Super Black

This new black is way more black, and that means it's way better. A research team led by Pulickel Ajayan at Rice University created a material that absorbs 99.9% of light. It's about 30 times darker then current scientific standard of black. Here's three things that make this blacker.

It is composed of carbon nano-tubes, tiny tubes of tightly rolled carbon that are 400 hundred times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. The carbon helps absorb some of the light.

These tubes are standing on end, much like a patch of grass. This arrangement traps light in the tiny gaps between the "blades."

The researchers have also made the surface of this carbon nano-tube carpet irregular and rough to cut down on reflectivity.

Pictured above the old black (left) and the new black (right).