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Scientists made the blackest material ever

Scientists may have made a breakthrough in materials that can help manipulate light at nanoscale, but is it really, really, really black? No. Researchers at Saudi Arabia's King Abdulla University of Science and Technology have created a carbon-nanotube material that absorbs 98 to 99 percent of light (at all angles) between 400 and 1,400nm. But there's actually a reason why something that black needs to exist. These absorbers take on important roles when it comes to solar power absorption and optical interconnects, where fiberoptic data is being passed around. Researchers were able to put a small concentration of their special nanoparticles into a solution, which gave 26 percent more absorption than carbon nanotube -- the previous prince of (material) darkness. For now, there's none more black.