Is this the same as this story:

http://zdnet.com.com/2102-1103-981652.html

From 23 Jan 2003? As the ZDnet story comments, heat pipes
have been used in laptops for a while. The Sandia achievement
just makes them better.

I've heard heat pipes are NASA technology, originally used to
move heat from the sun facing side of a satellite to the dark
side, to even temperatures out.

I saw a site last year that documented someone's experients
building them at home, but it looks like I didn't bookmark it.

Ah, google to the rescue:
http://www.benchtest.com/heat_pipe2.html