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Nanotubes Form The Darkest Material Yet Created

Posted by samzenpus on from the none-more-black dept.

toxcspdrmn writes "Bad news for Spinal Tap fans. The BBC reports that researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, have produced the darkest known material by manufacturing "forests" of carbon nanotubes. This forms a surface that absorbs or scatters 99.9% of all incidental light."

324 comments

  1. Don't tell John Carmack! by Zymergy · · Score: 5, Funny

    He will incorporate this new 'blackest' black into Doom 4.
    (and you just thought you saw all possible shades of black and brown in Doom 3!)

    1. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Jedi thought they destroyed me when they cut off my head, but my minions have done as I directed and attached my head to my network of creations with dark nanotechnology. Instead of destroying me they have increased my power, now I am Sith Lord Darth Doom.

    2. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by mrgsd · · Score: 1

      What could possibly be more black than #000000?

      --
      End Communication.
    3. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by cheater512 · · Score: 1

      Older readers? I'm young you insensitive clod!

      Such a pity more young people havent read it.
      There are so many references to the books everywhere.

    4. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by rucs_hack · · Score: 2, Insightful


      Such a pity more young people havent read it.
      There are so many references to the books everywhere.

      Such a pity that so many people think Hitch-Hikers guide is just a book, and don't know about the Radio show from which it came.

    5. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Propaganda13 · · Score: 1

      How about #0000000?

    6. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by torpor · · Score: 1

      Or the TV show which has its own charm too .. such as the best Marvin you're likely to ever see ..

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    7. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by nospam007 · · Score: 2, Funny

      They could only produce them dark nanotubes because their nanogenerator goes to 11.

    8. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Bob_Sheep · · Score: 1

      ...The same best Marvin who makes a minor appearance in the film.

    9. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by jank1887 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      please never ever again mention the film.

    10. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by techpawn · · Score: 1

      I wonder if it's blacker than some emo kid's soul... Or at least they'll claim it to be in some of their bad poetry

      --
      Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
    11. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      Such a pity that so many people think Hitch-Hikers guide is just a book, and don't know about the Radio show from which it came.
      Heh. Classic. My favorite is Fit the Fifth, the Christmas episode -- not that it has anything to do with Christmas.

      All of the radio shows (including the later seasons which were based on the novels, not the other way around) are now available on CD. Well worth the purchase, particularly if you can find them used.
      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    12. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 1

      Not if he makes another Commander Keen :) (fingers still crossed on that one)

    13. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Jellybob · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You lose the thread I'm afraid.

      #0000000 is an invalid hex code for a color to start with. I think what you were aiming for was #00000000 (that's eight zeroes for those who are counting), which is black, with a 0 alpha component (fully transparent). Which means that it absorbs no light at all, and is therefore equally dark as #ffffff00, which also absorbs no light.

    14. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by rucs_hack · · Score: 2, Informative

      Or the TV show which has its own charm too .. such as the best Marvin you're likely to ever see ..

      I don't know about that. I'm something of a serious DNA fan, and when the radio show was on I always pictured Marvin as short with a big head, just like the one that was in the H2G2 movie.

      When the TV show came out I was puzzled as to why a supposedly advanced and brainy robot would have a range of motion of only about four inches on each limb, it was only Stephen Moore's delivery of his lines that saved it for me. From what I understand Douglas himself wasn't happy with the TV Marvin either.

      Stephen Moore was a better Marvin than Alan Rickman, but I guess they wanted someone better known to play him in the film.

    15. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What film? There was no film.

      --
      ... I'm addicted to placebos
    16. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      "How much blacker could these dark nanotubes be?"
      "The answer is none. None more black."

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    17. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Solra+Bizna · · Score: 2, Interesting

      #0000000 is an invalid hex code for a color to start with.

      What if he's a heptachromat? (that would mean we get to interpret his color specification with 4 bits per color component, making 28 bits per pixel)

      -:sigma.SB

      --
      WARN
      THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM
    18. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Jeremi · · Score: 1
      please never ever again mention the film.


      The film is actually pretty good. The problem is that no true Hitchhiker fan likes the film the first time they see it, because they had an expectation that it would match their mental imagery from the books/radio show, and are disappointed. If you go see it a second time, however, you won't have that expectation anymore, and you'll find it's rather clever and enjoyable.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    19. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Stooshie · · Score: 1

      As someone who has loved hhgg since the radio play, I liked the film. The script was, in fact, mostly written and approved by DA before he died. If DA liked it who am I to disagree.

      --
      America, Home of the Brave. ... .and the Squaw.
    20. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      I quite liked the film as well, and I have been a fan since about 14 years old. Even have the leather-bound, gold-leafed "trilogy". I also bought and listened to the radio series on a car trip from Philly to Florida. The movie was not true to the book, but few good adaptations are. That's actually one of the things that I liked about it - it was fresh DA material that we wouldn't have seen otherwise.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    21. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      What could possibly be more black than #000000? I got a kick out of Engadget's illustration.
      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    22. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about #0000000?

      #00000000000

      Obviously, the only choice is to go to 11.

    23. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by mshannon78660 · · Score: 1

      Keeping in mind that Frank Herbert also liked the script for the movie 'Dune' - just proves that authors are not always the best judges of adaptations of their work.

    24. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by beckerist · · Score: 1

      I wish they had actually done it in pieces though. There is way too much story (let alone the humor) lost in trying to cram everything into such a short window... A trilogy would have been nice.

    25. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Bovarchist · · Score: 1

      I love the original Dune movie. Granted, I read the book first. Otherwise, I don't think I would have understood anything.

      --
      Hell is other people's code.
    26. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 1

      Doom 3, I thought I was playing Resistance!

      --
      GCS/MU/P d- s:- a-- C++++$ UL++ P+ L++ E+ W++ N o K- w--- O M+ V- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5- X R++ tv+ b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h-
    27. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 1

      For older readers? I happen to be 19 and as you can see from my username, I'm no stranger to the Restaurant. It would be cool, though. A ship so dark you weren't sure when you actually touched it.

      --
      GCS/MU/P d- s:- a-- C++++$ UL++ P+ L++ E+ W++ N o K- w--- O M+ V- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5- X R++ tv+ b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h-
    28. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by dfgumby · · Score: 1

      Older readers? Hitchhiker's Guide was born about 30 years ago. So I tend to think its primarily familiar to those of us over 40. Ow, I'm over 40?

    29. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Supergibbs · · Score: 1

      I liked the movie too, but obviously the books was better. That being said, if you had NOT read the books, you wouldn't have understood a lot of the movie and hated the movie. If you had read them you'll be frustrated by the lack of detail and parts that were left out.

      --
      First post! (just in case I am...)
    30. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by laejoh · · Score: 0

      pieces?

      I think they were called fits, no?

    31. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      I always pictured Marvin as short with a big head, just like the one that was in the H2G2 movie.

      I rather liked the movie's Marvin. Really: look at the TV Marvin, and then the movie Marvin, and ask yourself 'which of these robots is more likely to be marketed with the slogan Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun To Be With?'

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    32. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 1

      But how many parts would this trilogy have had?

      --
      ... I'm addicted to placebos
    33. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Terminal+Saint · · Score: 1

      Now now, every nerd kid has read the guide, it's the old folks who've LISTENED to it.

      --
      It's sad when choosing an installation directory on your own qualifies you as an "advanced user."
    34. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by styrotech · · Score: 1

      I don't know about that. I'm something of a serious DNA fan, and when the radio show was on I always pictured Marvin as short with a big head, just like the one that was in the H2G2 movie.


      I always imagined Marvin to look a bit like Twiki but more depressed and not as low budget.

      The TV show Marvin was just plain wrong :)
    35. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by Propaganda13 · · Score: 1

      Either I'm heptachromat or it's a joke.

      Are you saying transparent materials are dark? I don't think that's correct.

    36. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by rolandbm · · Score: 1

      You should watch the Alan Smithee cut of Dune. So much easier to watch and a lot more in depth (and I have read the books). I heard that it was the cut that David Lynch didn't like so he wouldn't put his name on it, but the internet has lied to me before :)

      --
      It can giggle all it wants. The galaxy's not gettin any of our Bourbon.
    37. Re:Don't tell John Carmack! by jank1887 · · Score: 1

      Adams was a great sketch writer. If you pick apart the books, and look at what's really good, it's the individual sketches that play out brilliantly. In short bursts, the whole thing is good. But overall, the story/plot really aren't that great. Going to a 2 hour movie, that's what kills you. You have to hack apart all of what was really good about the books (the individual sketches), and try to make a mass-market appealing plot, which the books didn't really have. The radio and TV shows could take their time portraying all the sketches in nice chunks, and so were able to showcase Adams' talents.

  2. Paint by milsoRgen · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't wait to paint my nerd den with this stuff... light be damned!

    --
    I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask where they're goin' and hook up with 'em later.
    1. Re:Paint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forget that, real geeks use dark matter to paint their walls. 99.9% just ain't good enough :)

    2. Re:Paint by Millennium · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'd settle for just being able to paint doors. Especially red ones.

    3. Re:Paint by Bohiti · · Score: 1

      Love the sitar.

    4. Re:Paint by Tibor+the+Hun · · Score: 1

      This, then, is probably the last thing a person like you would like to hear, but thank you sir.

      --
      If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
    5. Re:Paint by Lord+Ender · · Score: 2, Informative

      You say that like it's a joke. Anyone with a home theater that uses projection (front or rear) will tell you that white walls suck. The best paint for a theater would be the blackest black available.

      --
      A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
    6. Re:Paint by Foolicious · · Score: 1

      I can't wait to paint my nerd den with this stuff... light be damned!

      I noticed an error in your comment. So I took the liberty of fixing it for you:

      "I can't wait to paint my parent's basement with this stuff... light be damned!"

      --
      Please don't use "umm" or "err" or "erm".
    7. Re:Paint by Explodicle · · Score: 1

      I have a home theater with a projector and white walls aren't really that bad at all.

    8. Re:Paint by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Funny

      Somehow I am skeptical that something which absorbs 99.99% of all visible light would make a good projection surface.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    9. Re:Paint by ultramk · · Score: 1

      He's not talking about the projection surface, he's talking about the other walls and ceiling. I have a room with all white walls that happens to also serve as my HT, and the only reason my picture isn't completely messed us is because I use a retro-reflective projection screen that tends not to be as prone to reflected light muddling.

      As it is, it would look a lot better if all the other surfaces in the room were black or at least very dark.

      --
      You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
    10. Re:Paint by Lord+Ender · · Score: 1

      I have a front projector and white walls around the screen. If a scene has a bright white portion (say, a daytime sky), it brightens the entire room via indirect reflection, turning all the black parts of the screen to gray.

      --
      A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
    11. Re:Paint by largesnike · · Score: 1

      I guess I would kneejerk and say that silver is best, as in "silver screen"?

      --
      "Laugh while you can a-monkey boy!" - Dr Emilio Lizardo
    12. Re:Paint by marcosdumay · · Score: 1

      Sorry to destroy a joke, but dark matter must be transparent.

      --
      Rethinking email
    13. Re:Paint by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I was joking :)

      I'm pretty sure that no one in their right mind would buy a projector 10,000 brighter than it needs to be so that they could project onto a nearly-black surface.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    14. Re:Paint by Lord+Ender · · Score: 1

      I'm not talking about the screen. I'm talking about the walls around the screen.

      --
      A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
    15. Re:Paint by ultramk · · Score: 1

      Heh, my sarcasm detector must have been on the blink.

      In their right mind? Have you seen some of the crap home theater people will buy? The mind boggles.

      I do use a medium-gray screen myself... it seems to give dark colors and blacks more depth than a white screen in my setup, though that may have something do with the DLP projector I use, and since I only watch at night, maximum reflectivity is not necessary.

      --
      You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
    16. Re:Paint by Explodicle · · Score: 1

      I know, but I kinda like that effect. It's like those TVs that light up the wall behind them the color of what is on screen.

  3. Where's my fuligin? by category_five · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I can't wait to get my fuligin cloak!
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun/

    1. Re:Where's my fuligin? by tolomea · · Score: 2, Informative

      working link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severian

    2. Re:Where's my fuligin? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      Gene Wolfe forever!

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    3. Re:Where's my fuligin? by greedyturtle · · Score: 1

      I've been waiting months to find the proper geeky place to mention picking up Terminus Est in Castlevania: SOTN, with my all black Joseph's cloak.

  4. Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... can we get a screenshot?

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    1. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by ZorbaTHut · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Just click here, then turn your screen off.

      --
      Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
    2. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Thanshin · · Score: 2, Funny

      ... can we get a screenshot?
      Why of course we you can. Close your eyes and count to ten.
    3. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by minginqunt · · Score: 2, Funny

      What material could be darker?

      None. None more dark.

    4. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by TapeCutter · · Score: 2, Informative

      "can we get a screenshot?"

      Here ya go.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    5. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Close your eyes and count to ten.
      No, that would be eigengrau.
    6. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Johnno74 · · Score: 5, Informative

      This story has a photo (seriously)

      Pretty cool stuff. The sample on the left is carbon black, which is reasonably black, but the surface still texture stands out clearly with the flash. The sample of the new material looks like a black hole - which I guess it almost is. Except for the suckage.

    7. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      I shut my eyes the other night to get to sleep and a bright light appeared, so bright that I had to open my eyes again to get ridd of it.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    8. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by dintech · · Score: 1

      Actually this kind of thing is pretty common while falling asleep. It happens to me too and is absolutely nothing to worry about, especially if you're not still seeing it now. Don't worry, your retina is probably still attached to the back of your eye.

    9. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by complete+loony · · Score: 2

      Perfect for any Box of Orden.

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    10. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by kitzkar · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's just a hole in the table...

    11. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Dr_SimonCPU · · Score: 5, Funny

      Isn't that an ACME portable hole?

    12. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Killjoy_NL · · Score: 1

      Terry Goodkind FTW :D

      --
      This is the sig that says NI (again)
    13. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would figure the the movie studios would be interested in this sort of stuff. There is still a need for black rooms even though not necessarily for multiple film exposures.

      Now for the risque:

      As for those who think that they are not 'black enough', here's the solution. After applying, don't smile or you'll be sued by the estate of Lewis Carroll. When criminals start using this, the cops will HAVE to use infrared cameras to track and apprehend suspects.

    14. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I think we are reaching a critical mass of obscure references to Fantasy Fiction.

      If we get many more of these, I may have to sojourn to the City of the South and challenge the Vicar of Ynrg.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    15. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by TheSpoom · · Score: 1

      Here you go.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    16. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by clem · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... can we get a screenshot? No. But I've recruited a salty sea pirate to describe it to you in colorful language:

      "Y'ar. I've seen it meself with me one good eye. It be blacker than pitch, darker than a black cat on a moonless night, and dim as the stygian depths of Davey Jones' locker itself. As murky and inscrutable as an hoor's arsehole. Not well-lit, I am telling thee. Opaque, if ye catch my drift. As inky as a squid's, er, ink. Ye keen well what I mean."
      --
      Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
    17. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      That photo has the correct item on the right but the item on the left cannot be the current record holder. Simple black felt looks blacker then that. That's what Camera lenses and lens hoods use to keep light from reflecting around in the lens.

    18. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by CharlieHedlin · · Score: 1

      It merely listed it as the "existing benchmark of darkness" based on carbon.

      The article goes on to say that the current darkest material is a nickel-phosphorous alloy.

    19. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      20 years after "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" we now have the technology to create portable holes.

    20. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by the_wishbone · · Score: 1

      I almost spit out my water there...thanks...

    21. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Chris+Brewer · · Score: 1

      Open Fireworks, Eyedropper tool, 5x5 Average sample....

      Reference standard: #282828
      New black: #000000

      The answer: "None. None more black"

      --
      Consultancy: If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem
    22. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Copy that picture into a photo editor and start adjusting the levels. It's easy to turn the carbon gray where you can see it has sides, etc, while the new material is still very black (with a few splotches).

    23. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      So according to that wiki page, if I were immortal, after 420 years I'd be half-blind?

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    24. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      When criminals start using this, the cops will HAVE to use infrared cameras to track and apprehend suspects. But what if they don't show up on infrared at all?

      Apart from the sci-fi reference, is this substance black across all wavelengths or just visible ones? Could it be used to further augment the undetectability of stealth aircraft to radar?
      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    25. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That looks... hell, it looks worse than Photoshopped, it looks MSPainted. It may very well be an actual unaltered photo, but I swear it looks exactly like they opened the thing up in MSPaint and put a big black circle in there.

    26. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by IdeaMan · · Score: 1

      Doubt it, Methusaluh was > 1000 years, several others mentioned were over 900. Didn't mention that they were blind.

      --
      They ARE out to get you simply because They are in it for themselves and they don't care about you.
    27. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Veramocor · · Score: 1

      Yes the other blacks were only mostly black, mostly.

      --
      Veramocor
    28. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      But of course! I think we just witnessed the invention of the ACME Portable Hole!

      --
      Program Intellivision!
    29. Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black... by AgentSmith · · Score: 1

      OK why was I also thinking about that when I heard this?

      I was waiting for the scientist who created the material to say,
      "Well, we created three boxes out of it for an example."

      "Three dark DARK boxes. I think I'll open one of them. AUUUUUUGGGHHHH!"

  5. wouldn't scattered light still be light? by XaXXon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    wouldn't it just be less 'mirror-like' and more matte if it scatters light? In order to be black from all angles, it would have to absorb all the energy. ?

    1. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Psychotria · · Score: 4, Informative

      The summary seems to be wrong. No where in the article does it say the material "scatters light". Rather, it absorbs light.

    2. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by sholden · · Score: 1

      An error in a slashdot summary, it's the end of the world!!!

    3. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by KlaymenDK · · Score: 1

      In order to be black from all angles, it would have to absorb all the energy. That's what I'm wondering -- if indeed it absorbs all light energy, would it not get awfully hot? I'm thinking that unless you actually have serious cooling behind it (as in a steam solar cell) a panel of this stuff would be a fire hazard to its surroundings.
      --
      "Good news, everyone!"
    4. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by QuantumG · · Score: 1

      black object gets hot when placed in sunlight.. I've never heard of such a thing.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    5. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by protobion · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes but the point is , we wont let the material burn itself and everything around it. The material would start to get hot, but we will couple it to a thermoelectric/sterling etc. engine to generate power from the absorbed energy. The tubes should reach some steady state temperature and we have theoretically much more efficient light-based power source.

      --
      Essentia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
    6. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by KlaymenDK · · Score: 1

      Spare your sarcasm.

      What I'm wondering is how much hotter than a "regularly black" panel one of these would become. There's a difference between being visibly black (which basically means it just reflects an unimpressive but equal amount of all wavelenghts) and actually absorbing all light.

      --
      "Good news, everyone!"
    7. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by XaXXon · · Score: 1

      it can radiate it off as heat. that's fine -- no conservation issues. I should have RTFA, though before asking about scattering..

    8. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Psychotria · · Score: 1

      I am not sure the black object gets hot; rather, the object converts more electromagnetic radiation into heat--it's not the object that is hot, it is a side-effect of the object being black. What I am trying to say is that it's not the object that is generating the heat, but the blackness of the object... yes, this sounds kind of vague.

      If I was remotely religious I'd be touting that from darkness there comes light. But I am not. So erase that last sentence.

    9. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by vbraga · · Score: 2, Informative

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body

      Thermal engineering 101.

      --
      English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
    10. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      You must work for the automotive industry. I was fool enough to buy a black car with black vinyl seats.........

    11. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Dulcise · · Score: 1

      Lets hope it does, because maybe it will have applications in renewable energy :)

    12. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Eivind · · Score: 1

      How do you figure that ? If you absorb 99.9% of all light, then you are heated 10% more than some normal black material that "only" absorbs 90%. So what ? No big deal. Okay, where the "normal" black material reaches equilibrium with its surroundings at 70 degrees F, this thing may be 75 degrees F, who cares ?

      Being black does not mean it won't radiate. It'll radiate and cool just as well as any other object. (infact nanotubes can be -very- good conductors of heat)

      I'm thinking you failed physics 101.

    13. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Eivind · · Score: 2, Informative

      True. But this is a "forest" of nanotubes standing on end.

      Light that is scattered on impact with the first tube stands a high chance of then ending up hitting a second tube, where it is absorbed. That is the reason this forest-of-nanotubes is blacker than say any other pile of nanotubes.

    14. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not likely to get much hotter than any other reasonably black matte object of similar characteristics in other properties you could imagine. Please note that we are talking about dimnishing returns here - if this material absorbs 99.9% of light, remaining 0.1% is really only about 1.5 watts per square meter. It's a big jump from something, say, at 75%, improving energy capture by almost 400 watts there (in optimal sunlight conditions), but still not that it would multiply temperature of otherwise comparable objects...

    15. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by KlaymenDK · · Score: 1

      I'm no thermal engineer, so I have no idea of the amount of energy that a "black" and "truly black" body absorbs, or radiates for that matter. If it's just a five or ten degree increase then that's no big deal for sure.

      FYI, I did not take Physics 101, as I'm on the wrong side of the planet for that. I recall no mention of Black Body Radiation in the physics classes I have taken (so thanks for that link, vbraga). See, no need to be offensive.

      --
      "Good news, everyone!"
    16. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Tesen · · Score: 2, Funny

      I just knew the Monolith was real! ;)

    17. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by vbraga · · Score: 1

      I wasn't offensive, and, if I sounded that way, I'm sorry. English is not my first language and sometimes I can't express myself the way I intended.

      Deeply sorry.

      --
      English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
    18. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by roguetrick · · Score: 1

      Right and when my stove gets hot, it doesn't really get hot it converts ele... wait.. Get the hell out of my house with this semantic garbage Psychotria.

      --
      -The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard
    19. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Tibor+the+Hun · · Score: 1

      Bad move vbraga. this is a us-centric site, and the rule here is basically "he who apollogizes first, loses." You've just deeply lost your whole argument.

      --
      If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
    20. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're confusing yourself with the parent poster.

    21. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 1

      The article I read on it yesterday said that aside from possible applications in stealth technology (they haven't tested its reflective index against IR and radar yet), there were a lot of possible applications in solar energy.

      And objects which reflect light on all wavelengths are actually white not black. All black things absorb light to varying degrees.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    22. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 1

      vbraga

      Don't worry, he wasn't responding to your post. He was responding to the post of someone else. That person insulted his intelligence, not you.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    23. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by jc42 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What I'm wondering is how much hotter than a "regularly black" panel one of these would become.

      The wikipedia article others have linked to is a good intro. The brief summary: "Not much." This material would radiate the heat as a "black body". At ambient temperatures (275-300 K), this is in the far infrared, so you can't see it. You might be able to feel it, but the heat would be comparable to what you feel if you hold your hand in sunlight.

      There is real potential for applications in light-gathering gadgets, such as solar-power equipment. We'll probably start hearing about them in a few years.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    24. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly right. So-called "diffuse" surfaces scatter incident light, whereas "specular" surfaces reflect it in a mirror-like fashion. Black surfaces absorb light (which is typically converted to heat), not scatter it.

      -Anonymous 3D graphics engineer/student of light

    25. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by KlaymenDK · · Score: 1

      I wasn't offensive, and, if I sounded that way, I'm sorry. No need to be! Your post was informative and to the point. That statement was meant for Eivind whose post I replied to, but I can see it could be read differently.

      Deeply sorry.

      --
      "Good news, everyone!"
    26. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Rather, it absorbs light. I suspect it does both. In the article, they mention how they had to rough up the surface to decrease the index even further. Without knowing the details, I'd think that they are relying on the rough surface to scatter the small amount of light that actually is reflected.
      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    27. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      If the thermal conductivity of the material is high enough, they would be able to pull the heat out of it so that it won't radiate all of the absorbed energy. If the material is an insulator, then they may have trouble extracting the heat, depending on the thickness. My understanding is that carbon nanotubes have extremely high thermal conductivity in the longitudinal direction, so solar collection might be feasible.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    28. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      FYI, I did not take Physics 101, as I'm on the wrong side of the planet for that. Wow, no kidding. In Physics 101 you would have learned that the Earth is ROUND, not flat.

      Just kidding :)
      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    29. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Psychotria · · Score: 1

      Good point. I don't know what I was thinking (one too many beers?)

    30. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by Eivind · · Score: 1

      Sorry if I was overly sharp. Your message was just terribly ill-informed. The point is, really REALLY black surfaces don't end up incredibly hot -- they just end up -sligthly- warmer than almost-black surfaces.

      If the sun shining on a 90% black surface provides 500W/m2 and heats the surface to say 150F, then the same sun shining on a 99.9% black surface will provide aproximately 550W/m2, which may heat the surface to say 170F. No biggie.

      It -would- be preferable for solar heat-collectors, but only juts sligthly better than average black.

    31. Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light? by roguetrick · · Score: 1

      Alright you can stay, just don't use the bathroom. You've lost those privileges.

      --
      -The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard
  6. I was going to ask... by Dr.+Cody · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...if anybody had found a picture of it. I'd see this article a few days ago and couldn't turn up anything.

    Unfortunately, posting on Slashdot provides me with the perspective to see how stupid a question it was.

    1. Re:I was going to ask... by bar-agent · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'd like to see a video. All the time, I read fictional accounts of materials that "glow" black, or look so black they're unreal, like a hole in space. I'm thinking this material might look pretty much like that. So, I want to see how it responds to ambient light as it's tilted around, and what happens when you shine a flashlight on it.

      Still, if even one photon in a hundred escapes, it can't be too black, now can it?

      --
      i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
    2. Re:I was going to ask... by ndogg · · Score: 2, Funny

      Did you really expect that an article on the blackest material ever made would be able to shine some light upon the subject?

      --
      // file: mice.h
      #include "frickin_lasers.h"
    3. Re:I was going to ask... by SharpFang · · Score: 1

      http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/01/darkest_material_ever.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

      Here's an article with a photo, please.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    4. Re:I was going to ask... by spydink · · Score: 2, Interesting

      what happens when you shine a flashlight on it. Or a laser...

      For example a laser used for marking targets.

      Laser applications
      --
      Always be sincere, whether you mean it or not.
    5. Re:I was going to ask... by localman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, here's a good photo of it, comparing it to the previously most black substance. It's neat: I can already imagine them using this someday in camera optics and such.

      Cheers.

    6. Re:I was going to ask... by Smidge204 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That is not an artile. That is a blog entry that copy and pasted a paragraph and stole a photo from an article. This is the article. Notice the difference: The blog contains a whopping 13 words, none of which actually relate to the story. The article, on the other hand, is a full page with lots of information and in-context quotes.

      Everything I said here applies yet again. If the purpose of the Internet is to serve as an open forum for disseminating information, then the typical blog is the antithesis of that purpose; the worst thing to happen to the Internet since AOL.
      =Smidge=

    7. Re:I was going to ask... by encoderer · · Score: 2, Informative

      I heard this guy on NPR last night.

      He said that when they first shined the laser upon it, their instruments could not detect the laser being reflected back. He said they knew two things when that happened:

      1. They're on to something
      2. They're going to need better equipment

      He also said that they hope to make it even blacker by finding a way to produce nanotubes that are more perfectly straight.

    8. Re:I was going to ask... by Monsieur+Canard · · Score: 1

      And then they asked him if he had ever heard of Spinal Tap. The silence that followed was almost as pure as this stuff is black.

      --
      He took a duck to the face at 250 knots.
    9. Re:I was going to ask... by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      Still, if even one photon in a hundred escapes, it can't be too black, now can it?

      99.9% would be 1 in 1000.

      referenced by a different post says that the substance has a total reflective index of 0.045 per cent, which would be 4.5 photons in 10000.

      That's pretty black. Maybe not "hole in space" black, but probably a reasonable facsimile.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    10. Re:I was going to ask... by Surt · · Score: 1

      http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23060778-13762,00.html

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    11. Re:I was going to ask... by FiloEleven · · Score: 1

      It's actually not a stupid question at all. Or, at least, I don't think it is. Sure, you won't get the same experience as seeing it in person, but any material absorbing that much light is going to keep you from getting much information about its shape. In other words, if someone were to wear a shirt made of this stuff and put his hand on his chest, you'd see nothing but a disembodied hand stuck to his chest. You wouldn't be able to discern the fabric of his sleeve from the fabric covering his chest.

      Gene Wolfe posits a material like this called "fuligin" in his Book of the New Sun. He describes it as looking like a void; you get no depth information whatsoever. Though a picture couldn't do that justice, I'd like to see one anyway.

      --
      Your brain is not a computer.
    12. Re:I was going to ask... by vecctor · · Score: 1

      Somebody posted just such a link above :)

      http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23060778-13762,00.html

      --
      Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
    13. Re:I was going to ask... by Hektor_Troy · · Score: 1

      That's not the previously most black. That's just the current benchmark of black. Top of the line isn't the benchmark ;)

      --
      We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
    14. Re:I was going to ask... by rcw-home · · Score: 1

      Did you really expect that an article on the blackest material ever made would be able to shine some light upon the subject?

      "We accept arguments as a drunkard accepts a lamppost; for support, not illumination."

  7. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  8. How much more black? by LaskoVortex · · Score: 5, Funny

    "It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black."

    --
    Just callin' it like I see it.
    1. Re:How much more black? by jay-be-em · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

      --
      "Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." --Eric Blair
    2. Re:How much more black? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We are here to make coffee metal. We will make everything metal. Blacker then the blackest black times infinity.

  9. mapping this darkness on a scale by laejoh · · Score: 4, Funny

    from 1 to 10 would yield us, what? 11?

    1. Re:mapping this darkness on a scale by gandhi_2 · · Score: 2, Funny

      The answer is none. None more black.

      --
      THL phish sticks
    2. Re:mapping this darkness on a scale by eggnoglatte · · Score: 1

      9.99?

      Always glad to help ;-)

  10. Not an easy task by PingPongBoy · · Score: 1

    The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of virgins

    I can't see the trees for the forests.

    --
    Know your pads. One time pad: good for cryptography. Two timing pad: where to take your mistress.
  11. Mr Desiato would like a word with them... by jamesh · · Score: 4, Funny

    If the media release is accurate, a Mr Hotblack Desiato would like a word with them... his current ship isn't quite black enough.

    1. Re:Mr Desiato would like a word with them... by clickclickdrone · · Score: 1

      Do I get any points for having walked past Hotblack Desiato, the London Estate Agents (Real Estate to your foreign types) which Adams pinched the name from?

      --
      I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    2. Re:Mr Desiato would like a word with them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you get the pointa for knowing that Adam's pinched their name, not the other way round

    3. Re:Mr Desiato would like a word with them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (imitating the voice of your favorite whiteboi rapper)
      Just remember: black's not a color. It's a state of mind.

  12. Absorbtion by Psychotria · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If the light is absorbed 99.9%, where does the energy go? Heat? If so, could this lead down the road to new power sources? Super-black nanotube network produces heat to produce steam to turn turbines... (??)

    1. Re:Absorbtion by nautsch · · Score: 1

      Yes heat!

      Have you even read the article? SOLAR POWER!!

      --
      If you find a typo, you may keep it.
    2. Re:Absorbtion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, a typical black surface (like asphalt) absorbs 90% of light, while specialty surfaces designed for absorbing light get to better than 99%. In other words, this stuff is only 1% more efficient at absorbing light than black felt.

      Don't be looking for any thermal heating breakthroughs, because it's only physically possible to get 11% better than asphalt or matte black paint.

      dom

    3. Re:Absorbtion by blackest_k · · Score: 3, Interesting

      From the BBC article
      "The application will be to things like more efficient solar cells, more efficient solar panels and any application where you need to harvest light," he added.

      There was an earlier article on /. with a related technology essentially printing small antennas on a plastic film which essentially create a high frequency ac voltage from heat and light energy , if the nanotubes are conductive perhaps the two technologies be combined to make some extremely efficient solar panels.

      --
      Blarney Quality Restaurant, Plants
    4. Re:Absorbtion by visomo · · Score: 1

      From the article:

      "The application will be to things like more efficient solar cells, more efficient solar panels and any application where you need to harvest light," he added.

      --
      Terrible office day. My secretary went sick, we lost a major contract and a little white dwarf turned me into a banana.
    5. Re:Absorbtion by Potor · · Score: 1

      RTFA! i mean, really - modding this comment interesting is one of the laziest actions i've ever seen on /.

    6. Re:Absorbtion by hey! · · Score: 2, Informative

      The answer is yes. Using black materials to turn sunlight into heat is very practical. I'm looking out at my neighbor's solar panels, which are pretty much a glass topped box painted black inside with a network of water pipes to capture the heat.

      However, this is not exactly a breakthrough, because the material, while darker than black paint, is not enough darker to make it worth considering the cost. For the price difference, you'd be better off simply build a bigger collector.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    7. Re:Absorbtion by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

      Something that dark doubtless expends a lot of energy on cutting itself.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    8. Re:Absorbtion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Nanotubes are made from single-atom thick sheets of carbon that are rolled up into a tube. Depending on how you roll them up (along the x-axis, y-axis or diagonally) they will be conductive, semiconductive or non-conductive. I don't remember which shape causes which conductivity. However, it's tought to deterministically force a whole batch to roll up one way (one of the problems of using them for logic on computer chips). Plus they have a very high contact resistance.

      In either case, the article seems to think this might be able to be used for solar panels, so probably it will work for that.

    9. Re:Absorbtion by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Of course, it may be that the nanotubes conduct heat more efficiently, boosting the efficiency of extracting the absorbed heat.

      I know that nanotubes conduct heat incredibly well in the longitudinal direction, but I don't know what the thick-film layer beneath them is made of.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    10. Re:Absorbtion by Tribbin · · Score: 1

      "If the light is absorbed 99.9%, where does the energy go?"

      Up... and out.

      --
      If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
  13. Dethklok were first to do this by black_lbi · · Score: 2, Funny

    "We're here to make coffee metal.
    We're here to make everything metal.
    Blacker than the blackest black times infinity."

  14. bloody hell... by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 1

    now were going to have to deal with a bunch of damned black-clad nu-goths!

    And not only will we all hate their music, but we will all come to the sad realization that yes, they are more black than we ever were in our youth.

    --
    -I only code in BASIC.-
    1. Re:bloody hell... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      But our eye will just slide off! They will hate not getting all that attention they don't want~

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  15. deja vu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My memory may fool me, but I heard about that months before. An interesting article which compared the index of refraction of this nanotube carpet to other surfaces, e.g. the moon.

    cb

  16. This will go perfect with my by Smordnys+s'regrepsA · · Score: 1

    How long till I can get a "#000000" on Super-Black tee? Or, a full body-suit so I can be the best Hide-and-Seeker ever!
    ...I must make plans for a ninja vs samurai LARP!


    ps:doesn't this seem like the perfect article for those racist ACs?

    --
    Just -1, Troll talking to another.
    1. Re:This will go perfect with my by Thanshin · · Score: 1

      ps:doesn't this seem like the perfect article for those racist ACs? Armor class? classes? Damn my learning English by reading d&d books.
    2. Re:This will go perfect with my by Bazman · · Score: 1

      This black is blacker than that. Your tee would have to have something like: '#0000000000000'

    3. Re:This will go perfect with my by Doug+Neal · · Score: 1

      This black is blacker than that. Your tee would have to have something like: '#0000000000000' No, it's more like #-FF-FF-FF
    4. Re:This will go perfect with my by mdmkolbe · · Score: 1

      Black isn't a good color to sneak around in the dark. It is to easy to spot because it contrasts too much with the stuff around you that isn't black.

  17. Re:microscope video capture nanotube forming netwo by nautsch · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    parent links to myminicity

    --
    If you find a typo, you may keep it.
  18. Another article with a pic of the substance by Spittles · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23060778-13762,00.html not to be confused with: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134847/

    1. Re:Another article with a pic of the substance by Chilluhm · · Score: 0

      Mod parent up! This story's better with a reference picture.

      --
      My sig sags.
    2. Re:Another article with a pic of the substance by Ilan+Volow · · Score: 1

      So the previous yardstick of darkness was a hockey puck?

      --
      Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
  19. Not Metal Enough by hedgemage · · Score: 1

    To paraphrase Nathan Explosion:
    "We're going to make nanotubes /metal/. Blacker than the blackest black... times infinity."

  20. Should have specified. by Smordnys+s'regrepsA · · Score: 1

    Nope, I was talking about SlashDot - the Anonymous Cowards who scream "the blacks are taking over the country," and then go on to post stupid stories that repeatedly use the N-word.

    --
    Just -1, Troll talking to another.
  21. Black body radiation by arrrrg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    IANAP but I think by being a great absorber, it becomes a great emitter too: Black body. So it may not actually get much hotter than something less black. I guess it depends on where the equilibrium point is, and I don't have any intuition about that.

    1. Re:Black body radiation by Psychotria · · Score: 5, Informative

      I guess the article should really define "light" a bit more tightly. From your link:

      Although Planck's formula predicts that a black body will radiate energy at all frequencies, the formula is only applicable when many photons are being measured. For example, a black body at room temperature (300 K) with one square meter of surface area will emit a photon in the visible range once every thousand years or so, meaning that for most practical purposes, the black body does not emit in the visible range.

      My, possibly incorrect, interpretation (assumption?) of the article was "light" in the broad sense of all electromagnetic radiation. This, however, does not make your link less interesting; in fact, in makes it more interesting. Thank-you.

    2. Re:Black body radiation by mdmkolbe · · Score: 1

      Black-body radiation is badly named. All objects emit black body radiation regardless of the object's reflective "color". Black-body radiation is basically the color the light an object emits due to how hot it is. In a pitch black room, this is the "color" of the object (*). It is dependent on temperature only and not the particular material.

      (*) Technically the color of black-body radiation is usually calculated assuming the room is at the same temperature as the object, so the room will also be glowing at the same color and not be "pitch black". A hot body in a cool, pitch-black room will be approximately the same color, and is close enough that it usually doesn't matter.

    3. Re:Black body radiation by Duke · · Score: 1

      IANAP but I think by being a great absorber, it becomes a great emitter too: Black body [wikipedia.org]. So it may not actually get much hotter than something less black. I guess it depends on where the equilibrium point is, and I don't have any intuition about that.

      The position of the equilibrium point is what is significant here. What you are talking about is Kirchhoff's Law: At [thermal] equilibrium, the radiation emitted must equal the radiation absorbed. The carbon in this case is a forest of long tubes of graphite. The graphite part means that it is a great absorber and a great emitter. The forest of long tubes part means that is is a great trapper of photons. Think of Midtown Manhattan in summer. During the day solar photons come in, some absorbed by the buildings and streets, some reflected. The reflected ones are likely to hit one of those surfaces again, some get absorbed, some reflected. (Exercise for the reader, write a recursive function to calculate the apparent absorbance of the "forest" based on an assumed uniform absorbance of the surfaces and a surface-configuration factor). At night, the hot surfaces are radiating heat, but most of it just hits another surface. This is the importance of the forest of tubes. This surface configuration is one of the reasons that cities get hotter than the surrounding areas (absorbance, heat capacity, thermal conductivity and evapotranspiration of water are important, too).

      So the thermal equilibrium point for this system is what is important. In direct sunlight, this stuff will be at a much higher equilibrium temperature than a flat-black painted surface. Why is this important for solar collection? Another poster said http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=421132&cid=22079240

      The answer is yes. Using black materials to turn sunlight into heat is very practical. I'm looking out at my neighbor's solar panels, which are pretty much a glass topped box painted black inside with a network of water pipes to capture the heat.

      However, this is not exactly a breakthrough, because the material, while darker than black paint, is not enough darker to make it worth considering the cost. For the price difference, you'd be better off simply build a bigger collector.

      That is fine if what we care about is the quantity of heat, not its quality, that is, if we want a great deal of heat but at a low temperature differential. What this poster suggests is fine if we want a, say, 50 to 70 Fahrenheit degree differential for space heating a home. but for boiling water (for distillation or power generation) at atmospheric pressure without using concentrating collectors, or running a Stirling engine, the high-quality (large temperature-differential) heat is important.

      This material will allow for very-high-temperature solar collection.

      IANAP, I am a physical inorganic chemist.
    4. Re:Black body radiation by Indian · · Score: 1

      True but only if you don't drain the heat absorbed by the body. If e.g. we make a solar thermal power plant using this material to cover the surface of "boiler" then the boiler temp would be capped at the boiling point of working fluid. Huge bulk of any more absorbed energy would go to make more "steam" (or working fluid vapour) and not radiated away.

    5. Re:Black body radiation by Alastor187 · · Score: 1

      IANAP but I think by being a great absorber, it becomes a great emitter too: Black body. So it may not actually get much hotter than something less black. I guess it depends on where the equilibrium point is, and I don't have any intuition about that. Kirchoff's Law (emissivity = absorptivity) doesn't always apply when dealing with solar radiation. The problem is that the majority of solar energy is the visible spectrum. So dark colors will absorb more solar energy than light colors. However, if the surface is near room temperature it will tend to emit the energy at infared wavelengths. If the surface emssivity/absorptivity charateritcs are wavelength dependent, as is usually the case, then Kirchoff's law does not apply. For example, a black surface and a white surface exposed to sunlight will tend emit energy at about the same rate but they will absorb energy at very different rates. The result will be a relativity cooler white surface.
  22. I guessed I missed by Xanius · · Score: 1

    I guess I missed the part in the article that said 99.9%....

    1. Re:I guessed I missed by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1

      0.0450% of light is reflected,
      99.955% of light is not reflected.

      http://www.physorg.com/news119554586.html

      --
      -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  23. Black holes by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

    Ha! So I guess that is what black "holes" are really made of!

    --
    You just got troll'd!
    1. Re:Black holes by Bob+of+Dole · · Score: 1

      Black holes are blacker.
      This thing absorbs 99.9% of light falling on it, black holes absorb 100% (That's pretty much their definition)

      --
      I respond to your sigs
  24. Where to put it by xZoomerZx · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Im wondering at the practical applications of this and how much it will have to be hidden or at least above the human zone (from the floor to about 7') I imagine extreme blackness would cause an effect similar to "The Blindspot" of sic-fi space travel. In effect the eye/brain would not 'see' the blackness and pull the visible edges together in an optical illusion.

    Case in point - I was once in a room that had contained a fire. The walls, floor, ceiling, and windows were all coated in a soft black soot that was perfectly uniform and ate all the light. The effect was very disconcerting and disorienting. None of the normal visual cues of highlights, textures, or reflections existed. Only the open door gave a reference point so that you didn't feel like you were floating in a void.

    The article posits several uses, but can you imagine a person clothed in this black in full sunlight? Could we even see them? or a building covered in it? or a car? Sight requires a least some photons to hit the retina. Anyone? I know I sound repetitive, its 0430 and didn't want to lose the train of thought to sleep.

    --
    Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
    1. Re:Where to put it by dltaylor · · Score: 1

      The "blindspot" effect may well occur in enclosed spaces. In the open, where there is a plethora of visual references, a human-sized or larger object non-reflective object would be readily apparent because the shape would trigger the "edge-detect" optical neurons. If you were sufficiently close to, and facing, a true-black object, such that it occupied nearly all of your visual space, you might be back to the blindspot.

    2. Re:Where to put it by entrigant · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hmm... a gigantic near absolute black building in the middle of a sunny day... hmmmmm... nope, don't think I'd notice that.

    3. Re:Where to put it by Jesus_666 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, we would. No incoming photons doesn't mean that our brain furiously tries to make our pattern filling work 1000% beyond what it normally does. It would mean a big black spot. Just because a person wearing a suit made out of this would look completely flat doesn't mean he'd be invisible.

      Even if your brain couldn't handle pure blackness, the rods still fire randomly, ensuring that some form if input is always present. You can verify this by closing your eyes in a very dark room - you should see a color that is not black. This color is called eigengrau.

      I think this will be of limited value for personal stealth measures - being that dark, you'd stand out even aginst regular dark surfaces. However, as another article pointed out, a stealth plane could profit from being able to absorb radar beams. Research into the absorption of non-visible wavelengths is already underway.

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    4. Re:Where to put it by kvezach · · Score: 1

      However, as another article pointed out, a stealth plane could profit from being able to absorb radar beams. Research into the absorption of non-visible wavelengths is already underway.

      So... black helicopters?

    5. Re:Where to put it by blincoln · · Score: 1

      a stealth plane could profit from being able to absorb radar beams.

      Stealth planes *already* absorb radar. They have a two-layer skin. The first layer reflects about half of the radar waves. The second is spaced half a wavelength beneath the first, and reflects the rest, so they cancel each other out.

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
    6. Re:Where to put it by omnivagus · · Score: 1

      Just because a person wearing a suit made out of this would look completely flat doesn't mean he'd be invisible.

      But if they then turned sideways... Eureka!
    7. Re:Where to put it by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Research into the absorption of non-visible wavelengths is already underway. Even if it doesn't absorb radar, you could still coat a building with this stuff to make laser designators ineffective (though there are probably more effective ways to jam/spoof a laser designator).
      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    8. Re:Where to put it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Full bodysuits have been in production for quite some time now. http://www.jellymuffin.com/layouts/Music_and_Instruments/Ipod_Dancer/thumb.jpg/

    9. Re:Where to put it by OldSoldier · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Black like this probably has a few oddities that make it hard for us to process visually, but invisible? No.

      First, this thing's shadow is probably lighter than the thing itself!

      Somewhat related, any shadows cast on this stuff would indeed be invisible. Direct light cast on this is probably no lighter than ambient light cast on it. So... if you imagine a brick building coated in this stuff you would not be able to see the indentations of the masonry because the shadows the outward bricks would cast on the mortar joints would not be significantly darker than the color of the bricks. The upshot is that we wouldn't be able to see surface detail and that visual cue would be missing for us.

      But beyond an inability to see surface detail, we may not be able to see even the corners on a building painted with this stuff. The part of the building that's in direct sunlight would not be any brighter than the part that's not. We'd probably think it's a cylinder even if it's a square or rectangle.

    10. Re:Where to put it by Infoport · · Score: 1

      not only could a stealth plane use it, you could cover your car with it and not reflect a good signal for laser "radar" (and maybe for normal radar too, since it is nano-fuzzy)
      It would also be useful in photo darkrooms, although "regular" black paint is usually sufficient.
      I wonder how good it is at absorbing infrared? Also, night-vision goggles rely upon light being reflected, either ambient light or from a beam (beam not common since it makes you stand out to other nightvision gopggles). It may be obvious in the daylight that there is a person in front of you in total-black, but using goggles you would be looking for a more obvious illuminated object.

    11. Re:Where to put it by jimmux · · Score: 1

      Even if your brain couldn't handle pure blackness, the rods still fire randomly, ensuring that some form if input is always present. You can verify this by closing your eyes in a very dark room - you should see a color that is not black. This color is called eigengrau.

      I was wondering how this "new black" could be applied to current display technology to achieve higher contrast ratios. Now I wonder if there is any point when we can't really see total blackness anyway.

    12. Re:Where to put it by Lecard · · Score: 1

      Not only black helicopters but also black airplanes. (And i really think the planes would be better). To the human eye, this stuff would be quite possible to spot... Even at night it'd be a "textureless" shape darker than the darkness of the night. But, for a radar or sonar.. If the invisible wavelengths used by them are indeed absorbed by this stuff, the equipment would have no sign received back and then you get... stealth! Sure, you'd have to work on other issues such as heat.. since it's absorbing all the light, i guess it's going to heat a lot.

  25. But by niceone · · Score: 4, Funny

    How much more is the the Macbook that is this colour going to cost???

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
  26. Why wont this change the world? by schweini · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If Earth's solar constant is 1366 W/m2, and this 'color' absorbs 99.9% of the incoming light's energy (which wavelengths? all of them?), wouldn't this mean that it would be almost trivial to boil water in containers covered with this, and thus power steam turbines? Shouldn't this then be basically the solution to all out energy problems, or is there something i am missing? Losses by black-body radiation, if i understood that problem correctly, depend on the material's temperature, but i'd guess that at 100C, this would still be an incredible energy-source. Just a couple of square meters on the roof would easily power a house.

    1. Re:Why wont this change the world? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not a revolution, because what we have already probably absorbs 99%, and cheap black stuff will absorb at least 10%. A 1% efficiency increase isn't revolutionary.

    2. Re:Why wont this change the world? by evilviper · · Score: 2, Informative

      If Earth's solar constant is 1366 W/m2,

      No.

      The "solar constant" is measured "on the outer surface of [the] atmosphere", most certainly NOT at ground level. Down here, you get around 100W/m2, during daylight, in the summer, with no cloud cover, etc.

      Did you really think that our previous "blackest" materials were simply so highly reflective as to make such a scheme impossible? No, they absorb something like 95%+ of light. But with that, you simply need a huge area to get a useful amount of energy.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    3. Re:Why wont this change the world? by famebait · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I was thinking along the same lines.

      But while his material would undoubtedly be very efficient for absorbing heat, it does not represent any revolution in that area: we can already absorb sunlight for heat with reasonably high efficiency with just basically black paint. This invention is better, by many percentage points, but it is still only an incremental step up from what we can already easily get per square meter.

      Also, as always, the economics come into play: it will often be a lot more attractive to use a cheaper and much simpler solution, and spend slightly more surface area to compensate for the lower efficiency.
      Extruded black plastic will probably still be hard to beat in the real world for a while.

      I think it will be much more useful in light sensitive applications.

      --
      sudo ergo sum
    4. Re:Why wont this change the world? by Nyh · · Score: 5, Informative

      The "solar constant" is measured "on the outer surface of [the] atmosphere", most certainly NOT at ground level. Down here, you get around 100W/m2, during daylight, in the summer, with no cloud cover, etc.


      You are wrong here. The 1366 W/m2 is indeed at the upper atmosphere. Lower in the atmosphere it is less, how much depends on the current state of the atmosphere. About 1000W/m2 is the right value.

      The 100W/m2 is the energy output of a not so good photovoltaic module.

      Nyh
    5. Re:Why wont this change the world? by at0mjack · · Score: 1

      Normal bog-standard black paint will absorb at least 95% of the incoming light. The extra 4.9% of this new material isn't likely to make much difference. Black plastic containers of water rarely boil their contents.

      Also, 1366W/m^2 is the figure from orbit. Down here in the atmosphere the peak figure is much lower (you're missing almost all the UV, for one thing), and then you've got clouds and night to contend with :).

    6. Re:Why wont this change the world? by Nyh · · Score: 3, Informative

      If Earth's solar constant is 1366 W/m2, and this 'color' absorbs 99.9% of the incoming light's energy (which wavelengths? all of them?), wouldn't this mean that it would be almost trivial to boil water in containers covered with this, and thus power steam turbines? Shouldn't this then be basically the solution to all out energy problems, or is there something i am missing?

      Well, let us do some math on the trivial boiling of water with black containers.

      Take a container with 1 kg of water. For ease of calculation we will take a 0.1 m x 0.1 m x 0.1 m container.
      Let us assume one side of the container faces the sun. Area is 0.1 x 0.1 = 0.01 m2
      The staring temperature is 20C, boiling temperature is 100C. Delta t is also 80 C. Specific heat of water is about 4200 J/K/kg.
      To make the 1 kg of water boil you need 80 x 4200 = 336 kJ.
      Energy received on the side of the container is 0.01 x 1366 = 13.66 W.
      Time needed to get 336 kJ with this power is 336000/13.66 = 24597 s (=6 hours and 50 min).

      Oops, not so trivial after all...

      If you make a large area (1m2) container containing 1 kg water you need get a container of 1 m x 1 m x 0.001 m. This container would boil water in 336000/1366 = 245 s (about 4 min). Problem with such a container is a large area at the cool side of the container and the specific heat of the container is a lot higher than the specific heat of the water it contains. So you need to design a container with a very low specific heat compared to the specific heat of the water it contains, a large surface area to collect the solar energy and good isolation at the shade side to minimize heat losses. Welcome to the interesting world of designing solar collectors.

      And for the very black material: going from 99% black to 99.9% black gives only (99.9-99)/99 = 0.9% increase of efficiency. The problem of solar collectors is not the black not being black enough. A new blacker black won't revolutionize solar collectors.

      Nyh
    7. Re:Why wont this change the world? by pclminion · · Score: 1

      That is not a correct calculation. It does not take into account the power radiated by the water and container as it heats up. So in fact the time needed is longer than what is calculated here.

    8. Re:Why wont this change the world? by kocsonya · · Score: 1

      Actually, what you calculated is not boiling water. It is just bringing it to boiling point. The specific heat of boiling water, i.e. changing it from 100C liquid water to 100C gaseous water is many many times more. If I remember correctly (it was a long time ago...), the heat needed to melt ice is about 80cal/g and to boil water was 540cal/g (where cal is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1g liquid water by 1K or 1C, as you like it, under normal conditions as per pressure etc. so basically it is the specific heat of water used as an energy unit).

  27. Finally by Phyrexicaid · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ninja suits!

    --
    The meme is dead, long live the meme!
    1. Re:Finally by gripen40k · · Score: 1

      Hey, you have something there. I know this was meant to be funny, but think of it in a military use. If it absorbs the majority of light it might also absorb other spectrums of E.M. radiation, perhaps even the radar bands. Throw it on planes to make 'perfect' black camo for night missions, or put it on Navy SEALs boats. I mean, this thing has tons of practical use for various markets as well, not just military.

      --
      Har?
    2. Re:Finally by LehiNephi · · Score: 1

      If it absorbs EM radiation across a wide spectrum, I can see it being very quickly outlawed in many states, since the police radar/laser guns wouldn't be able to pick you up, right?

      --
      Help find a cure for cancer. Join the [H]orde
    3. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pirate flags for the Blackest Pearl!

    4. Re:Finally by gripen40k · · Score: 1

      Radar absorbent material is already out there if you can get your hands on it, and it isn't illegal. I'm sure it's just very expensive given its only practical application. This leads me to believe that this new stuff will be the same; not illegal, just very hard get.

      --
      Har?
  28. Stack of razorblades by Wilson_6500 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I always thought it was kinda interesting that a stack of razorblades makes a fair approximation of a blackbody. You can't grow stacks of razorblades on surfaces, natch, but for some applications I imagine you just need a small optical sink and don't want to spend a lot of money. Then again, this could be just trivia more than something that's useful to know.

    (Because of the potential for dangerous reflections, please don't shine lasers into a stack of razors trying to test their reflectivity--unless you know what you're doing and, hopefully, have an appropriate pair of laser goggles.)

    1. Re:Stack of razorblades by NevarMore · · Score: 4, Funny

      "(Because of the potential for dangerous reflections, please don't shine lasers into a stack of razors trying to test their reflectivity--unless you know what you're doing and, hopefully, have an appropriate pair of laser goggles.)"

      The fact that the razors are sharp and pointy can be safely ignored.

    2. Re:Stack of razorblades by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well don't stick your hand inside of an optical telescope, either. The baffles are (supposed to be) razor sharp to avoid reflections. Also, to protect the optics from your hand grease, meatfingers.

    3. Re:Stack of razorblades by IdeaMan · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't this stuff be great for painting the inside of an optical telescope with?

      --
      They ARE out to get you simply because They are in it for themselves and they don't care about you.
  29. obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Nothing to see here ... please move along

  30. SCNR by Jesus_666 · · Score: 1

    North American of African Descent, please!

    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    1. Re:SCNR by macshit · · Score: 1

      North American of African Descent, please!

      Isn't all of humanity of "African descent" when you get right down to it?

      --
      We live, as we dream -- alone....
    2. Re:SCNR by timster · · Score: 1

      Yeah, though those of us with a genetic melanin deficiency got tired of being sunburned all the time and ran off for less equatorial climates.

      --
      I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
  31. Dupe by IKILLEDTROTSKY · · Score: 0

    Wasn't there a story about the darkest dark about a year ago? It reflected as much light as air, and if you painted everything in a room with it and placed an object on a table would appear to be floating?

    1. Re:Dupe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      !dupe

      The substance has a total reflective index of 0.045 per cent - which is more than three times darker than the nickel-phosphorous alloy that now holds the record as the world's darkest material. - Reuters
  32. vanishing comments by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A couple of minutes I posted a comment which isn't here anymore. If it's been done intentionally -- if you don't know what I am talking about, don't assume it's wrong.

    cb

  33. What? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Over 50 replies and no Dark Matter jokes?

    C'mon, people, are you all still asleep?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:What? by Jeppe+Salvesen · · Score: 1

      It's not Dark Matter, you ignorant clod. It's 0.1% from Dark Matter. That's infinity from Dark Matter!

      --

      Stop the brainwash

  34. Sundive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "It's the weird colour scheme that freaks me. Every time you try to operate one of these weird black controls, which are labeled in black on a black background, a small black light lights up black to let you know you've done it."

  35. The new macbook is all about being seen.... by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why would you want to hide your new Macbook away?

    A great use for this would be the border area around my home cinema screen. The projector leaks a bit of light there...

    --
    No sig today...
    1. Re:The new macbook is all about being seen.... by necro81 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      If you made the case all black, the Apple logo on the back of the screen would shine all the brighter.

  36. Great, now I have to update my livejournal! by bipbop · · Score: 4, Funny

    My soul is as black as the darkest carbon nanotube forest!

  37. Metalocalypse will love it... by Ours · · Score: 1

    For a new "blackest black" album.
    Light gets lost in the cover, now that's heavy.

    --
    "You superiour intellect is no match for our puny weapons" - The Simpsons
  38. Absorbed vs scattered by eremos · · Score: 0

    What percentage of the light is scattered vs absorbed, and what wavelengths?

  39. but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    mind you they were actually trying to find a paler shade of grey.

  40. Perfect for Priests' Socks by clickety6 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Father Ted - Series Three, Episode One

    DOUGAL: Anyway, what else did you order?

    TED: Priest socks. Really black ones.

    DOUGAL: I read somewhere, I think it was in an article about priest socks that priest socks are blacker than any other type of socks.

    TED: That's right Dougal. Sometimes you see lay people wear what look like black socks but if you look closely you'll see they're very, very, very, very, very, very, very dark blue.

    DOUGAL: Actually that's true. I thought my uncle Tommy was wearing black socks but when I looked at them closely they were just very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY, very, very, very dark blue.

    TED: Never buy black socks in a normal shop. They'll shaft you every time!

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
  41. What happens with the absorbed photons? by master_p · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Where does the energy go?

    1. Re:What happens with the absorbed photons? by notmyusualnickname · · Score: 2, Informative

      (They raise/It raises) the temperature of the blackbody material.

    2. Re:What happens with the absorbed photons? by penguin_dance · · Score: 1

      Well since it absorbs energy, and I think this is one of the suggested uses, couldn't it be used to enhance solar panels so that they absorb more solar energy? That would mean it would take less panels to power a household or a building or create stronger one that could power it longer.

      --
      If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
  42. Meh... by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

    Over 50 replies and no Dark Matter jokes?

    C'mon, people, are you all still asleep? We used them all up about 2 weeks ago when there were 3 stories about dark matter and 2 about black holes. We simply exhausted our allotment early this month... although, as of yesterday, database, middleware, and Java jokes are in.


    Use them while you can, chances are the next round of database jokes will be triggered by Microsoft's purchase of a database company, and we'll burn a lot of good material preferring Access, VB(A,6), and Vista jokes in lieu of straight database jokes. If you don't have any handy, I've got some file system jokes tucked away for a slow news day that I could let you borrow.

    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  43. More like a blind spot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think what parent is talking about is a blind spot. Which btw, I have one. I can't see it 95% of the time, but sometimes when I look at the shower tiles I can see, I can see a some black spot that moves with my eyes, usually can't see it with just one eye. But otherwise the brain just feels it what it thinks should be there and I don't notice it.

    So the question is a building painted really black could one see the building on the horizon or would the brain's blind spot compensation just kick in and cover up the building with more sky? I don't think it would help too much since the building would be visable when one got closer to the building because the blind spot compensation would turn off.

    Also, one would not be able to see what the building looks like, It would just be a silhouette. You couldn't tell a ball from a disk just by looking at it, if it where truly black. Here is some food for thought imagine a gun man wearing a black black suit with a black black gun. One wouldn't be able to see his hands much less the gun only the silhouette of his body.

    posting Anonymous, to keep the FAA from find out.

    1. Re:More like a blind spot? by condition-label-red · · Score: 1

      You may have a floater in your eye that is causing the dark spot. Everyone does have a blind spot where the retina connects to the optic nerve.

      --
      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.
    2. Re:More like a blind spot? by Jesus_666 · · Score: 1

      Here is some food for thought imagine a gun man wearing a black black suit with a black black gun. One wouldn't be able to see his hands much less the gun only the silhouette of his body.
      Unless he's not facing you head-on, of course. Add to that the fact that a black black suit automaticlly draws attention simply because it's black black...
      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  44. Sounds like... by amirulbahr · · Score: 1

    this really is The New Black.

  45. One of my favorite sayings... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Black: It's the new Black.

  46. It is kinda disterbing by jellomizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That to pick up news that is happening 3 miles away from my house. From Slashdot hosted far away linking to the BBC even further away. I am sure most of the RPI students don't know about this yet... (being 7:00 in the morning) Colleges should really publicize their work more. It just could help them get those grants they are looking for.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:It is kinda disterbing by bcattwoo · · Score: 1

      While this is interesting it isn't the kind of thing that is going to make those sleeping RPI students say, "Oh my God, why didn't I know about this sooner?" And don't worry published journal articles are more relevant to getting grants than university press releases.

    2. Re:It is kinda disterbing by Dragonslicer · · Score: 2, Funny

      While this is interesting it isn't the kind of thing that is going to make those sleeping RPI students say, "Oh my God, why didn't I know about this sooner?" You sure about that? This is the school where the athletics teams are the RPI Engineers.
    3. Re:It is kinda disterbing by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Yea like the NSF will give grands based on the marit of the work vs. publicy and political reasons. MIT will always win the Grant over RPI for technology related studies. UCB vs. SUNY for Geoagraphy Research. It is all political, if any attempt at NFS to make a decision based on the school who is most worthy of the grant is purely accedental and may lead to the person to be fired.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:It is kinda disterbing by Red+Herring · · Score: 1

      "e to the x, dy/dx, e to the x, dx. secant, cosine, tangent, sine, 3.14159, square root, cube root, log of pi, disintegrate them RPI!"

      Ah, for the days when the Big Red Freakout actually was...

      --
      #include "standard_disclaimer.h"
  47. Everyone sing along now... by Tiberius_Fel · · Score: 1

    I see some carbon and I want to paint it black... :P

    --
    Join the Empire! http://www.empirereborn.net/
  48. A Room Without A view... by flajann · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Imagine being in a room completely covered with these carbon nanotubes. Even with a bright lamp with you, you'd feel as though you're sitting in outer space. Worse even, since you'd see no stars. It would be quite stunning, and could make a cool exhibit at some science museum.

    I wonder what it would cost to do? It would be wicked cool to do this to a bedroom!!!!

    --
    Ruby Neural Evolution of Augmenting Topologies
    1. Re:A Room Without A view... by eth1 · · Score: 1

      Forget the bedroom... what about my home theatre? Cover everything but the projection area of the screen and the seating with this stuff.

      And for a practical joke, wait for your friend to do this, then paint his remote controls with it, too :D

    2. Re:A Room Without A view... by Doctor+Faustus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Imagine being in a room completely covered with these carbon nanotubes. Even with a bright lamp with you, you'd feel as though you're sitting in outer space.
      It would be great for photography. You can take pictures with no background, at all.

    3. Re:A Room Without A view... by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't you run into the walls all the time because you couldn't tell where they were? It WOULD make a good background for photography though. It'd make cropping items out really simple.

    4. Re:A Room Without A view... by IdeaMan · · Score: 1

      I doubt it would be good for photography. Shadows are black, so if you did a simple replace black with other background I think you'd run into problems. On the other hand, because it is SO black, maybe nothing else is truly that dark. The trick with using a green screen is that you can wear stuff that will never look bright green at any intensity of illumination.

      --
      They ARE out to get you simply because They are in it for themselves and they don't care about you.
    5. Re:A Room Without A view... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Imagine being in a room completely covered with these carbon nanotubes. Even with a bright lamp with you, you'd feel as though you're sitting in outer space.

      The effect would also be be not dissimilar to sitting in an Easy-Bake Oven.

  49. Beauty by meeya · · Score: 1

    jewelery industry is going to make a lot of out of this. nobody found a real black metal before.

    1. Re:Beauty by Oink · · Score: 1

      Well, it's not a metal for one. Problem is it would be extremely fragile. It's entirely likely that you could brush it off the surface with your finger. Also, if you were to apply a coating, the coating itself would reflect light thus negating the sheer awesomeness.

      --
      ----------------- Oink. Moo. rarr! -----------------
  50. Common use applications? by chord.wav · · Score: 1

    I'd like a trench coat made with this material, it will make Marilin Manson look like Shirley Temple

  51. That's incident light, and asymptotic to boot by Ancient_Hacker · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Um, although this thing is by some measure "three times blacker", that's no big deal, in an energy absorption sense.

    It just means instead of using cheap carbon black, 99.6% blac, you use expensive and fragile nanotubes, 99.9% black.

    Not a significant increase in energy absorption, and not economical either.

    1. Re:That's incident light, and asymptotic to boot by avandesande · · Score: 4, Informative

      Your eyes sensitivity to light is logarithmic, so yes, it is significant.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:That's incident light, and asymptotic to boot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. Look no further than the picture they posted with a piece of carbon and this new stuff. The nanotube black is way, way blacker than the carbon stuff (when exposed to camera flash at least).

    3. Re:That's incident light, and asymptotic to boot by Ancient_Hacker · · Score: 1
      Oh, you're right, if you are using this to absorb stray light.

      I was responding to the perception that this was 3x better at collecting energy.

  52. Shadow of the Torturer by Phoenix666 · · Score: 1

    The color that is blacker than black is fuligin.

    --
    Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
    1. Re:Shadow of the Torturer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good reference! That cloak was so cool. Imagine trying to portray that in a film adaptation...

  53. Stygium by domatic · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One of Pratchett's books talked about "stygium". It was a metal blacker than anything else in the Discworld and would incandescence and melt seconds after exposure to direct sunlight. I don't think this stuff would do that but if the spectrum is wide on this stuff, you could make some nice solar water heaters out of it.

  54. Collects, actually. Solar panels, anyone? by CarpetShark · · Score: 1

    The article then goes on to say that the light is collected. Which makes me wonder why one of the listed uses isn't solar power or solar heating.

  55. 2001 Space Oddity Monolith? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    OMG it's the same stuff! Do I hear music?

  56. Now if I could just get... by Kjella · · Score: 1
    ...a shadow battle crab covered in this stuff:

    Lt. Warren Keffer: It was jet black. A shade of black so deep your eye just kinda slides off it. Now that would be creepy cool.
    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  57. Black Power! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Once I get my time machine out of beta, The Panthers will LOVE this! 1968 here I come!!!

  58. Yes, but is it blacker than... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hillary's soul?

  59. Re:Collects, actually. Solar panels, anyone? by Tibor+the+Hun · · Score: 4, Funny

    For a mention of those you'd have to read the article, grasshopper. ;)

    --
    If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
  60. Relevant SF story is "The Shadow and the Flash" by dpbsmith · · Score: 1

    The science-fiction story that's really appropriate here is Jack London's story, The Shadow and the Flash. The "science" is cockamamie, but it's amusing anyway.

    Two bitterly competitive rivals both seek a means of becoming invisible.

    One of them believes (incorrectly) that if he can find a perfectly black substance (now available!) and coat himself with it, he will become invisible. The other thinks that it should not be too hard to make his body perfectly transparent.

    In the story, both methods succeed, but both have a flaw. The black-coated brother still casts a shadow, and when he is around, you can't see him but you nevertheless feel a mysterious "sudden cold chill, reminding me of deep mines and gloomy crypts. The transparent brother evokes rainbow-colored flashes when the light hits him at the right angle.

    Read it--the full text, online, is linked above--it's a stitch...

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

  61. A standard of blackness?? by untree · · Score: 1

    Is it wrong that my first instinct upon reading that was to think about cultural definitions of race?

  62. Superblack? Hardly. by Nerdposeur · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I color sampled the image of this stuff, and its RGB value is #071108. I can make a blacker square in Paint.net and print it out.

    Call me back when you reach less than #000000 and I'll be impressed.

    1. Re:Superblack? Hardly. by geekoid · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Are you being funny, or are you really that ignorant?
      I mean there area at least three HUGE problems with what you posted.

      1)"I color sampled the image of this stuff,"
      That means it's limited by your equipment.

      2)"I can make a blacker square in Paint.net"

      That's not a material. Plus it's probably actually darker anyways.

      3)"Call me back when you reach less than #000000 and I'll be impressed."

      Just because the computer allows you #000000 doesn't means that's what you monitor shows, and I guarantee you that's not the actually color your printer prints. It is limited by the maximum darkness your INK can be, and the darkest ink doesn't even reach #000000.

      All that is secondary to the fact that #000000 isn't as black as something can be. It's a limitation on HARDWARE.

      Another genius .net developer.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Superblack? Hardly. by Nerdposeur · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Are you being funny, or are you really that ignorant?

      Well, I thought I was being funny...

    3. Re:Superblack? Hardly. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Good.

      For a minute I was worried about the quality of Slashdot~ ;)

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    4. Re:Superblack? Hardly. by Nerdposeur · · Score: 1

      For a minute I was worried about the quality of Slashdot~ ;)

      I am worried. Looks like my comment has now been modded "Interesting" insteady of "Funny."

      Sigh.

  63. Mod parent funny by ciaohound · · Score: 1

    C'mon, that's subtle stuff right there.

    --
    Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
  64. And feel this surface! by RevWaldo · · Score: 1

    You can't! It's totally frictionless! This must be one mother of a mover!

    --
    Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  65. Wow.. a use for TV Hockey broadcasts by fury88 · · Score: 1

    You can't complain about not being able to see the hockey puck on TV now!!

  66. What, no pictures? by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 1

    Oh, wait...

  67. Thats the sound .... by TheEmpyrean · · Score: 2, Funny

    And that was the sound of goth and emo kids everywhere having a collective orgasm. Its also justification for my shirt that says "I'm only wearing black until they make something darker"

  68. The Invisible Man by argent · · Score: 1

    Not on topic for the article, but re: the story... don't forget that the original mechanism Wells' Invisible Man used was to render the pigments in the body colorless, and that was obviously bad science even back then. A century or so of hindsight is going to hurt most fiction.

  69. That old chestnut - by DaveDerrick · · Score: 1

    So it 99.9% of all light. That 99.9% seems to appear eveywhere, kills 99.9% of all known germs etc... Why not 99.9356648% ???? Are they just making these numbers up to sound impressive ?

  70. Now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ted Stevens can explain Internet2 as a series of dark nanotubes...

  71. Clothing? by Doctor+Faustus · · Score: 2

    I always thought "I'm only wearing black until they make something darker" was just a joke. So when can I buy clothes made out of it?

  72. Blackest Black Ever Created by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    and the Goths of the world rejoice!

  73. So what happens to the standard? by geekoid · · Score: 1

    Or more precisly: what happens to items previously measured against the standard? to they get re-evaluated? does that standard not change and this material is given a negative number to reference?

    oh, and a nice picture:
    http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23060778-13762,00.html

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  74. Use for extremely efficient heat absorber ... by Sepiraph · · Score: 2

    Pure speculation here, but it would make a great material for building a Dyson Sphere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere AND IF that's the case, there is at least another plausible explanation for the Fermi Paradox.

  75. Here is one, honestly. by geekoid · · Score: 1

    http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23060778-13762,00.html

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:Here is one, honestly. by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 1

      Heh, cool; thanks for posting. (I'm hoping that my attempt at humor was duly noted in the course of making your reply... ;)

    2. Re:Here is one, honestly. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      It was noted that you made an attempt at a joke. ;)

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  76. Copyright infringment by sgt+scrub · · Score: 1

    Microsoft owns the rights to all dark forests.

    --
    Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
  77. Black on Black (limited invisibility) by DumbSwede · · Score: 1

    Ahh, but paint a wall with this stuff, then wear a cloak of it and hide IN FRONT of the wall.

    A sort of limited invisibility.

    --
    Letter To Iran
    1. Re:Black on Black (limited invisibility) by fifedrum · · Score: 1

      not just for hats anymore: use tinfoil, coat the walls, furniture and whatnot with it and be sure to crumple first, so all the surfaces are wrinkled.

      Illuminate the room with multiple light sources that cast confusing shadows, then wrap yourself in it. Turn on strobe light. a sort of limited invisibility. Edge-detect functions in your victim's head won't be able to pick out your shape when you stop moving. When you do finally move, they freak out. Great fun for halloween time haunted house applications.

  78. To be evil... by Tangent128 · · Score: 1

    ...make a maze out of the stuff. More seriously, imagine a screen of LEDs laid over this. Think of the contrast you could get...

  79. NEXT in the News by p5linux · · Score: 1

    Our next story, "What the hell did I do with that black material" is up next. But first... Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are claiming racial discrimination against the founders of this dark material and wonder when scientists will begin the search for white material.

  80. Intuition by BenBoy · · Score: 1

    A pretty simple thought experiment shows this to be true (i.e., that 100W is too small a figure). Just consider the light you'd get on a bright summer day through a 1 meter window/skylight vs. the light you'd get from a 100 watt bulb in a room ... the mere *thought* of it leaves afterimages on my retinas :-)

    --
    I don't have a sig ... this will have to do.

    1. Re:Intuition by Ambiguous+Puzuma · · Score: 1

      You can't compare brightness (of visible light) alone; you have to consider the spectrum of each light source too. Around 44% of solar radiation (that reaches the surface of the Earth) is visible light, while only 2% of the energy used to power an incandescent bulb is converted to visible light.

      In other words, you're trying to compare 2W of visible light from a 100W bulb with either 44W (out of 100W) or 440W (out of 1000W) of visible light from the sun.

    2. Re:Intuition by BenBoy · · Score: 1

      True, in every important sense ... I oversimplified. I think you get a little more than two watts of visible light out of a 100 watt bulb, though :-)

    3. Re:Intuition by Ambiguous+Puzuma · · Score: 1

      Oops, you're right--the luminous efficiency of a normal 100W bulb is 2.6%, but that doesn't mean that only 2.6% of the energy is converted to visible light. To compare apples to apples I'd have to apply the luminosity function to sunlight, which I think results in a luminous efficiency of about 15%.

  81. Perhaps... by Bones3D_mac · · Score: 2

    Barack Obama could use this material to finally put an end to the criticism that he isn't "black enough". With this stuff, he could probably put even Shaft to shame.

    *shuts his mouth*

    --


    8==8 Bones 8==8
  82. For Terry Goodkind fans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is what the boxes of orden were made of...

  83. Tux by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

    I want to see TUX (Both Linux Penguin and the suit named after him) with this black.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  84. nano TUBES? by houghi · · Score: 2

    Is this what they use for dark fiber to run the Intertubes over?

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  85. Not to sound bitter or anything, but... by aeroelastic · · Score: 1

    ...fuck RPI.

    /bitter

    --
    "It doesn't take a rocket scientist" -I guess I should leave then
  86. Deadly E'clair Now Possible! by gaelfx · · Score: 1

    ...and we will top it with chocolate so dark that light cannot escape it's surface! Mwuhaha.

  87. Second place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But it's not blacker than this!

  88. Bucky J. Nano by eyenot · · Score: 1

    They shouldn't be allowed to call them "nano"-tubes, considering how "nano" in the mainstream is mostly concerned with manufacture. But how else will Fullerine dynamics research receive grant money (note we don't hear anything lately from the once-ubiquitous term "bucky"...)

    --
    "Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
  89. Nano-carbon structures - Carcinogenic? by MessyBlob · · Score: 1

    Are these materials carcinogenic in this form? If so, it could limit the potential applications, and make quality manufacture expensive.

  90. Any blacker and by geekoid · · Score: 1

    it would match the color of my ex-wife's soul.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  91. Too bad you gonna die! by Composite_Armor · · Score: 1

    Well, I can't say I don't love CN's, and the possible applications are numerous as you have undoubtedly read.

    But carbon nanotubes are carcinogenic as shit.

    You wont catch me touching any product that has exposed CN's.
    They will tare you up from the inside out.

    Keep it as reinforcement within composite materials; not as scratch resistant paint on your minivan.
    Wont someone think of the children.

    I just wonder which country the the USW will 'outsource' its production of this new dream(deadly) material to.
    hmmmmmmmmm..

  92. Any colour you like... by TempeTerra · · Score: 1

    I like it. I think I shall order my next Ford in this colour.

    --
    .evom ton seod gis eht
  93. Literary reference. by Fifth+Earth · · Score: 1

    Edgar Allen Poe wrote a sci-fi story once called (IIRC) "The Shadow and the Flash". It involved two scientists competing to make themselves invisible--one of them focused on making a perfectly black paint, which then would (in the logic of the story) render him invisible except for his shadow. (The other scientist tried to make himself transparent, which rendered him invisible except for his prismatic refraction of light--hence, the title of the story).

    1. Re:Literary reference. by The+Iso · · Score: 1

      Actually, that was written by Jack London.

      --
      "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." - Bob Dylan
    2. Re:Literary reference. by Fifth+Earth · · Score: 1

      Oops, you're right.

  94. the new king of dark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    move over wesley snipes!

  95. Oblig. Bad Car Analogy by PPH · · Score: 1

    Will a car of this color be 3 times more difficult to keep clean than a standard black car?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  96. The New Black by lewko · · Score: 1

    Does it come in red?

    --
    Do you or your partner snore? - Visit www.snoring.com.au
  97. Uses by blakeh · · Score: 1

    Electronics and Solar energy are mentioned but I can see immediate use to better enable the stealth capabilities for military applications.

  98. Obvious implications for MacBook Air by jokkebk · · Score: 1

    Just wait until the Apple engineers get hold of this, and re-engineer the meaning of "also available in black" for their line of products.

    Take, for example, the MacBook Air, now available as MacBook Space, for less than three times the price.

    --
    http://codeandlife.com