Vanter Black

[Red Biker]

Morning Chaps,
Saw this on the BBC News this morning as one of the buildings at the winter olympics has been coated in it.
Imagine this on a Bike!! its so dark the bike would appear completely flat. Tissue anyone!

The video on the link below shows 2 identical Brass masks, one coated with the vanter Black 

Taken from tinterweb:

Vantablack® is a super-black coating that holds the world record as the darkest man-made substance. It was originally developed for satellite-borne blackbody calibration systems, but its unique physical and optical properties have resulted in it finding widespread application. Vantablack is available in two versions, either directly applied to surfaces using vacuum-deposition technology or, in the case of Vantablack S-VIS, by spraying and then post-processing.

Vantablack absorbs virtually all incident light, making it ideally suited to addressing a host of light-suppression and light-management problems. It reflects so little light that it is often described as the closest thing to a black hole we'll ever see. With such exceptionally low levels of reflectance, Vantablack produces some startling optical effects; when it's applied to a three-dimensional object, Vantablack is so black that it becomes extremely difficult to discern any surface features, and three-dimensional objects appear to become two-dimensional.   

In fact, Vantablack absorbs more than just visible light, and is equally-effective across a whole range of the spectrum that is invisible to the human eye.  It is used in applications ranging from space-borne scientific instrumentation to luxury goods, and its ability to deceive the eye opens-up a whole range of possibilities in design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v0_fID_jvA

Hopefully available in rattle cans next year!

[seth]

Ask them if they'll paint your bike for you !
Only thing is you might not be able to find it at night or in the garage 

[Andre]

Facial application - No need for wearing masks or burkas

[Red Biker]

lol I'd not thought of that Andre!!

I can imagine pipes or part of the engine done would look spectacular Seth, although probably would put a flourescent decal on 

[Mister Fishfinger]

I visited the lab that developed this a few years ago. The work was started at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington (just on the south west edge of London). The guy showing us round said it was originally developed for NASA to use on satellites, but at the time they hadn't actually deployed it on anything - they were just investigating it in the lab.

The version he showed us was a predecessor of this one but even so it was incredibly black. It's hard to describe until you see it.

I wouldn't get too excited about painting your bike with it yet though. It has to be applied by specially trained contractors using custom built equipment. He didn't mention a price either...

Still, it's good to see something special coming out of the UK.

By the way: they have used the same stuff on a promotional pavilion in Pyongchang for the Winter Olympics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxkvKJmlyHQ

[lil4399]

Just think home much slower your bike would go if you painted with this?   

[Red Biker]

Just think home much slower your bike would go if you painted with this?   

It would help avoid those pesky scorch marks when I slowdown from warp speed 

ps
the wife says can they make curtains with it 

[Monarchjock]

I wouldn't want to paint the bike with the stuff. Our visibility to cage drivers is bad enough already.

On the other hand. What will this do for stealth technology?

[VladTepes]

Hmm absorbs other wavelengths too eh?  I reckon it'd screw up LIDAR then....     

[KiwiCol]

It'll be interesting to see what applications this gets used for.   Wonder if you'd be allowed to apply it to mother in laws?  Make them all but vanish.

[KiwiCol]

Answer is No,  had a read up about it on the net. Can't do clothes or people.

Here, have a wee read.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/06/garden/what-you-can-do-with-vantablack-the-darkest-material-ever-made.html


From article above;
What's special about carbon nanotubes?
­It's almost like an alien material from "Star Trek." Imagine a drinking straw, closed at one end, with a wall one-atom thick. This straw is one-ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, but it is 10 times stronger than steel, and 10 times better at conducting heat than copper. It's been known to exhibit what is called "ballistic transport"; electrons travel through it with almost no resistance. Vantablack packs billions of these straws together.

What I did notice in this was, the 'Ballistic Transport' properties of this.  What is also noticeable was the lack of 'blue & white ballistic transport'       Guess even the science community recognise how fast this is to name it Ballistic.

@Red Biker

[Kiwifruit]

It'll be interesting to see what applications this gets used for.   Wonder if you'd be allowed to apply it to mother in laws?  Make them all but vanish.

I find them hard to see as it is, hanging upside down from the rafters. 

[Notty]

I thought that the speed of light was fastest speed known to man - strangely enough no mention of black as its not a colour in fact RED is the fastest colour !! 

[KiwiCol]

Ok, if black isn't a colour (science has conflicting opinions on that) it's a phenomenon for sure, 100%.

[KiwiCol]

I thought that the speed of light was fastest speed known to man - strangely enough no mention of black as its not a colour in fact RED is the fastest colour !! 

Nope, a black GSX1400 is, see, you're never too old to learn stuff.