Scientists discover naturally impossible color by hacking a human eye

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A team of researchers discovered an unseen color that they claim hasn't been seen by any human that has ever existed before.

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A new study published in the journal Science Advances details research conducted by scientists in California who explained how they stimulated specific cells within the retinas of study participants to produce a color that is impossible to see naturally. The new color has been deemed "olo," and the above image is what the researchers say is the closest to what olo looks like, but apparently, the image pales in comparison to the actual color. Moreover, study coauthor Austin Roodrda said, "There is no way to convey that color in an article or on a monitor."

Adding, "The whole point is that this is not the color we see, it's just not. The color we see is a version of it, but it absolutely pales by comparison with the experience of olo."

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Vision scientist Austin Roorda

The way humans perceive light is through RGB photoreceptors, Red, Green, and Blue photoreceptors. Here's how our wetware works. Photoreceptor cells within the retina are called cones, and there are three types: L cones for long wavelengths of light, which pick up red light, M cones for green light, and S cones for blue light. Colors naturally blend between these spectrums, causing a variation of color to be displayed in our vision. However, while L cones and S cones are able to be stimulated on their own, M cones can't be activated on their own, as the light also activates L or S cones as well as the M cones.

This is where the hacking comes. Researchers found a way to bypass this limitation by mapping the study participants' retinas to identify the location of the M cones. Then, in a dark room, the study participants' M cones were shot with a light beam. Each M cone was hit individually, and as the light was hitting the M cones, the color olo appeared in the participants' field of view.

Despite the achievement, not every scientist is convinced that the study provides any value.

"It is not a new color. It's a more saturated green that can only be produced in a subject with normal red-green chromatic mechanism when the only input comes from M cones." Barbur said that the work had "limited value," said John Barbur, a professor of optics and visual science at City St George's, University of London, to The Guardian