The War Over the World's Darkest Pigment Got Even More Ridiculous

[rug]

Alex Cranz
Today 3:38pm

Vantablack is an incredible material. It’s so dark it reflects nearly no light. This has made it appealing to black light fans, scientists, and very clever artists. But a disagreement over which artists should have access to the pigment started a war in February. Over the weekend, two of the main players in that battle got into an e-exchange that highlighted how heated—and silly—the whole debate really is

Vantablack, created by the British company Surrey NanoSystems, is the blackest known substance on earth, absorbing 99.965 percent of all visible radiation. Originally just a remarkable feat of science, Vantablack has slowly rolled into production being deployed for use in the military and aerospace sector. But it was only in February of this year that Surrey NanoSystems made the substance available for other, more whimsical, uses.

Specifically, it was made available for use in artwork, and Anish Kapoor, the sculptor behind that big silvery bean in Chicago’s Millennium Park, secured the exclusive rights. According to Surrey NanoSystems, Kapoor maintains exclusivity because Vantablack “requires specialist application to achieve its aesthetic effect. In addition, the coating’s performance beyond the visible spectrum results in it being classified as a dual-use material that is subject to UK Export Control.”

What all that fancy jargon means is that Vantablack’s use in the aerospace and military industries severely limits how and why you can export it—all samples currently released for exhibition purposes (such as for a school or museum) are to be set in a glass case and only a minute amount is shipped.

http://gizmodo.com/the-war-over-the-worlds-darkest-pigment-got-even-more-r-1790508745

[pangaia]

1. I can't see your post. Is it too black?

[unblock]

2. ah, dark humor!

[rug]

3. Let me reflect on that.

[RedWedge]

7. Too black, too strong.

[Eleanors38]

9. Why does all this dark matter?

[suffragette]

4. Reminds me of Douglas Adams when they steal the black ship in "Restaurant at the End of

the Universe"

"That," he said, "that... is really bad for the eyes."
It was a ship of classic, simple design, like a flattened salmon, twenty yards long, very clean, very sleek. There was just one remarkable thing about it.

"It's so... black!" said Ford Prefect. "You can hardly make out its shape... light just seems to fall into it!"

The blackness of it was so extreme that it was almost impossible to tell how close you were standing to it.

"Your eyes just slide off it..." said Ford in wonder.

~~~

Zaphod Beeblebrox: It's the weird colour scheme that freaks me. Every time you try to operate one of these weird black controls, which are labeled in black on a black background, a small black light lights up black to let you know you've done it. Hey, what is this, some kind of galactic hyper-hearse?




From Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams.

[rug]

5. "Your eyes just slide off it"

Wow, that's exactly what it is.

[suffragette]

12. He was ahead of his time. Wish he was still around.

[awoke_in_2003]

10. The first thing I thought about

was that this would be great for Hotblack Desiato's ship.

[suffragette]

13. That it would! Then go crashing into the sun.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. That is how...

all the truly great concerts end.

[suffragette]

15. With a flare!

[RedWedge]

6. How much more black could it get?

None. None more black.

[rug]

8. .035%

[awoke_in_2003]

11. Thanks, I just spewed coffee. nt

[Igel]

16. Black, I assume. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

17. With sugar. nt