Scientists make 'remarkable' discovery of new color 'olo'—you can't see it with naked eye in the real world

The world of discovery is vibrant and exciting, and things become even more thrilling because there is so much to uncover. Think of something like colors. Having a large palette already, one could barely believe that there could be another hue that leaves people in awe. However, a study published in Science Advances revealed that a new color called “olo” has become visible to the eyes of scientists. It is reportedly a new color that no human eye has ever seen. Professor Ren Ng, from the University of California, also co-author of the study, shared how the team stumbled upon the color and what a remarkable visual it is, per BBC News. 

The discovery of the new color came as a result of an experiment conducted using lasers in the eye. 4 other participants, along with Professor Ng, including a female and three males, took part in an experiment where they looked into a device called “Oz” which consisted of lasers, mirrors and optical devices. It further stimulated the cells in the retina, a light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. It is the retina that receives and processes visual information. The latter has cone cells: S, L and M, which are responsible for the perception of the colors blue, red and green, respectively. 

“Any light that stimulates an M cone cell must also stimulate its neighboring L and/or S cones,” per the research paper. The laser in the experiment only stimulated the M cone, which “in principle would send a color signal to the brain that never occurs in natural vision.” This is why the color was not visible to the naked eye without any stimulation. The participants adjusted a color dial to closely represent the color “olo” seen during the experiment. It was very close to a bright teal shade. A post shared by @sciencekonek on X revealed the closest visible shade that matches “olo.” 

The study intended to study color blindness also yielded this new result, probing further findings. Professor Ng explained that the color he saw was "more saturated than any color that you can see in the real world.” He also suggested that “it's a beautiful color, it's really fun to look at. It looks like a peacock blue or green,” per ABC News (Australia). He also said that when he dialed up a visible color (teal), he found that “olo was so much more saturated.” Trying to explain his experience, he noted, “Let's say you go around your whole life and you see only pink—baby pink, a pastel pink. And then one day you go to the office and someone's wearing a shirt and it's the most intense baby pink you've ever seen—And they say it's a new color and we call it red."

Professor John Barbur, a vision scientist at City St George's, University of London, suggested that the discovery of this new color is “open to argument.” He explained, for instance, that stimulating the red cone cells (L) would cause the subject to “perceive a deep red,” which would be subject to change based on sensitivity. He noted that the stimulation may have caused the changed perception. Professor Ng noted that “olo” is “certainly very technically difficult” to see, but further studies and findings are underway to reveal whether we have a potential new color in the vast palette.