DailyDirt: Nifty Nanotechnology
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Materials with nanoscale structures promise to make a lot of things vastly better. The obvious application for smaller and faster computer processors will likely extend Moore's Law for a few more years, so maybe people won't really notice the improvements because everyone is already accustomed to computers getting faster at an insane rate. The noticeable nanotechnology might show up in things that never really existed before. Here are just a few examples of materials that could lead to nanotech cloaking devices or some other cool stuff (if nanotech can actually be produced economically someday).- Surrey NanoSystems has developed a material made of carbon nanotubes that is "super black" and absorbs nearly all the visible light that hits it. They named it Vantablack, and it reflects a record low 0.035% of incident light. (They don't say how durable the coating is, but they do say it's "very expensive" to make right now, so don't expect to see this stuff outside of laboratories and super sensitive telescopes.) [url]
- A nanostructured material made up of tiny cones can cover a surface and hide underlying objects from your sense of touch. Most cloaking devices shield things from being seen or heard, but a thin layer of this stuff prevents anyone from feeling what is underneath it (better than any typical foam or padding). [url]
- A spray-on window coating can selectively block heat OR light, according to how much voltage you apply to the film. This material can block about 50% of incoming heat and 70% of visible light, but researchers are still working on improvements to make it better and cheaper for commercial applications. [url]
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Filed Under: carbon nanotubes, cloaking devices, coating, haptics, materials, metamaterials, nanotechnology, vantablack
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