Scientists reveal one popular color that doesn't 'exist' but there's a strange reason why we see it
Scientists have revealed that one popular color doesn't even 'exist' despite us still being able to see it, and there's an interesting explanation as to why.
The majority of people have a color they deem as their favourite and there's often a story behind why we love that particular color so much.
Whether it be the red of our favourite soccer team, or the yellow that best matches our personality, there's a reason why we're so drawn to it.
But there's one color out there that technically isn't even real and only exists in our brains, according to scientists, and it serves as a prime example of the power of our minds.
Advert
Purple fanatics, you might want to listen up.
Purple is of course a very popular color, but according to the boffins it's not actually real.
Yep, you read that right. Purple is in fact a lie, and experts have explained why.
Most people are familiar with the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) light, which is why we need to wear sunscreen when out in the glorious sunshine.
And all of the other colors of the rainbow have their own wavelengths too, which is of course red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and indigo.
Purple though? Well, that is nowhere to be seen.
The popular color is in fact what you see when red and blue wavelengths are spotted in the same place and clash.
It doesn't actually exist, but our brain creates it so we see it.
Instead, it's a mix of red and blue together, which plays a trick on our eyes by producing the color of purple we are all familiar with.
As you'd probably expect, many folks on social media have been left shocked by the revelation made by scientists, especially the purple lovers out there who are understandably upset.
"Purple is often used to mean a mix of red and blue light, so it's not something you can find in the rainbow. If you think that only colors in the rainbow (spectral colors) are real colors, then purple isn't a real color," one user wrote on Reddit.
While a second commented: "More than that, there's a whole bunch of other colors that are non-spectral. They just happen to be similar enough to spectral colors that people call them by the same name. You aren't going to be able to find a single wavelength of light that is ‘seafoam green’ or ‘burnt umber’.”
The European Space Agency has explained there are a variety of other colors that extend beyond, not just that of purple.
It said: " We see our world in a huge variety of color. However, there are other ‘colors’ that our eyes can't see, beyond red and violet, they are: infrared and ultraviolet.
"Comparing these pictures, taken in these three ‘types of light’, the rainbow appears to extend far beyond the visible light."
Topics: Science
Callum Jones