Nanotubes Form The Darkest Material Yet Created

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."

Don't tell John Carmack!

[Zymergy]

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!)

Paint

[milsoRgen]

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

Oh wow - an darker shade of black...

[h4rm0ny]

... can we get a screenshot?

I was going to ask...

[Dr. Cody]

...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.

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[account_deleted]

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How much more black?

[LaskoVortex]

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

mapping this darkness on a scale

[laejoh]

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

Mr Desiato would like a word with them...

[jamesh]

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

Re:mapping this darkness on a scale

[gandhi_2]

The answer is none. None more black.

Dethklok were first to do this

[black_lbi]

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

Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black...

[Thanshin]

... can we get a screenshot?

Why of course we you can. Close your eyes and count to ten.

Re:I was going to ask...

[ndogg]

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

But

[niceone]

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

Finally

[Phyrexicaid]

Ninja suits!

obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing to see here ... please move along

Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black...

[minginqunt]

What material could be darker?

None. None more dark.

Re:Where to put it

[entrigant]

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

Re:How much more black?

[jay-be-em]

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

Great, now I have to update my livejournal!

[bipbop]

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

Perfect for Priests' Socks

[clickety6]

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!

Re:Don't tell John Carmack!

[nospam007]

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

Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black...

[kitzkar]

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

Re:wouldn't scattered light still be light?

[Tesen]

I just knew the Monolith was real! ;)

Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black...

[Dr_SimonCPU]

Isn't that an ACME portable hole?

Re:Paint

[Millennium]

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

Re:Stack of razorblades

[NevarMore]

"(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.

Re:Collects, actually. Solar panels, anyone?

[Tibor the Hun]

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

Re:It is kinda disterbing

[Dragonslicer]

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.

Thats the sound ....

[TheEmpyrean]

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"

Re:Paint

[MightyYar]

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

Re:Oh wow - an darker shade of black...

[clem]

... 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."