Vantablack is the darkest substance ever made by humans. It was developed by Surrey Nanosystems and absorbs 99.965% of visible light. Compared with the bronze mask next to it, it is really darker than black carbon. The original Vantablack was measured to absorb 99.96% of visible light (and ultraviolet light, infrared light), and the latest is darker enough to be measured with a spectrometer.