A group of scientists claims to have discovered a new color that no man has seen before.

The research was based on an experiment in the US, in which some researchers were “struck” with lasers in their eyes.

By stimulating specific cells in the retina, participants claim that they have seen a turquoise color that scientists called “Olo”, but some experts said that the existence of a new color is “open field for questioning”.

The findings, published in the journal Science Advances on Friday, have been described by the co-author of the study, Professor Ren Ng from the University of California, as “notable”.

He and his colleagues believe that the results could potentially provide further data on color blindness.

Professor NG, who was one of the five people who participated in the experiment, told the BBC Radio 4 show on Saturday that “Olo” was “more saturated with any color you can see in the real world”.

“Let’s say you spend all your life watching only pink, baby pink, pastel pink »he said.

“And then one day you go to the office and someone wears a shirt, and it’s the most intense baby pink you’ve ever seen, and they say it’s new color and we call it red“

How did the experiment became

During the team’s experiment, the researchers threw a laser beam into the daughter of each participant’s one eye.

There were five study participants – four men and one woman – who all had normal color vision. Three of the participants – including Professor NG – were co -authors of research work.

According to the study, participants looked at a device called Oz, which consists of mirrors, lasers and visual devices. The equipment was previously designed by some of the researchers involved – a team of scientists from UC Berkeley and the University of Washington, and was informed of use in this study.

The retina is a light -sensitive tissue layer on the back of the eye responsible for receiving and processing visual information. It converts light into electrical signals, which are then transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve, allowing us to see.

The retina comprises conical cells, which are cells responsible for color perception.

There are three types of conical cells in the eye – S, L and M – and everyone is sensitive to different wavelengths of blue, red and green respectively.

According to the research, in normal vision, ‘Each light stimulating an M cone cell must also stimulate its neighboring cones l and/s“, Because its function is overlapping with them.

However, in the study, the laser only stimulated in cones M, “who in principle would send a colored signal to the brain that never appears in natural vision“, The newspaper said.

This means that the color “Olo” could not be seen with a naked eye of a person in the real world without the help of specific stimulation.

Disagreements within the scientific community

Professor John Barbur, a vision scientist at City St George’s at the University of London, who did not participate in the study, said that while research is a “technological breakthrough” in stimulating selective conical cells, the discovery of a new color can be disputed.

He explained that if, for example, red conical cells (L) are stimulated in large numbers, people would “perceive a deep red”, but brightness can be perceived, it may change according to the changes in the sensitivity of the red cone, which is not far from it.

But co-author of the study professor NG admitted that although “Olo” is “certainly very technically difficult” to see it, the team is studying the findings to see what it could mean for people with color blindness, who find it difficult to distinguish certain colors.