Or maybe they read
My alma mater the University of Rochester has one of the most powerful lasers in the world, which was used to turn metals to ānone more blackā a few years ago: http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2701
I am not sure how it compares to 0.04% reflectivity, and I suspect it might not be a visual black hole quite as dramatic as this. But, the practical applications are a little more broad and straightforward. And literally metal, a plus if youāre a metalhead or Spinal Tap. Laser-blackened metal armor is one badass application I can think of (though armor made from carbon nanotubes is even better, admittedly, and more cyberpunk). Oh and it uses an insanely powerful laser so thatās badass too.
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Ok, so itās really black and suitable for space yadda yadda blah. But : will it blend.
How black is it along the wider EM spectrum? Whatās the blackness in the 4-12Āµm region? What in near to far UV? If the length of the nanotubes matches e.g. a quarter of visible/near-IR light wavelength, could they be grown on semiconductive substrates and act as rectenna solar cells? This could be a great thing for coating of bolometer-array sensors for thermal imaging. Or for photon dump blocks for e.g. MEMS mirror arrays for e.g. DLP projectors or optical fiber switches/attenuatorsā¦ Millions of applications!
Nowā¦ the crucial question. Will the tech be hackerspace-friendly, the coatings possible to be applied without a zillion-dollar lab?
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Didnāt the monolith never get anything resembling a definite composition because it had some sort of short-range repulsive property? I vaguely remember there being a description, when TMA-1 has been recovered and placed in front of the UN building: the human architecture has been coated with a thin layer of vapor-deposited diamond to preserve it; but the monolith could not be coated and did not need to be, your fingers just sort of slid above the surface if you tried to get your greasy hands on itā¦
You should ask this guy.
Yes, THAT one. I admit I am seriously jealous of him!
Yeah, I saw this first, and thought my envy had peaked, but noā¦
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That Applied Science guy is featured quite often at hackaday.com; the posts about his projects always make me drool so hard! And my lab/shop is a pale shadow of his one, to add the insult to the injury. And no vacuum tech here yet (grumble).
And while he is having fun with a hybrid rocket engine, I am stuck fooling around with a DIY potentiostatā¦ That said, back to the shop!
A few years ago I found an industrial vacuum pump on the footpath in my street! Sweet score.
ā¦Havenāt managed to find a use for it yet, aside from the obvious >_>
My current project is a DIY Di2-style system, using Arduino and RC servosā¦ canāt wait to get it rocking.
Thatā¦ SUCKS! 
How low goes it? Good enough just for degassing of resins and vacuforming, or would it do the job of the first stage for a diffusion one?
Niiiice! Document it when done? 
Canāt wait to see how it works inside!
Do the ānormalā model servos have enough torque and enough resilience to last in service for significant time?
Why waste it on a one-time use? I assume it would be at least partly demolished by the EMTs in an effort to extricate you.
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Luckily thereās a bleed valve 
The use of ābleedā in this context is wince-worthy 
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Letās not milk this dryā¦
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Ack!!
runs screaming from the room
Darker than a black steerās tookus on a moonless prairie night.
