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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."

14 of 324 comments (clear)

  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!)

  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.
  3. 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.

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

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. 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.
  6. 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... (??)

  7. 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 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)
  8. 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.

  9. 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.
  10. 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.

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

    Isn't that an ACME portable hole?

  13. 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