Scientists have discovered a new color called Olo

Scientists have discovered a new color called Olo

A unique blue-green hue not seen in everyday life. It only appears when specific laser pulses are directed at the eye, revealing the complexity and limitations of human color perception. This exciting discovery could open new horizons in the fields of vision science, art, and technology.

Last Friday, a team of researchers published their discovery in the journal Science Advances. In the journal, they detailed their experiment, which centered around the idea of ​​"directly controlling the activity of photoreceptors in the human eye through cell-by-cell light delivery."

With five participants (including three researchers), they used a laser beam to stimulate a cone cell in the retina. Normally, three different cone cells S (blue-sensitive), L (red-sensitive), and M (green-sensitive) work in concert to enable the human eye to perceive a wide range of colors. 

In this experiment, the scientists precisely targeted and stimulated the M cone cell without activating the surrounding cones, effectively isolating the signal from one cone to the brain.

Researchers say this is how they discovered a new color they've named "Olo."

What is the new color, Olo?

Participants described Olo as a blue-green color, vaguely reminiscent of turquoise. But this simple description doesn't seem to do it justice, if their reactions are to be believed.

"We initially expected it to look like an unprecedented color signal, but we didn't know what the brain would make of it," Ren Ng, a study participant who was among those who saw Olo, told The Guardian. "It was amazing. It's incredibly saturated."

Sources :

ScienceAdvance : https://tpi.li/cO1n

X.com: https://tpi.li/dcAr4tTZQ

Theguardian:  https://tpi.li/OR2LPyQ