This new carbon nanotube material is the darkest thing on the planet

[Heisenbleurgh]

Almost certain touching this makes you evil.

[bowman]

If this absorbing capability is real, this is a great breakthrough, but the military is going to use it (obviously) for scary things like other technologies which we use in life. (or not yet)
I think the scary part is not that you can hide something from "the naked eye" considering that it is so black that going to be the thing that makes it visible ,  but you can make it unvisible from technically all our modern detecting equipment.
Dangerous and marvelous at the same time.
 

[silberdrachi]

Assuming the setting that you're in has light which would bounce off the surrounding surfaces... Otherwise, anything coated in this material is near invisible in the dark.

 

Actually this is a problem for submarines now. That they are actually "deadzones" in the ocean at this point and scientists are developing ways to discover where a sub might be by the way that sounds interact with the dead zone.

 

Essentially it comes down to if something that is perfectly black is in an environment that isnt perfectly black, its going to be absorbing radiation that should normally be reflected back in a certain way. By detecting the change and plotting its movement, you can guess what/where it is. This is sortof how ultrasonic alarm systems work. They send out high frequency sound waves to "map" the environment as the sound bounces back, and if something changes in the environment it will change the sound reflected back. If it changes too much or too fast, alarms go off.

[totjup5]

That's pretty cool

[Askew]

I want to know how much it costs per sqm.

[GlassBomb]

I'm just curious of what kinds of temperature this can reach. Could be useful for creating power.

[ToxicFire]

"Apparently, light enters the material, and is absorbed and converted to heat before it can escape."  - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/15/none_more_black_nanobased_vantablack_called_worlds_darkest_material/

 

That heat is going to have to go somewhere, either expelled back out the way the light came or to heat sinks inside any stealth craft the material would be covered in making it not the most highly efficient stealth material

[Benjio]

My headphones have carbon nano-tube drivers, I knew it was super hard/strong, didn't know it was dark too =p

[mr moose]

"Apparently, light enters the material, and is absorbed and converted to heat before it can escape."  - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/15/none_more_black_nanobased_vantablack_called_worlds_darkest_material/

 

That heat is going to have to go somewhere, either expelled back out the way the light came or to heat sinks inside any stealth craft the material would be covered in making it not the most highly efficient stealth material

 

I believe thermal equilibrium can account for that if the nanotube can adsorb sufficient photons/t in relation to the rate of emissions of photons for a given frequency.  In other words if the material can absorb electromagnetic radiation at the same or a higher rate than they are produced by the radar, ir scope etc, then there will be no heating effect.

[rentaspoon]

Obviously people haven't seen my heart.

What heart? Ya Emo

[AlwaysFSX]

What heart? Ya Emo

I have a heart and I'm far from emo.

[Dist0ur]

so what you're saying is if I put this in my microwave my house will burn down

[Admire]

Sometimes Science is just CREEPY!

[Socky]

First thing i thought of was a B-52 stealth bomber