Ultra-dark Material Constructed with Carbon Nanotubes

The reason why we can "see" is because when light rays strike an object, a portion of them get reflected at its surface and enter into our eyes. Different colors correspond to the light of different wavelength. For dark materials such as graphite, due to its unique lattice structure, most of the light gets absorbed by the material.

To take this to another level, a novel material known as Vantablack can absorb up to 99.96% of visible light, which makes it the darkest substance in the world. Made of vertically layered carbon nanotubes, Vanblack is capable of trapping light and making it continually bounce off inside the nanotubes like a pinball machine. The photonic energy eventually becomes absorbed and gets turned into heat.

On top of making your car disappear at night, the ultra-dark material can be used to absorb stray light and improve the performance of optical devices such as telescopes and cameras.

Source: Verge via Youtube