Black is REALLY Black

[Davidm]

On BBC Breakfast this morning there was an article about a new material that was black and that absorbed over 99.8% of light (I can't remember it's name), but the comment was made that it's more expensive than gold.

They then went on to talk about, and show clips of, a building at the winter olympics that has been clad with this stuff, it looked wierd, and people commented that they felt quite disorientated looking at it. Must have cost a bloody fortune though if the cost comment was true.

I can imagine some interesting, and scary, applications for this stuff.

[Andy Burns]

vantablack? if so, it's not that new ...

[Robin]

that's what the makers of the stuff say was used...

...though they also say "not suitable for external use due to traffic so OK for a _temporary_ pavilion but sadly not for making that bloody ArcelorMittal Orbit a bit less intrusive (while I wait for the travellers to do what they do in hours to any other metal around there).

[Andy Burns]

Apparently a cheapo version of it, 1% reflectance rather than 0.2% for the "space hardware" version

[Robin]

yep but I thought it not worth mentioning here that journos had quoted the reflectance figure for the wrong stuff ;)

[Tim Watts]

"Vantablack"? It's not that new - NPL/Surrey University (the latter own the name)

"absorbing up to 99.965% of radiation in the visible spectrum" (Wikipedia)

There are cheaper alternatives that are not as good, but still utterly amazing - including a spray paint called "Black 2.0"

[whisky-dave]

I'd heard that the blackest black was a priests sock, but that might have come from Father Ted .

[Brian Gaff]

Really? like what? One assumes though that if it is black then it actually emits heat as well, does it? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

You don't like the Orbit? its a splendidly bizarre structure very much needed in such a boring old place. Brian