Dodecahedral computer hardware

A dodecahedron approximates a sphere more closely than any other Platonic polyhedron. This gives it a number of useful characteristics. It's the most compact shape and has the smallest internal distances. Since it consists entirely of regular pentagons, it's fairly easy to mass produce.

Computer hardware components tend to be two-dimensional, although they can be slotted together to occupy much of a three-dimensional space. On a microscopic scale, it's difficult to create cube-shaped integrated circuits, so the third dimension is hard to use.

If circuit boards and integrated circuits were constructed as dodecahedra, this would have several advantages. It would be possible to pack more components into the same space and signalling could be faster because the distances between the components would be smaller than if arranged at right angles on a plane. If the signal has to cross an "empty" space between two faces on a dodecahedral circuit board, use a laser and a photocell.

So, i envisage a computer whose motherboard consists of twelve pentagons with edge connectors and slots on the edges, studded with lasers and photocells. The components themselves are also dodecahedral, covered in sensors and lasers and fit into pentagonal slots on the faces. Some communication is by lines on the surfaces, some by light. This would also enable parts of the motherboard to be upgraded easily by removing individual faces.

There may be an overheating issue, because dodecahedra have relatively small surface areas. I propose to solve this by making the boards porous, placing a number of pinholes in the integrated circuit packages and bathing the whole lot in liquid nitrogen. If that turned out to be too turbulent for the light to work properly, i would make it slightly warmer and suffuse the interior of the case with nitrogen just above boiling point.