The Blackest Black of All…
US Scientists, from Rice University, have created what they say is the “darkest material on the planet”. It supposedly absorbs up to 99.9% of any light that hits it and it almost 100% non-reflective. This material is so black, in fact, that it’s thirty times more black than the current “benchmark of blackness”. All of this information is scary on many levels.
First of all, why in the name of fucking God did these idiots set out to do this? And who funded it? “Hi, I’d like you to give me one bagillion dollars so that me and my super smart friends can set out to invent the darkest, blackest thing ever.” To which, sadly, someone said, “Sure!” And now, humanity can rejoice because these “scientists” invented something that sets a new benchmark for blackness.
Which leads me to the other thing that frightens me. Why, for the love of all that is holy, are there benchmarks for blackness? What else are these insane people benchmarking? The chewiness of gum? The dumbness of rich, blond hotel heiresses? I mean, where does it stop?!? The even worse part of this is that somewhere, there is someone who thinks all of this benchmarking of blackness is a good idea. And if I ever find them, I’m going to vaporize them, I think.
The world needs a cure for AIDS. The world needs bigger HD televisions. And the world certainly needs a ban on Yani music. However, what the world does NOT need is a bunch of mongoloid scientists sitting in a lab, mixing colors so as to invent the blackest black ever. Let the pre-schoolers and toddlers and Paris Hiltons of the world work on that one. Please.
-Sanity, PhD
www.SockPuppetsFromHell.com
PS
Also, just so you know, the guy in charge of the Rice University Team who did this is also the guy that is credited with inventing the world’s smallest brush. <insert sound of me smacking my face off a wall here>
February 3, 2008 at 7:03 pm
You know, just because YOU can’t find any use for something like that doesn’t mean there are none. The first thing that comes to mind is a better solar cell or a water-heating solar collector. Which is a step closer to fixing one of the world’s problems, that is, an unavoidable power shortage, not to mention pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. If that’s not good enough, what is?
March 10, 2008 at 4:17 pm
There are a lot of applications a pure black substance can provide. But more than that, it gives people new insight on how to manipulate light, which has all kinds of possible applications. Things like the smallest brush, while it sounds trivial, is nothing more than an experiment in nanoscale production, which someday MAY be able to cure AIDS and cancer. Sadly, i doubt there will ever be a cure for ignorance.
April 16, 2008 at 4:04 am
One application I could think of right off the top of my head would be in instrumentation that requires almost absolute control over stray light. Other scientists will find other uses for it very soon, probably first in optics and lasers. Many legitimate scientists don’t make landmard inventions all the time, but the scientific world has been waiting for such a discovery that that they can build into other inventions. The blackest black isn’t just a new paint color in your hardware store, it’s now a staple for many other scientists to use in their experiments.
April 29, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Did you stop to think that posting your poorly thought-out opinions on the internet is way more redundant than the work of these scientists? Why don’t YOU make some input into curing cancer?