The Darkest Material on the Planet Absorbs 99.96% of Light that Touches it; How Would You Use It?

nanoblack

The possibilities for photography are endless. That’s the thought that crossed our minds earlier today when we stumbled across Vantablack, the new ‘darkest material on the planet.’

Created by UK-based Surrey NanoSystems, this nanotube material is designed to reflect back as little radiation as possible… and it’s darn good at its job. According to Surrey, the material absorbs 99.96% of all the light that touches it.

This means that staring at a piece of Vantablack is, quite literally, as close to staring into a black hole as you could get on Earth. The question now becomes, how do you imagine photographers and camera gear companies putting this stuff to work?

telescopes

One of the things that makes this so special is that it can be manufactured at low-temperatures, meaning it can be applied directly to sensitive electronics.

And while Surrey talks of using this stuff in high-end telescopes and for certain military purposes, when the price eventually comes down, we could definitely see this making an appearance in the world of photography.

We could speculate amongst ourselves, but that’s no fun, so drop your suggestions in the comments down below and let’s see if we can give the big guys’ R&D departments something to put on their ToDo lists.

(via Engadget)


Image credits: Vantablack photograph by Surrey NanoSystems, telescope photo by the European Southern Observatory (ESO)

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