Blacker than Black

[Wolfman]

Seems that we've got a whole new standard (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080116.wblackest0116/BNStory/Science/home) for what "black" is...a material made of carbon nanotubes that absorbs 99.9% of light hitting it. That's three times more effective than the previous record-holder for "blackness".

Very cool. It is composed of carbon nano-tubes, tiny cylinders of tightly rolled carbon that one-400th the diameter of a strand of hair. The carbon helps absorb some of the light.
These tubes are standing on end, much like a patch of grass, in an arrangement that traps light in the tiny gaps between the "blades."
The researchers have also made the surface of this carbon nano-tube carpet irregular and rough to cut down on reflectivity.

[Furious Coder]

What, no pictures?

[LostAngeles]

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/2880478ef3d7e3cf2.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=10264)

Nathan agrees. That's totally metal.

[JEROME DA GNOME]

What, no pictures?

Just close your eyes with the lights off.;)

[Schneibster]

Fuligin.

[Wolverine]

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8357/nigerf9.gif

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

[LostAngeles]

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8357/nigerf9.gif

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

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/2880478ef3d7e3cf2.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=10264)

Blacker than the blackest black times infinity

[luchog]

And for all those Goths who insist that they "only wear black until they make something darker", well, here it is.

Wow. And I thought Superblack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_black) was great.

Where can I get a decent Edwardian frock coat made from the stuff?

[fuelair]

And for all those Goths who insist that they "only wear black until they make something darker", well, here it is.

Wow. And I thought Superblack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_black) was great.

Where can I get a decent Edwardian frock coat made from the stuff?
The problem is DECENT. Good tailors are just impossible to locate these days.

[alfaniner]

Story on msnbc. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22690997/)

It's the one in the middle. I wonder if they'll ever make sunglasses out of this stuff? :cool:
http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080116/080116-black2-vmed-5p.standard.jpg

I once had a pen that was a beautiful matte black, darker than anything I'd ever seen before. (I used to stare at it a lot during meetings.) I recall wondering how they got it to soak up so much light, as it is a phenomenon I don't recall having seen anywhere else.

[TheDoLittle]

I wonder how the carbon affects black coffee?

[shadron]

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8357/nigerf9.gif

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

Heard an interview on NPR last night with one of the researchers, and this line was brought up. The researcher said that it only shows they didn't know anything about carbon nanotubes.

[PetersCreek]

Great. Now if they'll just develop an LCD monitor that will properly display the new black...oh, who am I kiddin'? The Eizo model I want isn't even in the budget yet.

[JFrankA]

The substance has a total reflective index of 0.045 percent — which is more than three times darker than the nickel-phosphorus alloy that now holds the record as the world’s darkest material.


This may be a little off topic, but does this bring us closer to proving that Dark Matter may actually exist?


Obviously, I don't have a firm grasp as the whole "Dark Matter" and "Dark Energy" stuff.

[Kiosk]

Did someone reverse-engineer Disaster Area's stunt ship?

[Furious Coder]

Ajayan, who worked with a team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., said the material gets its blackness from three things.
Hey, that's where I went to school. Does that make me black by association?

This is interesting, but I wonder about the useful applications. Since it's an engineered material, would you have to line the interior of a telescope with it instead of simply painting it on? The engineer cited also talks about stealth applications, which makes me wonder about the durability of nanotubes in real-world environments.

Still, that's pretty black.

[Boo]

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black




Boo

[patchbunny]

Story on msnbc. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22690997/)

It's the one in the middle. I wonder if they'll ever make sunglasses out of this stuff? :cool:
http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080116/080116-black2-vmed-5p.standard.jpg

If it's blacker than anything known, doesn't that mean it's even blacker in real life than in this photo, or else I could have produced that black on my own in Photoshop or the like?

[jsfisher]

Hey, that's where I went to school. Does that make me black by association?

It is a good school. I hope your education is now serving you well.

This is interesting, but I wonder about the useful applications.

RPI has done quite well on multiple developments on the nano-tube front. Research, such as this, tends to spawn many "interesting asides." Interconnects (for integrated circuits) may be the most useful eventual outcome.

[Terry]

Fuligin.

Don't go to anyone's funeral wearing it.

[luchog]

The problem is DECENT. Good tailors are just impossible to locate these days.
Actually, i know three excellent tailors. Just need to find where to buy the fabric. :)

[Crazycowbob]

That's, like, totally black, black like my soul.







Hey, someone had to say it... :D

[six7s]

"It's the wild colour scheme that freaks me," said Zaphod whose love affair with this ship had lasted almost three minutes into the flight, "Every time you try to operate on of these weird black controls that are labelled in black on a black background, a little black light lights up black to let you know you've done it. What is this? Some kind of galactic hyperhearse?"

[tracer]

Isn't "Blacker than black" the name given to the TV signal that tells the picture tube to shut off completely?

[Furious Coder]

It is a good school. I hope your education is now serving you well.
I think it is. I work for Microsoft and I program video games.

Of course, according to followup letters to the editor in the alumni magazine issue that profiled grads in the games industry, I'm wasting my education and efforts making video games, and I should be curing cancer or doing materials research if I want to truly pay homage to RPI and it's fine legacy.

*shakes head*

[TheDoLittle]

I think it is. I work for Microsoft and I program video games.


If you were one of the minds behind the original interface for "Supreme Commander", I have a few choice bad words for you!!

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Curse you Wolfman. "Blacker than black is my true love's hair" is a line from a folksong. I now have it stuck in my head and cannot find the title with Google.

Help, anyone? :o

[Olowkow]

Seems that we've got a whole new standard (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080116.wblackest0116/BNStory/Science/home) for what "black" is...a material made of carbon nanotubes that absorbs 99.9% of light hitting it. That's three times more effective than the previous record-holder for "blackness".

Very cool.

I agree, very cool.

A researcher friend brought a vial of nanotubes, like the finest powder you have ever seen, into my shop one day, and the first thing I noticed was how odd it was that they did not stick to the sides of the vial. We are so used to Vanderwall forces on stuff like talcum powder, that it was kind of surprising.

One note on blackness. A common "laser dump" is a stack of razor blades. You shine the laser into the stack of sharp sides and it rattles around and gets absorbed without getting too hot.

I know everyone thinks this is a trivial and funny post, but total blackness is a useful construct in scientific pursuits, just as are front surface mirrors for reflecting close to 100% of light.

[alfaniner]

Curse you Wolfman. "Blacker than black is my true love's hair" is a line from a folksong. I now have it stuck in my head and cannot find the title with Google.

Help, anyone? :o

"Black is the color of my true love's hair."

[69dodge]

If it's blacker than anything known, doesn't that mean it's even blacker in real life than in this photo, or else I could have produced that black on my own in Photoshop or the like?

That sounds right.

[soylent]

Great. Now if they'll just develop an LCD monitor that will properly display the new black...oh, who am I kiddin'? The Eizo model I want isn't even in the budget yet.

That's all due to the back-lighting. There have been some attempts at LED back-lighting where each LED is individually controllable and illuminates only a small group pixels. That way if there's a solid black region you can turn off the back-lighting for those groups of pixels. Also keep an eye out on OLED technology; it doesn't use back-lighting at all and has really good black levels.

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

If you were one of the minds behind the original interface for "Supreme Commander", I have a few choice bad words for you!!
Supreme Commader was developed by Chris Taylor's group, Gas Powered Games.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

"Black is the color of my true love's hair."

Yup. You are correct. I realised this just before falling asleep last night.

You apparently paid more for your brain than I did. Curse those discount outlets. :o

[porch]

Do carbon nanotubes come in glossy, or just matte?

I guess if we ever found a true black, we couldn't rightly say that we see it at all. We could only see the negative shape of the objects surrounding it.

[BenBurch]

This could be great for solar-thermal energy systems! Cover your collector with that stuff and your steerable mirror array gets 10% smaller.

[tek]

If they don't name this new material Dolomite, I will be sorely disappointed*.

*Yes, I know there is already a mineral named Dolomite, but imagine the marketing. This could be the "tough black material that doesn't cop out when there's radiation all about. It's Dolomite, baby!"