"You mean turquoise?" — Internet reacts to scientists claiming to have discovered a color never seen before by humans 

According to a study published on April 18, 2025, five researchers stimulated the retina cells in the eyes of the study's participants, who later claimed to have seen a color that no human had seen before.

The study, 'Novel color via stimulation of individual photoreceptors at population scale,' was published in Science Advances. The scientists dubbed the reportedly newly discovered shade 'olo,' which looks like a combination of blue and green.

Netizens quickly took to X to express their views on the discovery, wherein an X user took a dig at scientists, calling the shade one that humans haven't seen before, tweeting:

"you mean turquoise?"

"Ni**a mint? Boy I outta nvm," an X user commented.

"I’ve seen that color before. What are they insane? That’s melon," another X user mentioned.

"Trynna rebrand turquoise is wild," an internet user stated.

"Looks blue and green if you ask me, is that not turquoise?" another internet user questioned.

Moreover, internet users called out researchers for coming up with such findings:

"People are our dying of cancer and scientists are out here discovering the color teal for the 1st time. Lovely," an X user tweeted.

"How scientists thinks the rest of the human population acts when we see Turquoise: "Which colour is this 1 nah??? I have never seen such a flamboyantly beautification of colourization before," a netizen remarked.

"We gotta stop putting our undying faith in these scientists. We need to hear the method and reasoning behind their claims first before absorbing anything they say," another netizen suggested.

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More details on the discovery of a new color never seen by humans before explored

The latest study, 'Novel color via stimulation of individual photoreceptors at population scale,' consisted of five participants: one female and four males, along with three of the researchers. All the participants had normal color vision. The discovery method involved participants looking into an Oz device comprising lasers, optical devices, and mirrors.

This device was designed by previously involved researchers, including a team of scientists from the University of Washington and UC Berkeley. To understand the study's results, it is important to know that the retina is a light-sensitive layer of tissue located at the back of the eye.

The retina is responsible for perceiving and processing visual information and converting light into electrical signals. These signals are transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve, allowing humans to see.

Additionally, normal vision involves 3 cone cells in the retina: S, L, and M, which are sensitive to blue, red, and green shades, respectively. The three cone cells also have overlapping functions. But in the latest study, the laser only stimulated M cone cells, allowing the human eye to perceive a shade that never occurs in natural vision.

One of the 5 participants in the experiment, Prof Ng, told BBC Radio 4's Today program on April 19, 2025, that the new shade 'olo' was "more saturated than any color that you can see in the real world." Explaining the phenomena, Prof Ng said:

"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 colour and we call it red."

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Despite being published in Science Advances, some experts have contested the recent color discovery theory. Professor John Barbur, a vision scientist at City St George's, University of London, dubbed the study's outcome a technological feat and said the discovery of a new shade was debatable.