British artist claims he has created paint in the 'new' colour announced by scientists - and he's selling 150ml bottles for £10,000

Daily Mail​

24-04-2025

Scientists shocked the world last week when they announced they'd been able to manipulate the human eye into seeing a new colour.
The experts at University of California, Berkeley managed the impressive feat by firing lasers at a specific cones inside the retina of the human eye.
Now, a British artist claims he has created a paint of the new shade – described as a 'profoundly saturated peacock green'.
Stuart Semple from Dorset – already known for creating paints of the blackest black and the pinkest pink – is selling 150ml bottles of 'Yolo'.
Semple wants to 'bridge science with art' by making the colour available to fellow painters to create profound new artworks.
However, unless you're an artist, you're going to have to pay an outrageous price for it.
Semple said in an Instagram post: 'Scientists have discovered a brand new colour! I've been up all night liberating it for you.
'This is Yolo and it's strictly for artists only.'
The scientists have called their new colour olo, but Semple has used the name 'yolo' with the added 'y' standing for 'you'.
The 150ml bottle of Yolo is for sale on Semple's website Culture Hustle at a whopping price of £10,000 ($13,300).
However, presumably as part of a publicity stunt, the cost is reduced to just £29.99 if you say you are an artist by using the checkout code 'YOLO'.
It's unclear if people will need to provide any credentials to prove that they really are an artist and get the substantial discount.
However, the terms and conditions state: 'By using the code YOLO in the cart, you confirm that you are an artist and that you will be using this material for artistic applications only.
'To the best of your knowledge, information and belief, this YOLO material will not make its way into the hands of a non-artist.'
The high frequency acrylic paint is currently 'being created' and is due to start shipping in three weeks.
The artist said people can't properly see the colour on-screen, so it has to be witnessed in person.
An image of a turquoise square has been shared by the researched to provide a sense of the colour, which they named 'olo'
How did scientists create the new colour?
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley found a way to manipulate the human eye into seeing a brand-new colour.
Their technique uses tiny doses of laser light to individually control up to 1,000 photoreceptors in the eye at one time.
The laser is just one color (the same as a green laser pointer) but by primarily activating M cone cells in the eye, it can show people the new color, 'olo'.
However, Yolo is essentially a physical approximation of the colour that a select group of researchers were exposed to in their lab experiments.
As Semple admits, it is 'as close to this experience that we're ever going to get in physical form'.
'Whilst Yolo isn't exactly the same as firing a laser into your eyeball, the experience of the colour is as close as you'll ever get with a paint,' the product description says.
'This mix's specific blend of high-frequency pigments and brighteners is designed to stimulate specific wavelengths of visual experience.
'It's impossible to photograph the experience or to show it on a screen, so until you have this colour in your hands, you'll need to imagine it.'
In the experiments detailed in a paper last week in Science Advances, five researchers had green laser light fired into their eyes to stimulate cells in the retina, called M cones.
By stimulating individual M cones, the researchers were able to perceive the light as a 'a blue-green colour of unparalleled saturation'.
'It was like a profoundly saturated teal … the most saturated natural colour was just pale by comparison,' said Austin Roorda, a professor of optometry at UC Berkeley.
Austin Roorda, a professor of optometry and vision science at UC Berkeley, demonstrates what it looks like to be part of the experiments
As the researchers point out, their technique means subjects 'can be made to perceive different colors of the rainbow, unprecedented colours beyond the natural human gamut'.
Semple admits 'the eye-popping laser technology' might remain within the confines of the lab, but Yolo 'brings the essence of this discovery to artists everywhere'.
It's been created with 'a special blend of high-frequency pigments and brighteners' in order to 'evoke specific visual wavelengths'.
Painting with Yolo gives 'a near-transcendent experience that echoes the original' creation, the product description adds.
ANIMALS SEE USING COMPLEX STRUCTURES IN THEIR EYES
Animals, including humans, have a variety of complex structures in their eyes which allow them to see.
The pupil contracts to limit how much light is allowed in, much like a camera lens.
Most animals have both cones and rods in their eyes, which are called photoreceptors and are found in the retina.
Cones allow people to see colour and rods are sensitive to low-light levels which allows for a grey scale between black and white.
Humans, and many other animals, have three types of cones which each absorbs different wavelength of lights.
With short, medium and long wavelength cones, the range of cones allows for a range of vision which incorporates the visible light spectrum.
This includes colours between red and blue - wavelengths ranging between 390 an 700 nm.
Other species, including many birds, have four cones instead of three in a mutation known as tertrachromacy.
This allows for animals to see light of an unusually short wavelength, which is normally considered to be UV light.
These photoreceptors are triggered by light and then this produces an electrical signal as they change shape.
Electrical signals are then carried to the brain via the optic nerve.
Signals from both optic nerves are then brought together by the brain at a point called the optic chiasm where the brain compares the two images.