TIL that blackest is blacker than black
Blackest is the new black: Scientists develop a material so dark that you can't see it...
Image credit Surrey NanoSystems
A UK company has produced a weird strange alien-like material, so black that it absorbs all but 0.035 percent of light. The new "super black" is made of carbon nano-tubes, each 10 000 times thinner than a human hair. It is so dark that the human eye can't understand what it is seeing. Most shapes and contours are lost and leaves only an abyss.
Black is the darkest color, the result of the absence or complete absorption of light. Like white and grey, it is an achromatic color, literally a color without hue. It is one of the four primary colors in the color model, along with cyan, yellow, and magenta, used in color printing to produce all the other colors. Black is often used to represent darkness; it is the symbolic opposite of white (or brightness).
Image credit Surrey NanoSystems
Vantablack is composed of a forest of vertical tubes which are "grown". When light strikes vantablack, instead of bouncing off, it becomes trapped and is continually deflected among the tubes, eventually becoming absorbed and dissipating into heat.
Image credit Surrey NanoSystems
Vantablack was an improvement over previous similar substances developed at the time. Vantablack absorbs 99.965% of visible light. Also, this new material can be created at 400 °C (752 °F); NASA had developed a similar substance that could be grown at 750 °C (1,380 °F). Vantablack can be grown on materials that cannot withstand higher temperatures. The outgassing and particle fallout levels of Vantablack are low. The high levels in similar substances in the past had prevented their commercial usefulness. Vantablack also has greater resistance to mechanical vibration, and has greater thermal stability.
Please watch the videos to see the color in true action:
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Excellent article giantbear
Hi Ian thank you but it was only because I found it extremely interesting and quite fascinating. I don't usually post things like this but I thought I'd share this with y'all! LOL!
I like black...
You probably mean: so black that it absorbs all but 0.035 percent of visible light :)
I have heard about it some time ago but it is the first time I see pictures of it! Cool ^^
Oops! Will change it in the morning. Glad to meet you. My brother Jaco and my sister in law speaks so highly of you. They are visiting me down at the coast now. Happy holidays!!😁
Hehe the world is small! Say hi to everybody from me :)
Absolutely fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I found this extremely interesting and weird at the same time..lol!
Indeed, crazy applications come in mind. Think alone of the clothing/fashion segment...:-)
How weird is this?
http://mentalfloss.com/article/77190/6-facts-about-vantablack-darkest-material-ever-made
Very interesting!!
It is interesting...weird too...lol!