[ad_1]
Imagine lighting a flashlight on a black surface and not seeing anything. That happened in June, outside a small coastal town in the United Kingdom. I was at Surrey NanoSystems, the company that makes the black material that amazed me. It's called Vantablack and is one of the darkest substances on the planet.
Vantablack is made of carbon nanotubes, tiny thin-walled carbon cylinders like an atom. These structures absorb any light that touches the surface by trapping the photons until they are almost completely absorbed. It is therefore difficult to look at and flatten 3D objects in the form of flat and empty black drops. Without thinking to guide us, it looks like a hole in the space.
It's not just a parlor ride. Carbon nanotubes have real applications other than Vantablack. They can also help us strengthen sports equipment and follow the stars. Nanotubing is considered a miracle material since its discovery, thanks to its high thermal and electrical conductivity associated with high mechanical strength. But much of this changing potential has still not been realized. Meanwhile, the production of nanotubes has resulted in happy accidents, such as the discovery of one of the blackest materials on the planet.
While waiting for the broader promise of carbon nanotubes to change the world, watch the video above to explore the mind-blowing illusions of Vantablack.
[ad_2]
Source link