.</p><p>At IBM Corp.'s plant here, the engineers and technicians are wrapping up a two-year project this week that the company did for the U.S. Department of Energy to invent new ways to cool down the computers.</p><p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/business/2012/12/27/ibm-cool-computers/1793541/">Keep reading...</a></p>