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This is the darkest color in existence - it's so dark it can make objects disappear

Rebecca Harrington   

This is the darkest color in existence - it's so dark it can make objects disappear
Tech2 min read

vantablack

Surrey NanoSystems

The original Vantablack.

We're obsessed with Vantablack, the blackest material ever made.

Every time Surrey Nanosystems, the company that makes it, releases a new video it blows us away.

In this new video, the researchers coated a sphere with Vantablack.

They then moved the sphere over another square of Vantablack, and it disappeared!

Watch:

vantablack sphere

They're materials science magicians.

The new Vantablack shown here is actually an improvement over the original Vantablack the company developed in 2014, which was then the blackest material ever made. The new version they made is even blacker.

It's so black because the material absorbs 99.8% of light that our eyes can see. Vantablack is made of carbon nanotubes - rods of carbon that are much, much thinner than any human hair - packed so close together in a maze-like matrix that light goes in, but can't escape.

In May, Vantablack made its space debut aboard a satellite in low-Earth orbit, where it absorbs stray light so the camera systems can image Earth more effectively.

And while the company partners with space-bound agencies, they continue to make entertaining videos for us here on Earth.

Watch the full video on the Vantablack sphere below.

NOW WATCH: This is the blackest material on earth

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