Latest news with #SurreyNanoSystems
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Science
- Miami Herald
New super-black paint could fix satellite light pollution problem
By Dean Murray British researchers are working to solve the problem of Elon Musk's reflective satellites by painting them black. A new partnership between Surrey NanoSystems and the University ofSurrey is aiming to tackle what has become a major concern for astronomers worldwide. They are working on using Surrey NanoSystems's newest product, Vantablack 310, which is a super-black coating. When Vantablack 310 is applied to a surface, it reflects only 2% of incoming light, meaning it absorbs the remaining 98%. This high level of light absorption makes the coated surfaces appear extremely dark, helping to minimise the unwanted brightness from satellites that can disrupt the work of stargazers. More than 8,000 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites already orbit Earth, and projections estimate a rise to 60,000 by 2030, partly driven by the development of mega-constellations. To combat this problem, satellite operators have begun experimenting with mitigation strategies, including dark coatings and changes to satellite position, though the negative impact on ground-based measurement persists. Surrey NanoSystems, with a heritage in ultra-black technologies, says their new solution, Vantablack 310, is a handleable, customer-applied coating, resistant to the challenging LEO environment. The technology will be trialled on the Jovian 1 mission, scheduled to launch in 2026, which will be the first satellite mission from JUPITER – the Joint Universities Programme for In-Orbit Training, Education and Research. One side of a shoebox-sized CubeSat will be coated with Vantablack 310, marking the first UK-led initiative to explore solutions for reducing satellite brightness. The initiative aims to not only improve space sustainability but also demonstrate the efficacy of Vantablack 310 as a hull-darkening solution. Dr. Keiran Clifford, Senior Technologist and project lead at Surrey Nanosystems, said: "Our latest coating technology, Vantablack 310, offers super-black performance across a wide range of viewing angles, while remaining robust to the challenging LEO environment. "We're proud to be working with our partners at the University of Surrey to deliver innovations in the satellite sector, ensuring sustainable and equitable access to a night sky for all." Researchers from the University of Surrey are developing ways to evaluate the experiment from Earth. The post New super-black paint could fix satellite light pollution problem appeared first on Talker. Copyright Talker News. All Rights Reserved.
Indian Express
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Opinion Is Olo a ‘real' colour? That's the wrong question
In 2014, the world encountered a colour that seemed to bend reality. It wasn't bright, it wasn't bold — in fact, it wasn't even really seen. Vantablack — short for Vertically Aligned NanoTube Array black — wasn't just the darkest colour humans had ever created. It was an absence made visible. Absorbing 99.96 per cent of visible light rendered any surface coated into a void. No shadows, no texture, no form — just pure, unnerving black. Originally engineered by Surrey NanoSystems for scientific use — telescopes, stealth tech, and heat-sensitive instruments — Vantablack was never meant for the art world. But word spread. Designers, artists, and technologists became obsessed with its potential. It was a black that erased shape, a colour that turned three dimensions into flatness. To witness it was to question what your eyes were telling you. Then came the twist in the tale: Anish Kapoor, the British Indian artist, blocked the colour for himself. He acquired the exclusive usage rights for Vantablank in artworks. And just like that, the blackest black wasn't just a pigment — it was a controversy. Could one artist own a colour? Should they? Kapoor, already known for creating giant reflective voids and sensorial paradoxes, saw it as a tool to continue his life's work — exploring the unseen, the formless, and the spiritual. But his monopoly sparked outrage among other creatives. What began as a technological marvel has now become a cultural battleground over access, authorship, and the politics of perception. While the world argued about who could use the deepest black, something else was happening: A quieter but equally radical expansion of the colour universe. Five years before Vantablack made headlines, a lab in Oregon accidentally stumbled upon a new kind of blue. YInMn Blue — named after its chemical components (Yttrium, Indium, Manganese) — wasn't discovered for art but for durability and energy efficiency in coatings. Still, its brilliance was undeniable. It was pure, bold, stable, and non-toxic, unlike cobalt or ultramarine. This colour generated a lot of curiosity among designers and artists. Here was a blue that didn't just look new; it felt like a missing piece in the spectrum. The hue made you realise something had been absent all along. And from there, the imagination stretched further. What if there were colours we hadn't even named yet? Enter 'Olo' — a fictional, conceptual hue that lives between known digital colours — not invented. It's more like revealed. 'Olo' doesn't sit neatly in a Pantone book or appear in a screen's RGB settings. It shimmers at the edge of familiarity, changing subtly with light and angle. Like an emotion you can't quite name, 'Olo' is a colour that seems beyond language. But the story of Olo isn't really about whether it's real. It's about what its idea represents — the ever-expanding edges of human perception. Because colour is not fixed, it's a relationship between light and matter, biology and culture, memory and mood. What we see is shaped not only by our eyes but also by our tools, our technologies, and our collective imagination. That's why colour discovery still matters — not because we're uncovering new wavelengths of light but because we're learning to see more precisely. And in this discovery, finding ways to articulate subtleties — emotional, perceptual, expressive — that we couldn't until now. Systems like NCS (Natural Colour System) and Coloro help designers describe colours and how they feel. In design, colour is a strategic tool. It can infuse trust, create urgency or suggest calm — all without saying a word. It influences whether we buy, believe, or feel welcomed in a space. In that sense, colour is a soft-power tool with measurable impact. With new pigments and systems of perception, designers can work with greater nuance. We now have the agency to operate with greater specificity — ascribe colours to mirror the emotional complexity of the consumer. Think of Tiffany Blue — more than a shade, it's an idea of luxury, timelessness, and aspiration. Think of Jio Pink — a colour of energy, accessibility, and youthful confidence. These aren't random choices. They're deliberate emotional codes embedded in visual language. A choice that more brands, creators and experts can continue to use to decode and trigger the desired emotion in the society. We live in a global attention economy and novelty matters. Discovering a new colour — or naming and standardising one that was previously unformulated — offers a competitive edge. As our emotional and sensory worlds grow more layered, so does the palette we use to express them. New colours — whether lab-born like YInMn, engineered like Vantablack, or imagined like Olo — are not just additions to a colour gamut. They're shifts in consciousness. They give form to new feelings. We live in a world saturated with colour — in ads, apps, objects, spaces. Yet, we often forget to see it until something jolts us. A sickly green hospital wall. A brand colour that feels 'off.' A sunset we can't quite capture. That's the paradox: Colour is everywhere — but we treat it like background noise. These moments remind us that colour is omnipresent and invisible — always around us, yet rarely noticed unless it misbehaves or surprises us. So maybe a colour like 'Olo' or a black so black it eats light, isn't just a novelty. Perhaps it's a call for attention. A reminder that perception is fluid. Even in a world where we think we've seen everything, there's still more to perceive. More to feel. More to invent.
