In a groundbreaking breakthrough, American scientists say they have discovered a new invisible colour—a highly saturated shade of blue-green named “olo”—that cannot be seen naturally by the human eye. This discovery came during a unique experiment involving direct laser stimulation of the retina.
What is “Olo”?
Olo is described as a vivid, never-before-seen colour, created under experimental conditions by isolating specific retinal cells. According to researchers, this colour is “more saturated than any colour you can see in the real world.”
Professor Ren Ng of the University of California, one of the study’s co-authors and participants, explained the sensation using an analogy: “It’s like seeing pastel pink your whole life, then suddenly someone shows you red for the first time.” The colour olo, he added, cannot occur under natural light, making it effectively invisible without targeted stimulation.
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The Experiment Behind the Discovery
The research, published in Science Advances, involved five participants with normal colour vision. They underwent a controlled laboratory test where scientists directed precise laser pulses into one of their eyes. The experiment aimed to stimulate only the M cone cells in the retina—those typically responsive to medium wavelengths or green light.
How the Human Eye Perceives Colour
Normally, human vision relies on three types of cone cells in the retina: S (sensitive to blue), M (green), and L (red). These cells usually work in overlapping patterns, meaning that activating one will often stimulate at least one other. Because of this overlap, the brain processes colour through a combination of signals from multiple cone cells.
However, in this experiment, scientists achieved what nature does not—stimulating the M cones in complete isolation.
Verifying the Colour
To ensure the colour wasn’t just a subjective reaction, each participant used a dial to match and replicate what they had seen during the laser exposure. These individual confirmations added credibility to the experiment, even though olo remains invisible outside the lab.
Three of the five participants, including Professor Ng, co-authored the paper.
What’s Next?
The discovery of olo may have implications for understanding how the brain interprets colour and could influence treatments for colour blindness or vision disorders. As researchers continue to explore the boundaries of sight, the concept of seeing beyond the visible spectrum becomes more than just science fiction—it becomes science in action.
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