Sci/Tech Scientists Make Blackest Material Ever

[The Helper]

Scientists have fashioned what may be the blackest material in the universe: a sheet of carbon nanotubes that captures nearly every last photon of every wavelength of light.

The substance absorbs between 97 percent and 99 percent of wavelengths that can be directly measured or extrapolated. It's the closest that scientists have yet come to a black body, a theorized state of perfect absorption whose closest analogue is believed to be the opening of a deep hole.

The material, described Monday by Japanese nanotechnologists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is made from a flat array of vertically-aligned, single-walled carbon nanotubes. Photons that aren't immediately absorbed by a single nanotube deflect off and are absorbed by its neighbors.

Scientists Make Blackest Material Ever

Scientists have fashioned what may be the blackest material in the universe: a sheet of carbon nanotubes that captures nearly every last photon of every wavelength of light. The substance absorbs between 97 percent and 99 percent of wavelengths that can be directly measured or extrapolated. It’s...

www.wired.com

 

[Jolly chap*]

Cool!

 

[Varine]

I heard this last year.

 

[BlowingKush]

And it only cost 750,000$ per square cenimeter, and won't be capable of being manufactored out of a labratory for another 35 years.


Im tired of the worthless plethera of scientific advances unless they will have some impact on society in the next 3 years.

 

[sjakie]

Emo's all over the word: rejoice!

 

[Aqua Dragon]

Im tired of the worthless plethera of scientific advances unless they will have some impact on society in the next 3 years.

I'm sure they said that about the computer too.

Onto the actual thing, the photo of it looks like someone used the black circle tool in MS Paint. And that means that it must be pretty freakin dark in person. That must be one cool thing to see in real life.

 

[Varine]

Im tired of the worthless plethera of scientific advances unless they will have some impact on society in the next 3 years.

Yeah... when you rush stuff like that, it generally sucks. Which is why we're stuck with Al Gore.

 

[seph ir oth]

Nigga plz!

 

[Jimpy]

Its not Coolaid tasting chicken. Disappointment.


It seems to be incredibly expensive compared to the technology we have already for absorbing light for only a 2-5% increased absorption rate. I guess the plan is they want to make one that has a 100% rate of absorption and make it do weird wackey stuff.

 

[Turnip]

What a useless discovery, of course it was made by Japanese scientists.

 

[Varine]

What a useless discovery, of course it was made by Japanese scientists.

Why is it useless?

 

[Myzteryz]

I'm not sure why many are ignoring the fact that this is just the beginning of a discovery. Of course it's going to be expensive at first, but if you look down the road, eventually it will make a significant impact on our energy in the future.

 

[Varine]

The more light that is absorbed = more energy made = more money because states have to buy excess energy.

 

[sjakie]

Its not Coolaid tasting chicken. Disappointment.


It seems to be incredibly expensive compared to the technology we have already for absorbing light for only a 2-5% increased absorption rate. I guess the plan is they want to make one that has a 100% rate of absorption and make it do weird wackey stuff.

Didn't they claim a 100% absorbtion rate would open a black hole?

 

[seph ir oth]

Didn't they claim a 100% absorbtion rate would open a black hole?

I believe you have it the other way around. A black hole absorbs 100% of all light.

 

[Pineapple]

Warning: Do not leave outside in the sun for prolonged periods of time.

 

[Cheesy]

So that's what ninja suits are made of..